Cuts will be made to civilian defence jobs at bases across Canada after several departments have been asked to trim their budgets, said Keith Martin, MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca.
The recent request includes shaving at least five per cent off the Department of National Defence $19-billion base budget, Martin said from Ottawa.
Last week, senior military officials indicated the financial constraints would translate into cuts to civilian administrative positions, and scaling back the number of military reservists.
A spokesperson for Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the goal of a scheduled year-long strategic review B次元官网网址� which cycles through all government departments every five years B次元官网网址� is to identify up to five per cent in funding redundancies.
Until the findings go before cabinet for possible approval this year, any comment on staffing reductions would be premature, said Jay Paxton.
But good indicators of the departmentB次元官网网址檚 personnel goals, he explained, are mapped out in a 20-year strategic document known as the Canada First Defence Strategy.
Whereas there are now 68,000 in the regular force, there is need for 70,000 by the year 2028. As well, there is room for 4,000 more reservists, up from the current 26,000.
B次元官网网址淥n the civilian side, there is always a need to ensure the Canadian Forces have the support of a strong civilian team,B次元官网网址� Paxton explained, adding that in recent years their numbers were increased to support the militaryB次元官网网址檚 high-operational tempo, such as with the Afghanistan mission.
About 28,000 civilians currently work for DND.
In the event admin jobs are axed, the entire administrative department needs streamlining for increased efficiency in order to make the cuts worthwhile, Martin said.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a bureaucratic morass,B次元官网网址� he noted, adding that it is an enormous challenge modifying the public service and one that B次元官网网址渋s not a politically sexy issue.B次元官网网址�
Martin said the cuts will likely be affected at CFB Esquimalt, which employs about 4,000 military personnel and 2,000 civilians.
B次元官网网址淚t creates uncertainty,B次元官网网址� he said.
Scaling back on reservists could further burden the regular force where skill sets, especially in medicine and trades, are in demand.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e going backwards,B次元官网网址� the Martin said. B次元官网网址淭here are already deficits in some of the skilled areas of the Forces.B次元官网网址�
This resulted from extensive military cuts in the 1990s when there was a debt deficit crisis, Martin explained.
B次元官网网址淲hat we were left with was big holes. Over the last decade they were trying to fill those.B次元官网网址�
Last spring the government requested DND trim its annual budget increase by five per cent.
Still, the planned spending of billions of dollars on the acquisition of big-ticket items such as new F-35 fighter jets will go ahead. While those are needed, said Martin, so are personnel such as reservists.
B次元官网网址淚f someone takes a blunt instrument and makes cuts that arenB次元官网网址檛 appropriate to material, equipment and personnel then you run into trouble,B次元官网网址� he explained. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e cutting for the sake of cutting sake,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e starting at the wrong end of the equation.B次元官网网址�
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 navy has had to make extensive sacrifices because of the expense of the mission in Afghanistan, he continued.
B次元官网网址淥ver the last couple of years we were docking ships because there wasnB次元官网网址檛 enough manpower or resources to take out ships on longer deployments,B次元官网网址� Martin said.
