How to clean up our military mess
Colin Kenny
Citizen Special
Thursday, February 23, 2006
The 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 Stephen 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 to defend our own borders. But Canada also needs to start playing a more responsible international role -- a safe Canada depends on a safe world.
But there is a problem hiding underneath all the Liberal and Conservative military rehabilitation promises of the past few years. Anyone who takes the time to parse the situation knows that what is being offered 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 Without a greater financial commitment, without a shift toward new ways of doing things, without the dumping of outdated infrastructure, there is no way that Mr.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 a solid defence force.
General Rick Hillier, chief of the defence staff, knows that and has an obligation to frankly advise the prime minister that the money on the table isn't enough. New governments founder unless they know what's really going on. Gen. Hillier is a hot commodity with his colleagues and the public these days. If he can't tell truth to the powerful, 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 to $35 billion by 2011-12 -- compared to the $19 billion that it would have climbed to under the Martin government's plan. The Conservatives have promised an additional $5.3 billion over five years. If an extrapolation (for which there is no firm commitment) were to hold, the Conservatives' 2011-12 military budget would be about $21 billion.
That's $4 billion short of what will be needed to fund the work that Gen. Hillier says is required. 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.
Our committee has done the math. 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.
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.
Recruiting is a huge problem. Gen. Hillier told 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 the quota needed to simply replace current attrition.
Equipment procurement is a huge problem. The time lag between identifying a need for a piece of equipment and delivery is 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 to 16 years. That may be hard to believe, but it's true.
The government has proven it can move more quickly by buying everything from satellite phones to artillery on short notice for its mission to Kandahar. 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 much more than a stumbling block 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 -- buy 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 departments such as industry.
DND holds more than 8,000 properties across Canada with 37,000 buildings on them. 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? 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 decisions that might antagonize voters. But somebody has to do what needs to be done.
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 Gen. Hillier what he needs to keep Canadians safe?
We'll see.
Senator Colin Kenny was chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence for the past five years. The committee published 14 reports over that period. E-mail: kennyco@sen.parl.gc.ca
