Windsor Star - March 6, 2006
By Colin Kenny
Steven Harper’s new Conservative government has put its mouth behind the revitalization of the Canadian Forces. Bravo.
Its election promises appear to offer more than Paul Martin’s cautious revitalization initiatives. Bravo again.
I remain a devoted Liberal, but, hell, good for Harper – so far, anyway. This issue is too important for partisan politics.
Canadians need all the security their federal government can deliver. Most of our allies have been hit by terrorists, and we’re on that list. Our first job is defending our own borders. But Canada also needs to start playing a more responsible international role – a safe Canada depends on a safe world, and we also need to put the brakes on our slide down the list of nations that anybody listens to.
In short, everyone knows Canada’s military has been in decline for decades. We owe it to ourselves, to the world, and to our kids on the front lines to shape up and take defence seriously.
But there is a problem hiding underneath all the Liberal and Conservative rehabilitation promises of the past few years. Anyone who takes the time to parse the situation knows that what is being mooted still doesn’t measure up to what is going to be needed.
We’re going to come up at least $4 billion a year short – and probably much more – even if the Conservatives come through with what they appear to be promising.
I’m not talking about frills. Without a greater financial commitment, without a shift toward new ways of doing things, without the dumping of outdated infrastructure, there is no way that Mr. Harper is going to have the meat to produce enough sausages.
General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, knows that. I say he has an obligation to be frank with his prime minister that the money on the table isn’t enough. New governments founder unless they know what’s really going on. Mr. Hillier is a hot commodity with his colleagues and the public these days. If he can’t tell truth to power, who can?
Let’s take a look at what is needed.
The Senate Committee on National Security and Defence argued in its September 2005 report that the defence budget should be $25 - $35 billion by 2011-12 – compared to the $19 billion that it would have climbed to under the Martin government’s scheduled ramp-up. The Conservatives have promised $5.3 billion over five years over and above the Liberals’ promised increases. If an extrapolation (for which there is no firm commitment) were to hold, the Conservative’s 2011-12 military budget would be about $21 billion.
That’s $4 billion short of what will be necessary to fund the work that Hillier needs done. The Conservatives are in danger of falling into the same trap as the Liberals – saying nice things without coughing up the money to get them done.
When you take the time to closely examine Canada’s military deficiencies – and do the math – the Conservative promises still won’t be enough to fix things. People howled in alarm when the Committee first put forth its estimates, but when we talk to people in the Department of National Defence now, they acknowledge that their thinking is close to ours, and in some cases we have underestimated costs.
General Paul D. Manson, the distinguished Chief of the Defence Staff from 1986-89, has taken a look at our numbers and has stated publicly that they are reasonable. Gen. Manson pointed out that “the accumulated value of unfulfilled military equipment requirements – a legacy of neglect by successive governments for several years – runs at something over $20 billion.”
Equipment is just the start of it. Canada needs many more military personnel – even the “pause” in overseas deployments just coming to an end hasn’t been able to break the endless burnout cycle that has been pushing badly-needed personnel in key trades into civilian life.
Gen. Hillier testified to the Committee that the recruiting process is broken. First the Liberals, and now the Conservatives, have promised significant (if inadequate) increases in the Regular Forces. Yet last September recruiters were only hitting 76 per cent of quota needed to simply replace current attrition.
If the recruitment process is broken, the equipment procurement process ranks as a full-blown man-made disaster. The lag time between identifying a need for a piece of equipment and delivery is staggering, sometimes so long that the equipment is obsolete when it arrives. The average length of time it takes to acquire a piece of major equipment, under the current system, is 14-16 years. Hard to believe, but true.
The government has proven it can move more quickly when it has the will. For example, take a look at the expenditure of approximately $234 million on everything from radios and satellite phones to armoured patrol vehicles and artillery for Canada’s mission to Kandahar, Afghanistan. That same political will could end the chronic constipation slowing major purchases year after year. We shall see if the Conservatives can muster the will to change the whole system, rather than applying hurry-up Band-Aids when things get hot.
Mr. Harper’s government could start by raising the ceiling on purchases that the Minister of National Defence can authorize to $500 million, as well as elbowing Public Works and Government Services Canada out of the military procurement process. Public Works isn’t needed in military procurement.
Then there’s pork-barrelling. It is worrisome that the Conservatives did what so many political parties have done in election campaigns over the years – buying seats by promising people that their military bases won’t be closed, redundant or not. Well, some of them are redundant. They’re sucking money from the military budget that should be spent elsewhere. Providing an economic base for these communities shouldn’t be DND’s job. That is the role of the department of Industry and the Human Resources and Skills Development.
DND holds more than 8,000 properties across Canada with 37,000 buildings on them. Many of them aren’t needed. Does this government really believe that the Department of National Defence should be forced to keep one building for every 1.6 people in uniform? It is time to get hard-nosed about what the military really needs and what it doesn’t. Every nickel spent on useless facilities is a nickel that doesn’t go to providing Canadians with the security they deserve.
Governments tend to go weak-kneed when it comes to making important decisions that might antagonize voters. That is particularly true of minority governments. But, sooner or later, somebody has to what needs to be done to rehabilitate and revitalize the Canadian Forces.
Fixing the Canadian military is going to take money and more. Prime Minister Harper has said some encouraging things, but is he really going to give General Hillier what he needs to keep Canadians safe?
We’ll see.