The period of time you're referring to was when there were a number of government reductions across the board. The Canadian Forces also shared in those reductions. One of the most efficient means at the time was to reduce people. What they did was what's called a force reduction plan, where a number of members of the Canadian Forces had an opportunity to retire or exit earlier than planned. A number of people took that option. That's what we call that force reduction plan bubble.
On October 17th, 2006. See this statement in context.