Marc Garneau would like to see a Canadian unmanned mission to Mars, and double the current CSA budget

You can read the interview here. The current budget for the CSA is $425 million, and is slated to drop by about $100 million over the next two years instead of increasing.

On a Mars mission: any unmanned mission to Mars is something to look forward to, but personally I think Canada would be better off with something a bit different like a flyby of an asteroid or two, or a rover on the surface of the moon. Such missions would likely have a greater chance of success and would be an area where Canada could stand out if that is one of the reasons for a Canadian-only mission.