Canada Beefs Up

A new military budget increase will add more muscle to the Great White North:

Yesterday's announcement of $8.3 billion to buy and maintain four Boeing C-17 Globemaster strategic lift cargo jets or ones like them to replace the Antonovs, plus 17 smaller tactical lift aircraft to replace our aging Hercules transports, caps a week of much-needed mobility fixes. The military will also get three new supply ships ($2.9 billion), 16 heavy Chinook-type helicopters ($4.7 billion), and 2,300 trucks ($1.2 billion). This equipment will begin to be deployed in the 2008-2012 period...
While the Globemaster-type jets will be the newest item in the military kit, Canada's new posture can also be seen in the redesigned supply ships.

Their traditional role as floating gas stations and hardware stores has been expanded in significant ways. They will be designed to serve as well as command centres for Joint Task Forces when commandos and other troops are deployed near seacoasts. They will be able to carry combat troops and armour, reducing our reliance on rental sealift. They will carry maritime helicopters. They can be converted into floating hospitals and rescue centres. And they will have modest icebreaking capacity.

This is good news, I am sure for the Canucks, but this bizzare article says: Abolish Canada's military forces.