Topic: "Did the Toronto Star and Canadian Press reporters attend the same dinner?"

[MarkOttawa]

A post at The Torch:
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/05/did-toronto-star-and-canadian-press.html

More on the CF's future from what I think is a pretty good column by Barbara Yaffe:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/columnists/story.html?id=dc047e91-c7aa-4d96-9b0f-8c385aac7f2d

For a non-militaristic nation, Canada has begun making a bold effort to pull up its bootstraps and don a helmet in the interests of national defence.

Spending is up by some $2 billion in the two years that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has presided, though much of that is cash leftover from Liberal budgeting.

From a $13 billion envelope in 2004, military spending was hiked to nearly $17 billion this year and is projected to continue increasing, to $20 billion, by 2012.

New troops are being recruited and orders have gone out for all manner of new materiel.

But instead of kudos flowing to the government, Harper and his team continue to face serious criticism about the condition and role of Canada's defence forces.

A recent report by the Senate's respected Committee on National Security and Defence scrutinizing Canada's capability on these fronts pulls no punches. It states the Conservatives' "resuscitation process" is not adequate.

"It is essential," write the senators, "that Canadians know that the financial commitments to date are not likely to give Canadians the armed forces they will need over the coming decades."

Regarding the targeted spending of $20 billion by 2012: "the committee is convinced that DND needs a budget of at least 25 billion and more likely $34 billion by 2011-2012."

On government's pledge to augment troop numbers, from 62,000 to 75,000 by 2015 -- this contingent would still be inadequate to expand operations beyond a single theatre of activity at a time, huffs the Senate committee, labeling Canada's military "a one-trick pony."

"We need genuine patriots on Parliament Hill. They don't need to wave flags. They just need to do the right thing," concluded the committee, comprised of both Liberals and Conservatives.

The senators are also attacking the government for its intention to assign scarce military resources in a bid to safeguard Arctic sovereignty when patrol of northern waters more properly belongs with the Coast Guard. (Any Northwest Passage tiff with the Americans would be resolved through legal and diplomatic means, not firepower.)..

Colin Kenny, who chairs the Senate committee, says the Harper crowd talks a good game; in fact, it's doing no more than bare-bones spending on the most urgent materiel needs and getting Canada through the Afghanistan commitment.

He emphasizes, no new funding has been committed to address higher than expected expenses resulting from the Afghan deployment, robbing other defence needs. Latest estimates put the mission's cost, to 2009, at $4.3 billion...

A Defence Capabilities Plan the defence department was charged with drafting, dealing with military preparedness for demands of the next quarter century, is now a year overdue with no release date in sight...

The Harper government has committed more than its Liberal predecessor to defence spending, a worthy objective if only to safeguard the lives and welfare of Canada's finest. But the political payoff is proving elusive.

For now, it's likely come only by way of brownie points from allies who, given the shameful defense capabilities record of the past, are bound to be impressed by any demonstrable showing from Canada on the military side.

Mark
Ottawa

[IN HOC SIGNO]

Thanks Mark...I enjoyed both articles and must say I agree that the government is doing a good job to boost our profile. It pains me that there are detractors who say that there is not enough being done. Under the Martin government the reversal of the decay was started and Harper has continued the upgrade......however...you cannot reverse 35 years of neglect and outright destruction overnight. when I joined in 77 we had 100K troops and lots of baby boomers like me to fill the ranks......to boost back up nowadays given the limited numbers of young people available is not easy to do. Our ship building capabilities have been squandered as have our plane building capabilities. Successive Governments sold us as Peacekeepers in order to avoid buying big ticket item hardware and now the chickens have come home to roost.
when they finally woke up to the reality that they can't project themselves into theatre and sustain ops ...then the writing was on the wall....Lets hope we keep going with the upgrade.

[NinerSix]

Whatever. The article above is just another example of "Harper/Conservatives can do no right".

Sure, Harper could go all out and buy us crazy stuff, like a Nimitz class aircraft carrier! The reallity is that defence spending is unpopular amongst the general population. He has to balance those purchases against public opinion. After all, what good will it do to buy XXX billions $ of stuff and increase our budget, if it means the governement will be replaced with a Liberal (or worst) one, that will just cancelled all these nice things we just ordered. Cormorant anyone?

[retiredgrunt45]

As for the lip service in the senate, its the liberal senators who are flapping their lips. Its not surprising to me that the liberals are on the defensive when it comes to the subject of military spending, afterall weren't they the ones that stated Canada no longer need a military, but rather, only a small contingent of peace keepers on stand by for UN operations. Now their backtracking and complaining more money should be spent, talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

 For the amount of damage that has been inflicted upon the military, I think Harper is doing a pretty fair job of repairing the pot holes left over from the "decade of darkness" liberals. Sure more can be done, but we have to start from somewhere.