Conservatives won''t commite defence strategy to paper

There is something a bit arrogant about even talking about a 20 year plan given that the Conservatives are a minority government. However, perhaps in twenty years we will still have the Liberals as the main opposition in a Conservative minority government. The new Liberal leader will scathingly denounce Conservative policy while sitting on their hands everytime a confidence motion arises!
At least we have some of the promises gathered together in one speech and know that the new muscular military that will be at the service of US foreign policy will cost us in the billions. The US will love us.

Conservatives won't commit defence strategy to paper
20-year plan for military to be based on 'vision' outlined in Harper, MacKay speeches

David Pugliese
The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
CREDIT: Paul Darrow, Reuters
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking at the Armouries in Halifax yesterday, stressed Canada's need for a strong military. 'If you want to be taken seriously in the world, you need the capacity to act -- it's that simple,' he said.
Canada's defence strategy for the next 20 years will be based on speeches by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Peter Mac-Kay given yesterday in Halifax.
In a highly unusual move, the Conservative government will base its entire future rebuilding of the Canadian military on Mr. Harper's 10-minute speech and Mr. MacKay's 700-word address. No actual strategy document has been produced, or will be produced, according to government and defence officials. Neither speech went into any specific details about equipment purchases, costs or timelines or how the future strategy will unfold. Both speeches presented more broad-brush approaches to defence.
Asked about when the actual Canada First Defence Strategy was going to be released, Jay Paxton, Mr. MacKay's press secretary, replied: "It is a strategy that you heard enunciated by the prime minister and Minister MacKay."
"It is not a 'document' like a white paper -- it is the vision delivered today for long-term planning for the CF," he added. "As such, the speeches are the strategy."
Mr. Harper's speech repeated some phrases from previous addresses, including the need to have a strong military. "If you want to be taken seriously in the world, you need the capacity to act -- it's that simple," Mr. Harper said. "The Canada First Defence Strategy will strengthen our sovereignty and security at home and bolster our ability to defend our values and interests abroad."
Mr. MacKay's speech talked about the purchase of fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft, new fighter planes, replacements for destroyers and frigates, combat vehicles for the army and a replacement for Aurora maritime patrol aircraft. He did not provide any details about how much such procurements would cost or the timelines for them.
Mr. MacKay also talked about improving key infrastructure used by the Canadian Forces and increasing military readiness, but did not go into details about either.
The Conservatives did retreat on an election promise that called for a boost to the size of the regular military to 75,000 and the reserves to around 35,000. Now the size of the regular force will be 70,000 and 30,000 for the reserves, an expansion that will take place "over the course of the plan," according to Mr. MacKay.
The Canada First plan covers the next 20 years.
The announcement did not cover other promises made in the past by the Conservatives. There were no details about the replacement of the air force's aging Twin Otters, used in the Arctic. Also absent were details about the creation of the territorial battalions promised by the Conservatives during the last election.
The new airborne regiment that Mr. Harper previously said would be based in Trenton, Ont., and which one Conservative MP insists is still on the books, also wasn't mentioned.
Last year, the Canadian Forces produced a 39-page Canada First Strategy for the government, but that was rejected because it was too specific and also included details about equipment that needed to be eliminated, either because it was too old or too costly to operate.
Defence Department officials believe the government wants to keep its strategy vague so critics cannot point to specific pieces of the plan they may fail to deliver.
The plan also reiterates previous equipment purchases totalling $30 billion and made in 2006 and 2007. Of those, the military has received C-17 transport aircraft and used Leopard tanks. It has also signed a contract for the delivery of C-130J transport planes.
Other previously announced programs, such as the purchase of new Chinook helicopters, Arctic patrol ships, trucks for the army, and upgrades for the navy's frigates are in various stages of acquisition.
Mr. Paxton said the Canada First Defence Strategy is "unprecedented" in that it commits stable funding for the military over a 20-year period and an automatic increase in defence spending each year.
But defence industry officials say such promises are almost meaningless since any government in the future can overturn such initiatives. They note that neither the Conservatives in the 1980s nor the Liberals in the 1990s followed through with all their military spending promises outlined in various white papers.
NDP defence critic Dawn Black said even the previous Liberal government produced a strategy document when it last announced its defence policy for the future. "It's appalling that defence is the biggest expenditure of government and yet there's no strategic documents to go with this supposed plan," Ms. Black said. "We waited two years for this, if you can believe it."
The announcement by Mr. Harper, made against a backdrop of military personnel and with defence chief Gen. Rick Hillier and high-ranking politicians in the audience, generated a burst of positive publicity for the government throughout the day.
But some of the projects announced yesterday have already been announced. In December, Mr. MacKay confirmed that work had commenced on an Aurora aircraft replacement, but he did not have any details on how long it would take.
In regard to the purchase of search-and-rescue aircraft, the Liberals fast-tracked a program in 2004 to procure new planes, but that project stalled over the years. The Canadian Forces just announced it will spend more money to keep the Buffalos flying until 2015-2017 when a new search-and-rescue plane is expected.
For more military news, go to David Pugliese's Defence Watch blog at ottawacitizen.com.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008