Without fanfare

Tories release $490B military plan without fanfare

The Conservative government has quietly released the details of its extensive plan to beef up the military, including spending $490 billion over the next 20 years to ensure Canadian soldiers are well-equipped, well-trained and highly active.

Details of the plan, known as Canada's First Defence Strategy, were posted Thursday night without fanfare on the Department of National Defence's website.

This is very much out of character for the Conservatives. They usually pull crap like this on Friday nights, not on Thursdays. But perhaps they anticipated that everyone would still be paying attention to the Liberal carbon tax plan announcement.

Military analyst Rob Huebert told CBC News that he can't understand why Harper would release the document so quietly, and why he would do so the day before the House of Commons is expected to adjourn for the summer.

Perhaps it's because all the jeering they intend to aim in Dion's direction about being careless with the taxpayer's dollar would be undermined by the revelation that the Conservatives want to commit half a trillion dollars on a policy that hasn't been the subject of any public debate. Because if Harper has his way, it's not up for debate. Because Harper doesn't want his policies scrutinized. Because our prime minister has nothing but contempt for democracy. I thought we'd already established that.