# Security needs served by luck:  Senate report



## Gunnar (8 Dec 2004)

Security needs served by luck: Senate report
CTV.ca News Staff

The Senate committee on national security and defence has released its first "guide book" on the state of Canada's military preparedness, and it's not looking good.

Measuring the extent to which Paul Martin's government has attempted to update Canada's defence capabilities, the report credits the prime minister with introducing "some significant reforms."

Chief among them are moves to consolidate the security file under purview of the Deputy Prime Minister, as well as the release of a national security policy.

But, the committee adds in a statement accompanying its report on Wednesday, "it is fair to say that the new government has yet to demonstrate that is prepared to match resources with its stated objectives."

Noting that the federal government's "raison d'être" is to guarantee its citizens security, the report suggests Canadians have, until now, been served as much by luck as by preparedness.

"When it comes to national security and defence -- issues that are not part of the everyday lives of most Canadians -- the vast majority of citizens trust in luck,'' it said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, luck is notoriously untrustworthy.''

Among the outstanding defence and national security issues the committee says Ottawa still has to address are:

the lack of screening of mail and cargo at ports and airports, as well as lax background checks on related personnel, 
the "soft underbelly of Canadian coastal defence" presented by the poorly guarded Great Lakes, 
too few intelligence agencies with too little staff to properly gather, assess and thwart modern enemies, 
a "toothless" and "underutilized" Coast Guard that provides little in the way of actual coastal protection, 
and inadequate defence budgets.
During a visit to Canadian Forces Base Valcartier near Quebec City last month, Martin conceded military coffers are far from bulging.

"We have to turn around our dwindling investment which, I admit, I have a certain responsibility for causing,'' he said. "Your superiors here are just too polite to say it.''

Martin served as finance minister during the 1990s, at a time when military budget cuts resulted in significant troop cuts.


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