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INDEPTH: FEDERAL BUDGET 2006
Security, Crime & Military
CBC News Online | May 2, 2006
Security measures beefed up
The 2006 budget sets aside a total of $1.4 billion over two years to protect Canadians from everything from criminals to bird flu, with some foreign aid money added on the side.
Getting tough on crime was one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's top five priorities leading into the Jan. 23 election that gave him a minority government, and spending in the budget reflects that.
Spending plans include:
- $161 million to hire 1,000 new RCMP officers and federal prosecutors to focus on crimes involving "drugs, corruption and border security."
- $37 million for an expansion of the RCMP's national training academy.
- $20 million for community-based programs to fight youth crime.
- $26 million to let victims play a bigger role in the justice system, including money to help them travel to parole hearings involving those who committed crimes that affected them.
- $73 million to be aimed at financial crimes, including money laundering, terrorism financing and counterfeiting.
More money will be needed starting three years down the road to build new federal prisons, given that the Conservatives expect the country's inmate population to rise as more people are charged with crimes.
Jail populations will also swell because of the government's plan to make inmates serve more of their sentences before being freed, and to increase penalties for those who repeatedly commit serious crimes.
No money has been allocated for the next two years because the legislation to impose those changes must make its way through Parliament.
Border and transportation security
The budget also sets aside money to begin providing guns and training to those who staff Canada's border crossings.
The $101-million measure is aimed at cracking down on gun and drug smuggling into the country, as well as the entry of criminal fugitives from other countries and potential terrorists. Part of the plan involves making sure at least two customs officers are on duty at each border post at all times, even in slow-traffic areas.
At the same time, the Conservatives intend to spend $303 million to ease traffic flows across the border with the United States for frequent travellers and commercial truckers considered "low-risk."
There's also money to increase security measures for Canadians who travel by train, subway, streetcar and bus. A total of $95 million has been set aside for a fund to let rail and public transit operators pay for measures designed to protect passengers from the kind of carnage caused in 2005 when militants bombed the transit system in London, England.
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which handles security at airports across the country, is also getting more money for its operations -- $133 million this fiscal year.
Bracing for emergencies
Nearly half a billion dollars will fund programs to prepare Canada for a global pandemic and other types of catastrophes.
The Conservatives are committing $460 million in new money this year to improve the country's ability to cope with a widespread outbreak of diseases such as avian influenza or a recurrence of SARS.
As well, $19 million will help Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada be ready if the country is hit by a natural disaster, such as a hurricane or earthquake, or an act of terrorism that has catastrophic effects.
Military and foreign spending
The budget follows through on a promise to boost funding for Canada's military. An extra $1.1 billion is allocated this year, part of $5.3 billion coming over the next five years, "to strengthen the Canadian Forces' capacity to defend our national sovereignty and security."
In another measure described as "strengthening Canada's role in the world," the Conservatives promise to commit up to $320 million in new money this fiscal year to foreign aid measures.
Part of that money will go to programs aimed at fighting diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria in the developing world. The rest will be channelled to an International Monetary Fund initiative to protect low-income countries faced with natural disasters or sharp rises in commodity prices.
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