by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC,
FEC, CET, P. Eng.
Former Member of Parliament
Pickering-Scarborough East
As we celebrated 80 years since D Day, which marked a pivotal day in defeating Nazi Germany, and as we remember the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers on Juno beach, we may justifiably wonder what is going on with today’s Canadian Armed Forces.
The status of the Armed Forces in Canada is bleak, due to decades of neglect by all governing parties without exception.
Canada’s military is facing a series of problems that could threaten our standing in an unpredictable world without a serious infusion of cash and attention from the federal government.
Canada finds itself in such a dire situation due to the dual bureaucratic and political culture in Ottawa. In avoiding problems rather than confronting them, they have resorted to "risk management"
The approach has been to assume that things are not that bad and some level of risk can be tolerated for a few years. This, now perpetual bad risk management approach, has became dangerous because it has pushed off problems until it is somebody else's problem. But now, in 2024, these problems have come home to roost. They have become our problems, and they are literally kicking us in the face.
Let us consider the recruiting hole, in which the Canadian military finds itself. It is deeper and potentially more serious than it might appear at first glance. In part, the problem is also due to all the new equipment the federal government has ordered, or plans to order in the near future.
Just recently, Defence Minister Bill Blair estimated the military is short up to 16,500 members and said the Armed Forces' failure to boost recruitment is leading it into a "death spiral." However, the country's top military commander, Gen. Wayne Eyre, told CBC News in a recent interview that the problem is actually bigger than the numbers cited by the minister suggest.
The shortfall cited by Blair is the gap between the Armed Forces' current size and its authorized strength, he said and it doesn't reflect what the military needs to carry out the new defence policy, or the demands of modernizing continental defence under NORAD. To meet those demands,
Eyre said, the Armed Forces needs to take on an additional 14,500 people on top of the 16,500 required to bring the military up to authorized strength.
These statements clearly reflect a dangerous disconnect between politicians’ perspectives and the real issues.
In desperation and not entirely well thought-out, the federal government began allowing permanent residents to apply to join the Armed Forces in 2022. Within a year of that policy change, the Armed Forces had received more than 21,000 applications from permanent residents, but to date, less than 100 have been accepted.
One of the major concerns for the Department of National Defence (DND) is that many foreign-born applicants must pass enhanced security screening. Seeing bureaucracy at work, the defence and immigration departments have signed a new information-sharing agreement that should accelerate the process of obtaining security clearances. DND has also signed a contract for new security screening software hopefully with more success than the ArriveCAN experience.
The new recruitment plan for the military proposes a probationary period on all recruits while screening and other aspects are reviewed. Despite all of that effort, the new defence policy does not foresee the military returning to its current authorized strength of 71,000 regular and 30,000 reserve forces until 2032.
Currently, only 58 per cent of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) would be able to respond if called upon in a crisis by NATO allies— and almost half of the military's equipment is considered "unavailable and unserviceable" — says a recent internal Department of National Defence (DND) presentation obtained by CBC News.
Looking at the equipment side, the situation is worse. Politicians only seem to find resources (both financial and physical) to aid foreign countries, rather than ensuring the Nation’s needs.
The air force is currently in the worst shape of all the CAF forces, with 55 per cent of "fighters, maritime aviation, search and rescue, tactical aviation, trainers and transport" considered "unserviceable."
The navy is not too far behind, with 54 per cent of its "frigates, submarines, Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and defence vessels" in no state to deploy.
Canada currently operates a fleet of four conventionally powered submarines; the navy has proposed to expand that fleet to between eight and 12 boats. However, each boat would have to have at least one crew, and possibly two or more, to operate in rotation.
The army fares slightly better, with only 46 per cent of its equipment considered "unserviceable." However, the biggest challenge is the shortfall in service personnel; technicians and support. There is also a funding shortfalls; lack of spare parts and ammo.
The issue of military readiness has preoccupied the House of Commons defence committee for a long time but without much success or action at the PMO’s office.
The federal government recently began reallocating funding, forcing some areas of DND to cut spending in order to pay for the acquisition of new equipment. The latest federal estimates for the upcoming year show $810 million will be shuffled around and $79 million of that money is coming out of "ready forces."
Former vice-admiral Mark Norman, a former commander of the navy said he was startled by the numbers.
"This is borderline atrocious," Norman said.
"Readiness is all about measuring the ability of your armed forces to do what it is they're expected to do. And fundamentally, that's all about going somewhere and fighting. And, you know, it's a pretty dire situation when you're ... not where you need to be."
In conclusion, we need a massive overhaul of how Canada does military procurement, and how we approach national security, but most importantly we need a prime minister who cares about these issues.
Is the country ready for this? Your judgement.
Let us hope and work for a summer to be proud of, with the Canadian flag flying high!
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