The reversal will be welcome news to municipalities and provinces who worried about being able to cover the often significant costs associated with turning to the Canadian Forces for help in times of need.
Postmedia News broke the story earlier this week that the Defence Department quietly decided last year to begin invoicing provinces, municipalities and other government departments in most cases where the military’s assistance is required.
Officials with the Defence Department say it has always had the authority to recoup costs incurred when it provides such assistance, but for the past 15 years it has waived that authority as a matter of course. In the event of a disaster or emergency, the department will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to levy charges, they add.
But on Friday, a spokeswoman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay indicated the government has reversed course.
“It is not the federal government’s intention to bill provinces or municipalities for Armed Forces assistance during natural emergencies,” Paloma Aguilar said in an email.
Rather, she indicated National Defence will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to approach the federal Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness — through which most requests for assistance flow — to recoup its costs.
Exactly where Public Safety will find the money to compensate National Defence, however, remains unclear as it is also facing budget cuts.
Tim Haney, a disaster management expert at Mount Royal University in Calgary, didn’t see how Public Safety or any other department would be able or willing to compensate the military for its efforts.
“I doubt that they’ll be spared budget cuts either,” Haney said of Public Safety. “I would be really surprised if they had the money or would be willing to eat the cost.”
Public Safety officials did not respond to questions on Friday.
A number of provincial and municipal officials across the country had expressed concern this week following revelations the federal government was looking to pass the costs for military intervention on to them.
The Quebec government was the most recent example.
“In the event that an intervention is charged for, this approach would have a significant impact on provinces and municipalities during major disasters and also during events requiring specific resources for which the Canadian Forces are the only recourse,” said Clement Falardeau, spokesman for Quebec Public Security Minister Stephane Bergeron.
Falardeau also indicated the federal government could have ended up paying anyways because the province can apply for federal compensation when costs associated with an emergency exceed about $8 million, and he predicted that any charges for military assistance would be rolled into this as well.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Manitoba also expressed concerns with the federal government’s plan.
In the past two years, Canadian soldiers have helped fight flooding in Manitoba and Quebec and evacuated, housed and fed residents of northern Ontario communities threatened by forest fires. The costs borne by the military varied from nearly $4 million for the flooding in Quebec and $3.8 million for the flood mitigation in Manitoba to $51,000 for evacuating and feeding those communities in Northern Ontario.
The Defence Department’s decision to start charging on a cost-recovery basis was outlined in an internal memo to Defence Minister Peter MacKay from July that was obtained by Postmedia News.
“Whilst DND has typically waived the cost of CF assistance to other government departments over the past 15 years,” reads the briefing note, “given present fiscal restraints, the department is no longer in a position to routinely waive the often significant costs associated with this assistance.
“Going forward, the waiving of such costs must be the exception, rather than the rule,” the note adds.
A Defence Department spokesperson confirmed the decision was finalized in July.
National Defence spokeswoman Tanya LeBlanc said in emailed statement sent recently that the department “takes its role as a strong steward of public resources very seriously and makes every effort to ensure sound financial management of taxpayer dollars.”
“DND has always had the authority to recoup costs,” she added.
“Given present fiscal restraints, DND has decided to exercise its authority to recoup costs related to support to other government departments when it deems it necessary.”
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