by Ray Dick

The men and women of the under-manned, under-equipped and stressed-out Canadian Forces are looking for financial relief from an upcoming federal budget after a summer of discontent and a possible request for even more Canadian military support for looming conflicts in the Middle East.

One hopeful sign, at least, is acknowledgement for the first time by both Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Defence Minister John McCallum that the Forces need more funding, a situation that both military and civilian officials and analysts and even the auditor general have been warning about for the last few years.

The down side, however, is where the military will stand in government spending priorities when it brings down its spending plans in the new year.

While the prime minister has pledged increased funds for the military, he has also cautioned that the boost will not be as much as the $4 billion a year recommended recently by the Liberal dominated Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence. “There is a difference between $4 billion and $100,” he said, noting the government has to spend its burgeoning surplus on other priorities such as health care, municipal infrastructure, child poverty and improving conditions for natives.

And McCallum, who spent Remembrance Day with Canadian troops in Bosnia, has acknowledged the need for more money for the military and says he is in the midst of a defence update and administrative review that will provide the basis for his submission to cabinet prior to the federal budget in February.

As if to drive the priority point home, the Commission on the Future of Health Care In Canada, headed by former Saskatchewan New Democratic Party premier Roy Romanow, tabled its report in Parliament calling for government expenditures of up to $15 billion to fix the health care system.

But it was the recommendations in the Senate committee report that shocked both the government and the public. The report said the government should recall all its military forces from overseas duty and place a two-year moratorium on further deployment while it overhauls defence capabilities. It also recommends expansion of the military force to 75,000 from the present complement of about 52,000 active troops.

“It needs a respite from its manifold overseas responsibilities, giving it time to recruit, time to train, time to re-equip itself, time to rethink its optimal role in the modern theatre of warfare,” said the 163-page committee report entitled For an Extra 130 Bucks. The committee said the $4 billion a year extra in military expenditures would raise per capita defence spending by $130 to $525 per Canadian.

That figure is a quarter of what each American spends on defence and a third of what Britons spend, said the report. It would put Canada 12th of 18 among members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and bring the country’s annual defence budget to about $15.8 billion.

Not everyone agreed with the recommendations of the Senate committee under chairman Colin Kenny, especially the suggestion to call the troops home for two years to regroup, retrain and recruit. There was support, however, for the increase in funding and recruitment, which everyone from political opposition spokesmen, the auditor general, the Conference of Defence Associations and military and non-military analysts have agreed is desperately needed.

But if the Senate report was an attempt to draw attention to the sad plight of the military, it surely accomplished that.

Retired colonel Alain Pellerin, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations lobby group, said the Senate committee report certainly highlights the dire straits of the Canadian Forces. It was unlikely, however, that the government could follow the pullout recommendation because the country can’t withdraw from international commitments for two years. The Forces could not afford to withdraw for two years either because with the high technology on the battlefield today, especially in working close to the high- tech American military, the Canadians would lose their edge in operations.

Retired lieutenant-general Lou Cuppens, chairman of the Legion’s Dominion Command Defence Committee, said he, too, did not agree with a general pullback of troops. Many of the operations overseas could be maintained, such as peacekeeping in the Golan Heights. It was in operations such as Bosnia and Afghanistan where hundreds of infantry troops are required that the Canadian Forces are in trouble.

He agreed with the Senate committee report recommendation that the Canadian Forces be increased to 75,000. “That should be the minimum increase,” said Cuppens.