High price tag of equipment driving delays in defence policy update

Open this photo in gallery: A CH-146 Griffon helicopter from Canadian Forces Base Bagotville, is loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster airplane, at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ont., on Nov. 17, 2013.Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press The federal government's long-promised defence policy update has been kept under wraps since 2022 because the Trudeau cabinet is struggling with the cost of big-ticket items, such as new submarines, tanks and drones, at the same time that the United States is pressing Ottawa to boost military spending, according to a senior official. The official, who is familiar with the nearly two-year-old review, said…