Remembrance Day has passed. Now remember this: Without a comprehensive plan to re-equip the Canadian Armed Forces for the challenges that lie ahead, our soldiers, sailors and aircrew are placed at an unfair and unnecessary disadvantage. The money has been promised—all $62.3 billion of it—but spending it won’t be so easy for the Department of National Defence, no matter how badly the military needs the equipment. The problem, say those in charge of purchasing, is not so much the money as the manpower. There isn’t enough of it. “Recruiting people is not easy,” Andre Fillion told a conference hosted by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute last month. Fillion heads the department’s procurement section, which is facing a flood of complex and challenging projects. “Our business is n...