Mr. Speaker, under the Conservatives' watch, the defence budget increased from $14.5 billion to $20.1 billion in 2014-2015 on a cash basis, up 38%. Our budget boosted the built-in annual increases for baseline defence spending from 2% to 3%, starting in 2017, which would have added almost $12 billion over 10 years to defence budgets.
The significant progress we made in procurement and operational capabilities is even more remarkable when we consider the pathetic state of affairs in 2006 after 13 years of Liberal incompetence and neglect. We modernized our military armoured vehicles, tanks, patrol planes, and frigates.
We acquired new air transport capabilities that Canada has never possessed before: five C-17 Globemasters; 17 C-130J Hercules tactical transport planes; and 15 Chinooks. Further, Canada began to take possession of the new CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopters for search and rescue operations.
We launched a $36.6 billion state-of-the-art, made-in-Canada shipbuilding program, the largest in Canadian peace-time history, including the new—