Spending on overseas military operations set for steep dive: documents

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OTTAWA – “There’s no place like home” could become the battle cry of the Canadian military as spending on overseas operations is forecast to take a steep dive.

Internal Defence Department reports show total spending on foreign deployments could to drop to just $5 million in the 2014-15 fiscal year from the current, anticipated $476 million.

The figures are contained in June 1, 2012, financial report by the department’s assistant deputy minister of finance and obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the budget will be balanced by 2015.

The records show that by then, the Harper government expects it will no longer be paying for the tear-down and clean-up of the Kandahar combat mission, nor the Afghan training mission in Kabul, which is set to end early next year.

More significantly, it has not budgeted for any new operations, including a renewal of the current peacekeeping missions, nor has a contingency fund been set aside.

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