It was probably best that this document was released under the radar and down in the weeds; in real substance it is little different than Defence in the 70's, except a tenth the size. And the Q&A page is rather embarrassing. As for the $490 billion price tag projected over 20 years, it is a pittance, and the paper grudgingly admits as much when it states that real projected growth in the DND budget over the twenty-year span will only amount to 0.6% (compared to a nominal 2.2%). The only real growth in DND's budget would come from eliminating 2/3rds of the officer corps and at least a similar proportion of the 25,000 DND civilians.

First off, the next Government is unlikely to be Conservative, and as such, the axe will soon swing once again, and probably deeply; Secondly, fuel, M&O, and other costs will eat up many times over whatever growth may be projected; Thirdly, parts of this document, and especially Chapter VII, are nothing other than a sop to the Aerospace and Defence industry; and Fourthly, this document indicates little recognition of the long- (and even medium-) term military impracticality or ineffectuality of most of the stated missions and priorities, given present and anticipated manpower, equipment, and resources. In short, the document (and admittedly it mentions nothing that many, even most, of us did not already know that it would say months ago) may turn out to be little more than a vapour in the wind.