I don’t think that we (as in the CAF “we”) should be throwing too many stones here.
We are the “experts” in defence matters and we complain that the Canadian public/govt doesn’t “get” how important defence is to the nation and its dealings with other nations.
In a sense it’s analogous to this climate change argument: Small military that, by itself, won’t change the world. But we argue for steps and funds to bolster it. Why? Aside from historical sentiment, a more relevant reason is that it is to shore up capability to do something in case things go bad.
The public (based on its voting history) and govts of all parties don’t seem to think it is a high priority. To build up to 2% GDP, we either need to cut other things or raise taxes - neither of which are palatable to the general public. I’m sure there are people honestly wondering why we have a military and we have to convince them of the reasons why.