Top soldier defends spending delay

Gen. Jonathan Vance says military must make sure it is making most of current funding

OTTAWA — The country’s top soldier has pushed back on suggestions the armed forces is struggling from a lack of cash, saying he’s not convinced it is making the most of the money it already gets.

Yet chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance says he is also eager to see the government’s new defence policy, which has promised to put the military on a strong financial footing over the long term.

“The here and now is fine, we’re delivering,” Vance said in an interview. “But going forward, that’s when the government committed to sustainable, progressive armed forces.”

The question of military spending has taken on a life of its own over the last year, after U.S. President Donald Trump called on NATO allies to contribute more to their own defence.

Canada currently spends about one per cent of its GDP on defence, which is half the agreed-upon NATO target of two per cent and puts it in the bottom half among the allies.

Rather than increase defence spending, however, last week’s federal budget saw the Liberal government delay hundreds of millions of dollars in planned equipment purchases by several years. Vance said defence officials asked for the delay because several projects weren’t ready for the money.Vance acknowledged there are some areas of the military that need more money, starting with its crumbling bases, armouries and other infrastructure.

“But my gut instinct right now tells me we have way too much infrastructure in the armed forces for the size that we are,” he said.

“We have a lot of buildings that we’re paying tax on that we don’t use. So before we blame government for a lack of money, we’ve got to make certain that in-house we are the most efficient we can be.”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said last week that the armed forces was “appropriately provisioned” to meet Canada’s needs, while leaving the door open to future “adjustments” as needed.