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Graham vows to hike forces budget
Chris Wattie
National Post
Thursday, September 02, 2004
<b>The Canadian Forces can expect a major funding increase, Bill Graham, the Minister of National Defence, said yesterday, but he would not say when he plans to boost the defence budget or by how much.</b>
"We certainly will be seeking additional funding -- there's no question about that. But I can't give you the actual number yet," Mr. Graham said in a telephone news conference from a Canadian base in Banja Luka, Bosnia.
The Minister said he plans to add another 5,000 troops to the Canadian Forces, part of a Liberal election promise to raise a new peacekeeping brigade, which will require augmenting the $13.6-billion defence budget.
"There's no suggestion that this is going to be funded out of current operations," he said. "It would be premature for me to say now, to flesh out exactly what form the brigade would take. What we can assure is that there will be an additional 5,000 for the Canadian Forces [and] there will be an additional 3,000 for the reserves."
Cost estimates for the additional troops, promised by Paul Martin, the Prime Minister, in the first weeks of this summer's election campaign, have ranged from $400-million to more than $2-billion, according to defence experts.
Military sources told the National Post last week that the new brigade was a hastily drawn-up scheme that caught Canadian Forces planners unprepared.
The sources said the new brigade would have to be funded -- at least partly -- at the expense of the navy and the air force, which could have been forced to mothball warships and ground aircraft to cover the cost.
General Ray Henault, the Chief of Defence Staff, held an impromptu news conference last Monday to deny the reports. Although he acknowledged there could be changes to the Canadian Forces, he said any cuts would be unconnected to the proposed brigade.
Mr. Graham would not say whether the additional troops would form a new brigade, as Mr. Martin indicated during the election campaign, or would be added to existing army units. "There's a series of scenarios and I'd like to have the chance to examine all of those," he said.
The Minister also promised to make public a defence policy review when the new session of Parliament opens in October, although he has said the review will fall short of a formal government white paper.
He said the defence review, along with foreign and international aid reviews, would be presented to the House of Commons and Senate committees for public hearings, "at which time there will be an opportunity for public discussion and public input."
"I want to make it very clear that we have a process," Mr. Graham said. "We're not able to release the process yet, because it's not complete. But as soon as it's complete .... by the time the parliamentary session begins, at that time we'll begin with the public process through the parliamentary committees."
The Defence Minister is in Bosnia this week to mark the end of Canada's 13-year mission to the former Yugoslavia.
Brigadier-General Stewart Beare, the Canadian head of one of three multinational NATO task forces now in Bosnia, handed over command to a British general in a ceremony yesterday.
The 650 Canadians serving in the Balkans will be replaced by only about 80 troops by the end of the month. "It's both moving and impressive to see the quality of work that our armed services give when they're in these very difficult situations," Mr. Graham said.
Nearly 40,000 members of the Canadian Forces have served in the Balkans and 25 were killed in the line of duty.
But despite the reduction in overseas missions, Mr. Graham said Canada will be able to make only a small contribution to resolve the crisis in the Sudan. Canada will send a handful of soldiers and some supplies for a UN-planned intervention force made up of African troops, he said.
"Any other contribution would have to be looked at ... but at the moment there's no suggestion of sending Canadian troops as troops."
<i><b>We certainly will be seeking additional funding -- there's no question about that. But I can't give you the actual number yet," Mr. Graham said in a telephone news conference </i></b> I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Chris Wattie
National Post
Thursday, September 02, 2004
<b>The Canadian Forces can expect a major funding increase, Bill Graham, the Minister of National Defence, said yesterday, but he would not say when he plans to boost the defence budget or by how much.</b>
"We certainly will be seeking additional funding -- there's no question about that. But I can't give you the actual number yet," Mr. Graham said in a telephone news conference from a Canadian base in Banja Luka, Bosnia.
The Minister said he plans to add another 5,000 troops to the Canadian Forces, part of a Liberal election promise to raise a new peacekeeping brigade, which will require augmenting the $13.6-billion defence budget.
"There's no suggestion that this is going to be funded out of current operations," he said. "It would be premature for me to say now, to flesh out exactly what form the brigade would take. What we can assure is that there will be an additional 5,000 for the Canadian Forces [and] there will be an additional 3,000 for the reserves."
Cost estimates for the additional troops, promised by Paul Martin, the Prime Minister, in the first weeks of this summer's election campaign, have ranged from $400-million to more than $2-billion, according to defence experts.
Military sources told the National Post last week that the new brigade was a hastily drawn-up scheme that caught Canadian Forces planners unprepared.
The sources said the new brigade would have to be funded -- at least partly -- at the expense of the navy and the air force, which could have been forced to mothball warships and ground aircraft to cover the cost.
General Ray Henault, the Chief of Defence Staff, held an impromptu news conference last Monday to deny the reports. Although he acknowledged there could be changes to the Canadian Forces, he said any cuts would be unconnected to the proposed brigade.
Mr. Graham would not say whether the additional troops would form a new brigade, as Mr. Martin indicated during the election campaign, or would be added to existing army units. "There's a series of scenarios and I'd like to have the chance to examine all of those," he said.
The Minister also promised to make public a defence policy review when the new session of Parliament opens in October, although he has said the review will fall short of a formal government white paper.
He said the defence review, along with foreign and international aid reviews, would be presented to the House of Commons and Senate committees for public hearings, "at which time there will be an opportunity for public discussion and public input."
"I want to make it very clear that we have a process," Mr. Graham said. "We're not able to release the process yet, because it's not complete. But as soon as it's complete .... by the time the parliamentary session begins, at that time we'll begin with the public process through the parliamentary committees."
The Defence Minister is in Bosnia this week to mark the end of Canada's 13-year mission to the former Yugoslavia.
Brigadier-General Stewart Beare, the Canadian head of one of three multinational NATO task forces now in Bosnia, handed over command to a British general in a ceremony yesterday.
The 650 Canadians serving in the Balkans will be replaced by only about 80 troops by the end of the month. "It's both moving and impressive to see the quality of work that our armed services give when they're in these very difficult situations," Mr. Graham said.
Nearly 40,000 members of the Canadian Forces have served in the Balkans and 25 were killed in the line of duty.
But despite the reduction in overseas missions, Mr. Graham said Canada will be able to make only a small contribution to resolve the crisis in the Sudan. Canada will send a handful of soldiers and some supplies for a UN-planned intervention force made up of African troops, he said.
"Any other contribution would have to be looked at ... but at the moment there's no suggestion of sending Canadian troops as troops."
<i><b>We certainly will be seeking additional funding -- there's no question about that. But I can't give you the actual number yet," Mr. Graham said in a telephone news conference </i></b> I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
