No Canadian Forces deployment to a foreign combat zone without a vote of the House of Commons. Redirect 25% of the defence budget increase toward Arctic sovereignty. Restore humanitarian assistance to $1.3 billion annually.
Canada has participated in military operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine — some under NATO mandate, some under UN authorisation, some under neither — without a full debate and vote in the House of Commons. Canadians have not been asked whether they consent to these commitments. Soldiers have been deployed, money has been spent, and in some cases lives have been lost, on the basis of decisions made by cabinet rather than Parliament.
The 2025 federal budget committed $81.8 billion to defence over five years on a cash basis, starting in 2025-26 — an average of about $16.4 billion a year. This is a significant increase in military spending. But it comes with no corresponding increase in parliamentary accountability for how and where that spending is deployed. Canada's Arctic sovereignty — the most pressing and most Canadian of all security concerns — remains underfunded while resources flow to commitments in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Canada spent $10.2 billion on official development assistance in 2023-24 on the OECD-DAC definition — $9.0 billion on the narrower definition in Canada's own Official Development Assistance Accountability Act — and Global Affairs Canada puts the ODA-to-GNI ratio at 0.33% for 2024, expected to decline further. Budget 2025 reduced the International Assistance Envelope by $2.7 billion over four years. During the 2025 election campaign the Prime Minister undertook not to cut foreign aid or development financing, and to hold international humanitarian assistance to a floor of $800 million a year. Meanwhile the federal government increased defence spending significantly. The message this sends is that Canada is more willing to spend money on weapons than on the humanitarian assistance that prevents the conflicts requiring those weapons.
Compare current defence spending with what our policy would change — within the same total budget.
Sources: Budget 2025 ch.4 — $81.8B over five years, cash basis, from 2025-26; Global Affairs Canada Statistical Report on International Assistance 2023-24; Global Affairs Canada briefing to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, 5 Feb 2026 — $2.7B International Assistance Envelope reduction over four years, ODA/GNI 0.33% (2024). The current-spending shares above are the party's own estimate on its own categorisation. DND publishes its budget by vote (operating, capital, personnel) and does not publish a split on these lines.
Parliamentary authorisation for all military deployments. No Canadian Forces personnel deployed to a foreign combat zone without a full debate and majority vote of the House of Commons.
Arctic sovereignty first. Redirect a minimum of 25% of the new defence spending increase toward Arctic patrol vessels, northern airstrips, and Indigenous community infrastructure in the territories.
Restore humanitarian assistance to $1.3 billion annually. The 2025 cuts to foreign aid are a false economy. Every $1 spent on conflict prevention saves up to $60 in military intervention costs later.
Parliamentary authorisation: free. Arctic sovereignty: within existing $81.8B commitment. Humanitarian aid restoration: ~$500M/yr, funded by cutting DND consultancy budget.