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McCallum calls for more military spending


Ottawa — Canada should be contributing more toward the defence of North America and the free world, Defence Minister John McCallum said Friday as he called on his own government to spend more on the military.

In his first major address since taking the portfolio four months ago, McCallum said the Canadian Forces are demoralized and financially wounded, and he promised to appoint a panel of private-sector experts to streamline his department's administration.

"If you ask me if we should do more or less than we are currently doing in the defence of our country and our continent, I would say more," he said in a speech prepared for delivery to the Toronto Board of Trade. "If you ask me if we should do more or less in deploying our forces to the myriad trouble spots of the world, I would say more."

While the federal government cut about 25 per cent from the defence budget during the 1990s, it has promised to restore more than $5-billion between this fiscal year and 2006, he noted.

"Notwithstanding these improvements, we should be spending more than is currently planned," said Mr. McCallum, who apparently wrote the speech himself as the start of a campaign to pressure his government for more money in the February budget. "Indeed, the Canadian Forces need more money simply to continue operating as they are today, in a sustainable way."

Documents obtained this week say that the army has only 40 per cent of the money it needs to maintain bases and equipment in 2002-03.

But Mr. McCallum, who has been reviewing military priorities since July, said improvements will most likely come at the expense of some capabilities he called "relics of an earlier era."

"Our overall aim will be to redirect resources away from areas that are no longer essential and towards capabilities that will be needed in the future," he said.

Defence analysts speculate that Mr. McCallum is looking at getting rid of tanks, self-propelled howitzers, destroyers and supply ships. Department officials say that no decisions have been made.

The government also owes it to its military personnel to improve their living and working conditions, Mr. McCallum said. Canada deployed 24 military missions between 1948 and 1989, and 79 between 1990 and 2002, he noted. At the same time, the number of Canadian Forces personnel has declined dramatically.

"Clearly, this is not sustainable," he McCallum said. "It translates into too much time away from home for too many of our people, with negative implications for morale, family life and general well-being.

"I think it's wrong to continue overstretching our personnel and their families."

Soldiers will simply quit the military if the problem is not addressed, he warned, adding that quality-of-life issues were addressed by his predecessor, Art Eggleton, at the expense of the capital budget.

Mr. McCallum said he will ask a small number of "highly qualified people with extensive private-sector restructuring experience" to study his department's administration and report within six months.

He will also introduce "far-reaching changes" to education and professional development programs and expects to soon finalize a joint planning group with the United States that will share intelligence and contingency plans in emergencies.
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