The Canadian Forces raided its military equipment and hardware budget to the tune of $1.52 billion since 1999 to increase pay and benefits for soldiers, sailors and air personnel, Sun Media has learned.
Oct. 7, 2002
The Canadian Forces raided its military equipment and hardware budget to the tune of $1.52 billion since 1999 to increase pay and benefits for soldiers, sailors and air personnel, Sun Media has learned.
Defence Minister John McCallum said his department has also pilfered that stash of cash to pay for military missions to make up a shortfall in its operating budget.
McCallum said he's working on a plan that would fulfil Liberal promises to improve the quality of life for soldiers, but stop raiding the forces' equipment budget to pay for it.
"I'm determined to maintain the quality of life initiative, but at the same time I do not want to mortgage our future by continuously reducing the capital budget," McCallum said.
"It's a combination of more money, spending the money better, and doing less."
The Liberal government boasted in its 1999-2000 budget that it was injecting $175 million annually into the defence department budget for pay hikes, improved housing and better care for injured soldiers.
But the cash infusion didn't cover all the Liberal promises, so the Canadian military raided money reserved for new equipment and hardware to make up the shortfall.
Defence department spokesman Doug Drever said the forces have spent $380 million of their capital budget every year since 1999 -- or a total of $1.52 billion -- to improve the quality of life in the military.
That means every year since 1999 the Canadian Forces have used up to 25% of the cash they get to buy much-needed planes, ships, trucks and other hardware to give soldiers added benefits.
The military has also attempted to cover housing improvements on bases by increasing rents, with married quarters' rent increasing by as much as $100 a month as of Oct. 1.
The Canadian Forces have been deployed on an increasing number of missions since Jean Chretien's Liberals took power in 1993, even though their budget has shrunk.
"The top priority is people," McCallum said. "In my view we have to act seriously to reduce the stress on people from being deployed too frequently."
Canadian Alliance MP Leon Benoit accused the Liberals of starving the military, and urged the government to inject at least $2 billion immediately into the forces to bring them out of the red.
"That's no way to run a military," Benoit said.
"You can't keep taking money from money that's designated to replace the equipment, he said.
The Commons defence committee has called on the Liberals to boost the defence department's $11.3-billion budget by $5 billion annually to allow for the replacement of key equipment, like the 40-year-old Sea King helicopters.
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/military_oct7-sun.html