What the department has done instead is temporarily delay expanding the military, something it maintains contributes $305 million to the fiscal reductions sought by the Conservative government.
But critics say that isn’t a cut at all and there is still ample room to reduce the country’s annual $21-billion defence budget.
The department’s release of details about how it is reaching its reduction target comes as Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page tries to find out more about the fiscal belt-tightening and how that will affect government.
The department’s civilian workforce has shrunk by nearly 1,100 public servants over the last six months, a move the military says will save $128 million. In addition, as part of its effort to cut costs, the Canadian Forces and the DND point to their plan to temporarily delay the proposed expansion of the regular forces from 68,000 to 70,000 and the reserve force from 27,000 to 30,000.
The delay contributes $305 million out of the $1.1 billion the department is required to find over the next three years, according to the information provided by the DND to the Citizen.
It points out that this measure is a “restraint on growth” and is considered a saving, not a cut of the Canadian Forces.
Analyst Steve Staples says it’s highly misleading to even include the $305 million.
“It’s not an actual cut or even a reduction so why does it count toward the government’s $1-billion target for DND?” asks Staples, president of the Rideau Institute, an Ottawa think-tank that has been highly critical of defence spending.
“This is playing games with numbers while avoiding any real reductions.”
Staples said using DND’s rationale, then all departments could claim they are meeting government reduction targets by simply holding off on any big purchases for the next couple of years.
The bulk of the DND savings, $445 million, will come from cutting back on contracts with private companies who provide services to the military and the department. In the fiscal year 2010-11, such contracted services accounted for approximately $4 billion, or about 20 per cent of defence expenditures, DND points out.
But those cutbacks, such as the department’s recent decision not to renew its contract with a company that provides cleaning services at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ont., are already starting to have ramifications.
According to military documents leaked to the Citizen, it will now be mainly up to soldiers to keep base facilities, from offices to kitchens, clean.
“This will mean significant change to work processes and schedules, resulting in reduced services in all areas of our business and potentially cleaning of office and training facilities after hours and/or weekends,” stated the Oct. 15 email to administrative military staff at CFB Borden.
The email points out that the government’s decision not to renew the cleaning contract “will have considerable impact on all CFB Borden units and personnel.”
The Canadian Forces and the department also plan to save $40 million over the next three years by getting rid of reservists who are now working full-time, most of them in headquarters. They will be going back to their part-time status in the reserves.
Cuts to the civilian workforce will save $128 million over the three years. As of April 1, 2011, the department had a civilian workforce of 26,832. The reductions in staff started in April of this year and as of October 1 that workforce is 25,725. The reduction was from attrition, external staffing controls, and workforce adjustment, according to the DND statement.
The jobs eliminated range from clerks and secretaries to food services and kitchen staff. Other jobs cut include radiation safety personnel, weapons technicians, ammunition technicians, heavy truck mechanics, laboratory assistants, drivers and defence science researchers.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, has expressed his displeasure with the extent of the cuts and has called for more savings. Union leaders say that even though the reductions to the DND civilian workforce didn’t yield significant amounts of savings, Harper has ordered further cuts in that area.
They point to a June 15 letter that Harper sent to Defence Minister Peter MacKay about the need for further reductions to the civilian workforce.
“Harper just wants more bodies out the door,” said John MacLennan, national president of the Union of National Defence Employees, which represents 19,000 workers.
He said the actual savings of cutting public servants is much lower than the DND suggests; he puts the figure at less than $80 million.
MacKay’s spokesman Jay Paxton said the process of finding savings would continue.
“Officials continue to review and assess resource allocation at the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces and will promptly disclose any final decisions to the Canadian public,” he noted in an email.
Both MacKay’s office and the DND statement noted that the government has made unprecedented investments in the department and Canadian Forces in recent years.
The DND and Canadian Forces also say they are saving in other areas:
$75 million in national procurement through “the use of sustainable efficiency measures” to streamline and simplify the process to purchase support equipment, spare parts, and other matériel through the national procurement budget.
$15 million from centralizing how it manages the DND property, including buildings and land. Currently, such property maintenance is decentralized and managed by nine different custodians across the country.
Centralizing the delivery of civilian human resources services will save $9 million.
Reducing training to militaries of developing countries will save another $411,000.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author:DAVID PUGLIESE
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