Harper Announces Cuts to the Military to Help Pay for His Lavish Lifestyle

I suspect now that Harper is pretending to care about the economy, while putting his neo-conservative agenda into overdrive; we will be treated to these little tidbits over the next two months.

Starting out with cuts to military spending. What a farce. Only to the forces, and no reduction in money being wasted in Afghanistan.

He has already claimed that the war there has been lost, so why are we putting in time?

Bring our soldiers home today. We have sacrificed too many and should not risk any more.

And preaching restraint, the way these guys waste our money? Now that's rich.

Canadian armed forces to cut $182 million
United Press International
December 28, 2009

OTTAWA, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Canadian armed forces are planning cuts of $182 million to meet a strategy set by the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, military officials say.

The Defense Department said the Canadian Navy will reduce the amount of training offered to reservists and will cut back on maintenance, while the air force will reduce its flying time and hold off on non-essential repairs, The Ottawa Citizen reported Monday.

The newspaper said the army has already said it will reduce some training and limit the number of reservists who are employed full time.

The cuts are coming as the Conservative Party government has signaled public services will face cuts in a bid to reduce the $53 billion federal deficit. The air force will be forced to cut $56 million from its budget while the navy is looking at $50 million in cuts and the army must find $76 million in reductions, the Citizen said.

Report: Canadian military spread too thin
United Press International

OTTAWA, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Canada's military forces are spread too thin to maintain current operations and also staff the upcoming Winter Olympics, the Toronto Star reported Tuesday.

Defense Department documents seen by the Star's Ottawa bureau indicate Canada's NATO role in Afghanistan could be outsourced and peacekeeping missions in 14 other international operations could be scaled back or terminated.

Military planners expressed concern about the strain of providing 4,000 soldiers for security at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February and a similar number for the Group of Eight summit of world leaders north of Toronto in July.

"We ... are now at the point where some requests that would seem to be minor ... are, in reality, difficult to source initially and impossible to sustain over the 2010 timeframe," a memorandum to chief of defense staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk said.

The documents said by next year, 32,000 troops, or half of the country's military, would be involved in the Afghanistan mission, the Olympics or the G8 summit.

Aside from the Afghan combat duties in Kandahar, Canadian troops have been running a military college for Afghan army officers, which may have to be outsourced to civilian contractors or retired soldiers, the Star said