Troop boost 'will take five years'
No money to keep election promise, stunned defence committee told
Mike Blanchfield, The Ottawa Citizen, Tuesday, December 07, 2004
The Canadian Forces have not begun recruiting the 5,000 new troops promised by the Liberal government in the last election, and a lack of resources means they likely won't bring them on board for another five years, a Senate committee heard yesterday.
Vice-Admiral Ron Buck, the vice-chief of the defence staff, cited lack of government funding -- specifically for trainers and housing -- for the long delay.
The testimony from the second-in-command of the Forces stunned members of the Senate's committee on national security and defence.
Prime Minister Paul Martin promised the Forces 5,000 new full-time troops, along with 3,000 new part-time reservists, during last summer's heated election campaign, a promise that was criticized at the time as hasty and unworkable by some senior officers in the Forces.
After a thorough grilling by senators, Vice-Admiral Buck made clear the Forces would not be able to make good on that election promise unless defence spending is increased. He would not say how much more money the Forces need in next year's federal budget.
"It actually will not be possible to grow by 5,000 or 3,000 in the next three years. It will take a period greater than that," Vice-Admiral Buck testified. "It would be my anticipation that you'd be looking at a five or so years pace."
Several senators, including committee chairman Senator Colin Kenny, a Liberal, appeared stunned by the revelation.
"Did I understand you correctly, admiral, that it's going to take five years to increase the size of the Canadian Forces by 5,000?" he asked.
"Yes," Vice-Admiral Buck replied.
"Why?" Mr. Kenny shot back.
Vice-Admiral Buck said the Forces need to increase the number of personnel and equipment.
"In other words, there is a bill that clearly needs to be paid in terms of personnel, equipment, training and housing," he added.
Vice-Admiral Buck said the Forces have a plan to begin recruiting, but senior brass is simply waiting on the government to free up more funds so it can be implemented.
"It's not a slam dunk?" asked Conservative Senator Norman Atkins.
Vice-Admiral Buck reiterated that the government has said it will boost defence spending in the future, but that "within the resources that are assigned to the Canadian Forces today, we do not have the resources to recruit. We can't afford to recruit."
Liberal Senator Tommy Banks questioned why Vice-Admiral Buck and other senior officers don't speak out more forcefully about their frustration with the government's spending on defence.
"Somebody with credibility needs to jump up and down and say, 'we've got to stop this tap dancing,'" said Mr. Banks. "Shouldn't there be someone, in the position as you call it of 'senior leadership' in the Canadian Forces, who can stand up and holler and pound on the desk and say, 'this is sophistry. If we're going to do these jobs that you're giving us, you have to give us more resources, you have to pay more attention to this?' "
Vice-Admiral Buck said that unlike his counterparts in the U.S. and Britain, he and other senior leaders in the Canadian Forces are not allowed to air their opinions about defence funding in public.
"This country is different," he said. "We are constrained in our public statements. My position is not to advocate publicly. Mine is to explain government policy."
Vice-Admiral Buck is considered one of three front-runners to become Canada's military chief this summer when Gen. Ray Henault steps down to take up a senior post at NATO in Brussels.
He would not speculate on how the new troops could best be deployed. He said that would have to wait until the government completed its foreign policy and defence reviews, which are not to be tabled until the spring.
In other testimony, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said she would study the effectiveness of recruitment and report back to Parliament in April 2006.
Ms. Fraser said the Forces face large scale retirement of a large number of skilled officers, who may not be immediately replaceable, causing shortages in a number of specialized professions.
