Mr. Speaker, budgets are like a magician's tricks. The government tries to give the appearance of something that is not there. Through the parsing of words and playing with numbers and statistics, the government tries to give the impression that its financial commitments will meet everyone's needs regardless of what it is. The government tries to be all things to all people but it does not work.
Let me say at the beginning that we Conservatives support the growth in regular and reserve manpower, although it is far short of what is required. They are certainly needed by the hardworking military.
The government, as we have learned in the budget, says that it is committed to adding the regular and reserve personnel and have allocated this year and next some $180 million of a total $3 billion, or only 6%. It is obvious that it is not really in a hurry to close the manpower gap, since it is going to stretch out the process as long as it can. It looks as though the military will be asked to spin its wheels waiting for the manpower increase. The government has built a lot of flexibility and can, at will, slide implementation to the side.
Unfortunately, in adding the 5,000 regulars and 3,000 reserves to the military, recruits will have to be processed through the constipated recruiting and training system. Currently about 10,000 regulars are tied up in the system and the normal number should be in the 4,000 to 5,000 range. Many regular recruits are lost in the system for up to 18 months. Similar problems are faced by the reserves who are also processed through the same system.
The Conservative Party also believes that absorbing an increase at only 1,000 per year is not an acceptable goal for the government. What would the government do if there were an international crisis calling for dramatic increases? It is just not acceptable.
In this budget the government is trying to show that it has changed its spots and that it is generally committed to having an effective military force. However, a lot of what it says is simply obscuring the real situation.
The overarching statement in the budget is that the government is putting $12.8 billion of new money into the military in the next five years. This is not true. According to its own figures, the amount is $7 billion. The proposed increase starts this year with $500 million and next year $600 million. However all that Canadians can really count on are a mere $1.1 billion out of the so-called $13 billion.
In subsequent years there are promises of increases in the amount of $1.1 billion, $2.1 billion and $2.7 billion respectively, which may or may not ever happen. By then we will probably be involved in an election or the government will declare that the economy has deteriorated or that its priorities have changed.
In the highly touted increase to the military, $5.8 billion is not new money. It is recycled money. This is a typical government ploy to keep re-announcing projects. For example, we have already had an announcement for the fixed wing search and rescue project. We were told last year that it would cost $1.3 billion and deliver 15 small transport aircraft. These new aircraft are supposed to replace the Buffalo and Hercules which are both very old aircraft. However we now have the fixed wing SAR project listed as a new project. How many times will this project be announced? Instead of re-announcing it, perhaps the minister will take the brakes off the project.
When the first announcement was promulgated, it was predicted that within 18 months a decision would be made. I can tell the House that no such decision has been made. In fact, the department is still trying to determine what it wants. It has not produced a statement of requirements. Until that statement is produced, no progress will be made on this project. Perhaps that is what the government wants to do, make feel good announcements but never acquire the aircraft.
Since I am on the topic of aircraft, there is no mention of airlift in the budget. We certainly do not need a defence review to determine that we need reliable airlift. Everyone who reads newspapers and watches television knows about the government's dithering on the DART. The Liberals long term under financing of the military really hit home with the public during the horrific disaster in Asia.
For years the government touted the disaster assistance response team as something Canada could dispatch within 48 hours. The deployment of the DART to Sri Lanka was delayed two weeks and it had to be done by commercially available Antonov aircraft, rather than our own transport fleet.
The reason is that our current fleet of air transport is very old and over-committed. It does not take a defence review to arrive at this conclusion. On any one day, one-third of the Hercules fleet of 32 aircraft is committed to search and rescue, leaving about 20 to 22 aircraft for airlift tasks. Because of their advanced stage and the need for intense maintenance support, only 50% are available on any one day. In practical terms, this means that only 10 or 11 Hercules are available for national and international tasking.
It is quite obvious that we cannot meet airlift requirements for international ventures but the same problem exists in Canada. Just think of the difficulties the military had last year moving troops around our country, especially into the north. Only last week there was an incident where reservists in the Maritimes could not secure Canadian Forces transport to train in the United States. It is downright embarrassing.
How long will it take for the government to commit to buying airlift? Will we have to wait another 10 years until we see new transport aircraft?
The Liberal government is trying to spin the notion that it is committed to a real revitalization of the military. This is its typical smoke and mirrors. If it had been committed to real revitalization, it would have front end loaded the budget instead of pushing any real increase into the third, fourth and fifth gears, meaning that it will probably not happen. Expectations are raised but the real money will always be beyond reach.
In the first two years there is no funding for new equipment projects. Even the ones announced in the budget get no money. The government continues to use the old line that until it sees the defence review, no commitment to new projects can be made. This is patently untrue.
The government in this budget announced the future acquisition of medium capacity helicopters. Where did this idea come from? The answer is that it came from the defence review document that Parliament has yet to see. If the medium lift helicopters can be identified in the budget, why can airlift and sealift projects not also be identified?
The Prime Minister announced during the election in Gagetown that the forces would be requiring three 28,000 tonne joint support ships. Where is the follow up commitment to these vessels? The government has had staff working on the sealift project for years defining and redefining the requirement. When is the dithering going to stop? Is the government going to walk away from another one of its commitments?
The budget refers to the acquisition of logistic trucks. I am quite pleased to see that the government is making a commitment, except that there is no money for the project in the first two years of the budget. The army certainly needs the new trucks. The old ones are rusting out quickly.
Somewhere between 2008 and 2012, the army logistic lift will be unable to meet its tasks because its 26 year old trucks will be rusted out beyond repair and unsafe. I hope for the sake of the army the department rethinks its old procurement process, otherwise it may be many years before the army sees the new trucks.
Of course, I was surprised again that the minister was able to identify a project without a new defence review being approved. Since the review seems to slide and slide into the future, perhaps he can address other vital needs of the forces within the document. It seems to be a convenient crutch to avoid decision.
The government's budget was not written with clarity in mind. It has been very difficult to determine precisely what is being done in defence. I particularly liked the warning, “the timing and size of DND's cash requirement will depend upon how the military allocates its new funding to its various needs and, in particular, on the timing and the nature of specific projects it initiates”. It seems to say that there is unlimited flexibility in the numbers we have been provided and that they are in reality notional.
The budget numbers and government plan are on Velcro. The only numbers that Canadians can believe is the two year defence commitment averaging $550 million, which will not even start to address the real problems of the military.
The Liberals have never stood by a five year funding plan and they certainly will not do so this time. A real commitment would have been front end loaded. The government has cruelly raised the expectation of the military and down the road it is going to disappoint it. This has been the Liberals' track record for 40 years, through government after government. They promise and promise but they never deliver. They will do and say anything to stay in power. Contrary to the spin, this is not a good budget for defence.