Panel warned about cuts to military
Reduce spending at headquarters, not on front lines, ex-general says
Lee Berthiaume
Ottawa Citizen
04 Oct 2011
If the military doesn't cut back on contractors or the number of staff working at National Defence headquarters, front line soldiers and the equipment they rely on will inevitably suffer, a recently retired general told a Senate committee on Monday.
"Sometimes you only find out the hard way, when you're on that two-way range and people are shooting back at you, that you actually let your troops down by skimping on their training money and their spare bits," retired Gen. Andrew Leslie said.
But in an exclusive interview, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the former general's recommendations are only one factor the government is considering and that all spending will be examined "with a fine-tooth comb."
With major combat operations in Afghanistan and Libya and support for the Canadian Forces a Conservative priority, the Defence Department's budget has grown from $15 billion in 2006 to $21 billion. Now, like all other departments, the military is being asked to cut spending.
For more than a year, Leslie served as chief of transformation, examining the Canadian Forces' structure and spending to find efficiencies. His final report, which was leaked to the media in August before being released to the public, contains 43 recommendations that Leslie says will save $1 billion if implemented.
Chief among these are cutting up to 30 per cent of the $2.7 billion spent on contractors, consultants and private service providers and reducing by 4,500 the number of full-time reservists working at headquarters.
In his testimony to the Senate defence committee, Leslie acknowledged there will be pain as the government seeks to bring the deficit under control, particularly after years of largesse in the Defence Department. But "in short, we're going to have to reduce the tail of today while investing in the teeth of tomorrow," he said.
In an allusion to the way the Chrétien government implemented spending cuts in the 1990s, which saw shortages of spare parts, equipment and even ammunition, Leslie said the money must not come out of the front line.
"One of the areas that historically has been the easiest for a variety of organizations to cut," he said, "has been in the spare bits that are required to keep the tanks and armoured vehicles rolling or ships sailing or planes flying. Because you can recoup money very quickly without seeing an absolute degradation in operations for a year or two."
Leslie, who retired three weeks ago after more than 30 years in the military, said the long-term damage of cuts could be significant, leaving the Canadian Forces increasingly unable to conduct operations or provide services. It could also put soldiers in harm's way.
"So I would watch like a hawk from this moment forward the monies that are allocated to national procurement. And if they go down by one cent as compared to last year, I would ask some really hard questions as to why the money is coming out of spare bits and not headquarters and overhead."
Earlier in the day, the defence minister told Postmedia News that Leslie's report had been "instructive on a number of levels."
"But it's one stream of information," MacKay added. "Keep in mind that we have numerous sources of information that we're relying on as we go through transformation, not the least of which is the senior (military) leadership."
The minister said the Defence Department will "do our part" to help bring the deficit under control.
"Clearly our core capabilities and our readiness and our support for our personnel are key," he said when asked what was off the table. "But we are looking at everything with a fine-tooth comb to achieve efficiencies."