Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of the people of Okanagan—Coquihalla to participate in this prebudget debate. Many of my colleagues have touched on the important issues of health care funding and taxation which face the Canadian public.
Of course we have spent a considerable amount of time on this side of the House explaining the Reform Party's proposals to the government which include comprehensive tax reform, making health care a priority for Canadians and for the government, by reinvesting the dollars it has taken away over the years, and debt reduction.
The area which I have chosen to speak on tonight is the fourth one the Reform Party has put forward, which is reinvesting dollars in the Department of National Defence. I would like to focus my comments on the Liberal government's reduction of the Canadian armed forces over the past five-plus years.
The Canadian armed forces have gone through decades of decline and are now at a crossroads. The Canadian government can choose one of two paths for our once proud forces. The first of course would be to continue the budget cuts and personnel reductions leaving Canada's armed forces with little more than a constabulary force. The second path would be to take a road that has yet been travelled by Canadian governments by giving the Canadian armed forces the resources and funding they require to meet the challenges of a modern armed forces in the 21st century.
Before we get too far on this I would like to cover some of the history since the 1993 election of the Liberal government when it comes to defence policy. In 1994 shortly after its election the government set up the Special Joint Committee on Canada's Defence Policy, the first comprehensive parliamentary review of Canada's defence policy.
The special joint committee, which I was a member of, was an all-party committee. Members from every party in this House took part as well as the Senate. We were tasked with answering the following question: What principles, purposes and objectives should guide our government in setting Canada's defence policy in a rapidly changing world?
At that time defence spending was at $11.6 billion and it supported 73,200 regular force personnel. The government was facing a further $7 billion in spending reductions in the 1994 budget. In light of that the special joint committee made a number of important recommendations to the government.
First, the special joint committee recommended that the Canadian armed forces should not be reduced below 66,700 personnel and that they must maintain a core budget of at least $10.5 billion in 1994-95 dollars. That was inclusive to fiscal year 1998-99.
Second, the committee stated unequivocally that any cuts below the recommended minimum would mean less equipment or less capable equipment, delays in purchasing of necessary equipment, and this one is very important, the inability to fulfil policy objectives of the federal government including the defence of Canada, less training for personnel and too few personnel.
The Liberal government's response to the special joint committee was the Minister of National Defence's 1994 white paper on defence. Within the white paper the government admitted that Canada's defence policy commitments and national interests could only be fulfilled through the maintenance of multipurpose combat capable forces that are able to fight alongside the best and against the best. While making this admission, the government failed and continues to fail to give the Canadian armed forces the necessary number of personnel and material resources to fulfil the white paper commitments.
The government reduced the size of the regular force to 60,000 personnel. That is 6,700 less than the 66,700 recommended as a bare minimum by the special joint committee. The defence budget was also reduced from $10.5 billion to $9 billion, a serious reduction in purchasing power for badly needed new equipment. One might ask what is the result.
This year chief of defence staff General Baril said: “We possess a limited capability for deploying our forces often on short notice to meet international crises. The limitations are in the areas of troop movement and lift capability, intelligence gathering and the ability to effectively lead or co-ordinate multinational operations”.
I would like to stress that. Canadians really have to hear that and let it sink in because the chief of defence staff, the top general in the Canadian armed forces is saying that our armed forces have limitations in troop movement, getting them to an area where they are needed and also getting them back from an area where they were needed. Our armed forces have limitations when it comes to intelligence gathering which is a very important aspect for military operations. The chief also says that we have limitations in the ability to effectively lead or co-ordinate multinational operations.
That is very serious stuff facing the Canadian armed forces. And it is not because our troops are not well qualified. They are. It is because the resources of the Government of Canada have not been put into this very important area. All of this is at a time when our Prime Minister boldly committed what little armed forces we have left to military combat in Kosovo just the other day.
As obsolete equipment is not replaced, the problem of rust out of equipment occurs. In April 1998 the Auditor General of Canada reported to the House on the state of the Canadian armed forces equipment. He expressed grave concern that the deterioration of equipment was preventing the Canadian armed forces from fulfilling Canada's defence policy, the same defence policy that was written just a few years ago in 1994 by the Liberal government.
In terms of the army the auditor general pointed out that operationally it had not kept pace with technology to modernize its equipment, leaving it vulnerable to threats of low level and mid level operations. Its infantry and armour could be detected, engaged and defeated long before it was known that the enemy was even present. The auditor general unequivocally stated that the money for capital funding would decrease even further due to the high maintenance and operating costs of servicing aging equipment.
Here is the question. What should the Liberal government do to reverse the decline in the Canadian Armed Forces? I have some suggestions and some advice for the government this evening. First and foremost it must tackle the serious quality of life issues plaguing the forces and its personnel.
Since the Department of National Defence is facing a $750 million shortfall this year, the defence minister's much publicized attempts to acquire $700 million in funding is a moot point. What we need are creative solutions.
I propose that the Government of Canada create a Canadian Armed Forces service exemption of $5,000. The service exemption would be a graduated income tax exemption with the greatest benefit in favour of the lower ranks, the lowest paid members of the Canadian Armed Forces. The service exemption would increase spendable income for our troops. It would give them more money in their pockets without cutting into the defence budget and would protect capital projects and personnel levels in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Then the Liberal government must inject at least another $1 billion into defence spending so it approaches the $10.5 billion recommended by the special joint committee. This additional funding should be used to purchase badly needed equipment including ship borne helicopters. In the long term DND should be provided with stable funding so that defence planners can plan an attainable force structure.
Our forces play a meaningful role in world affairs. They must have air and sea lift capabilities and be prepared to acquire integrated battlefield technologies demanded by the high tech revolution in military affairs. If the government continues to cut defence spending or refuses to allocate more resources to defence in the future, it must revise its defence policy so it is consistent with the reduced capabilities of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Committing our forces to sovereignty protection, collective defence within NATO and international peacekeeping-peace enforcing without adequate resources is not only bad policy but is unfair to the proud men and women serving our country in Her Majesty's Canadian Armed Forces.