by Ray Dick

Finance Minister John Manley boosts spending on the military.

The $800-million boost of adrenalin in the federal budget for the country’s undermanned and underfunded armed forces has been generally welcomed by military planners and defence analysts. But they also say it is far short of what was needed and expected and will barely keep the wolf from the door.

The extra spending brings the defence budget to $12.7 billion from $11.9 billion, the largest cash infusion in the last 10 years but much less than the up to $1.5 billion a year for the next several years called for by the Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs, the Senate, the auditor general, the Conference of Defence Associations and military and civilian analysts.

The Forces will also receive an additional $270 million to help pay outstanding bills from last year, including $100 million to cover some of the costs of Operation Apollo in Afghanistan, the United States-led war against international terrorism. There will be another $325 million in a contingency fund for unseen costs, such as participation in a war with Iraq and for sending more troops to Afghanistan by late summer.

In addition, Defence Minister John McCallum has committed himself to freeing up an additional $200 million from his previous budget, savings he would find by eliminating administrative overlap but not by cutting core capabilities. That money would be used to reallocate priorities.

“It’s a good first step,” says retired colonel Alain Pellerin, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations, an umbrella group of military organizations, including The Royal Canadian Legion, that has been speaking out on defence matters since 1932. The CDA was encouraged by the additional $800 million to the defence budget base on a continuing basis and congratulated McCallum in securing the additional funding for the Canadian Forces.

“The CDA, nevertheless, believes more needs to be done in securing increased funding for National Defence,” he says. “The $800 million, although welcome, is less than what the Canadian Forces requires to prevent further deterioration of capabilities” for home and North American defence and on the international scene.

David Pratt, co-chairman of the Commons defence committee, said he was “pleasantly surprised by the amount of money for defence in the budget”, but he warned that “there still are long-term issues to deal with.” He called it a “bridging budget”. There would be a change in government early next year, and a critical issue now was to get going on a defence policy review to design the Canadian Forces for the future.

Although the committee didn’t get all it was asking for, Pratt says the budget will have to increase ‘or we will lack the capabilities to keep us relevant as a force in the world.” There was no extra money set aside in the budget for such capital purchases as supply ships and new helicopters for the navy to replace the 40-year-old Sea Kings or for heavy-lift transport planes for the air force.

Retired lieutenant-general Lou Cuppens, chairman of the Legion’s Dominion Command Defence Committee, called it a “half-a-job” budget. It seemed that defence got only half of what it needed, and it is likely a number of things would be dropped from the inventory, possibly even the outdated Leopard tanks. “Capabilities will be eliminated,” he said, adding that there could be many high-ranking officers that “will vote with their feet” (leave the service in protest).

And retired major-general Clive Addy, now a vice-president of the CDA, said the budget ‘is the minimum that’s needed to keep (the military) alive.” The budget increase was 53 per cent of what the Forces needed, he said, adding that the time has come for the government to have a full-scale review of Canada’s military policy.

That review, to be of any use, must be completed in the very near future, adds CDA Chairman Richard Evraire, a retired lieutenant-general. The review should result in a defence white paper, and a commitment by the government to act on its recommendations.