LYTLE: When will Ottawa treat armed forces as if they mattered?

I learned to trust the reporting of the magazine Esprit de Corps when Scott Taylor was embedded with Canadian peacekeepers during the Bosnia-Herzegovina War (1992–1995.) I have since purged myself of the legacy press. Therefore, when Mr. Taylor describes the brokenness of the Canadian Armed Forces, I take it as true. Mr. Taylor quotes from the Minister of National Defense (DND) that 55% of the DND airplanes are ready for the desert boneyard. They can’t be flown. Additionally, 54% of DND warships cannot leave harbour. Hurray for the army, though. A remarkable 54% of their equipment has engines that start and wheels that roll. Too bad about the other 46% of army equipment that no longer works.Do Canadians approve of this? At least we should turn this equipment into ploughshares, shouldn’t we? I am told that a recent army reserve field exercise was cancelled because they couldn’t find an ambulance that would work. Could that be why the Canadian Armed Forces are at 85% strength and are trying to fill the gaps with landed immigrants who are guaranteed citizenship if they sign up? The Canadian military has been underfunded, in my view, for decades but I am mostly haunted by Mr. Trudeau’s comment to a wheelchair-bound veteran that the government couldn’t offer more help because vets were “asking for too much.” Are they asking too much? Veterans Affairs Canada does a good job of totting up the costs incurred for veteran’s benefits, but context is missing. Read what the Royal Canadian Legion says. It is time for a change. Here are my suggestions.Canadian taxpayers should pay a 3% surcharge on their taxes into a trust account which is regulated by an independent body of tribunal experts with military experience selected by an all-party parliamentary committee (Veteran’s Board.) On a total tax base of approximately C$150 billion this would raise $4.5 billion per year. When the Canadian government wants to make an equipment procurement, the government must present their request at a public hearing open to supporting and opposing intervenors.Freedom to drive comes with a cost and that cost will be paid from a one cent per liter energy tax (post elimination of the Carbon Tax.) This would make $2.5 billion available annually for Veteran’s Affairs costs (2022 cost is $2.2 billion per year.) The funds raised will go to the trust fund described above and withdrawals from the fund will be regulated by the Veteran’s Board. Any veteran can request a hearing before the Veterans Board.To make this proposal cost-neutral, an amount equal to the inflation-adjusted 2015 DND procurement and 2022 Veteran’s affairs expenditures will be deducted from the Canadian tax schedules.For clarity, the salary costs of the DND will continue to be paid from the general revenue of the government but capital and veteran’s costs will be paid from an account independent of the government. For too long, governments have played games with military spending in Canada. As a result, they must lose the ability to manipulate that spending. Veterans, you see, are not asking “for too much” and the deplorable condition of military equipment is too easy to hide. Do Canadians approve of this? We need to end this shameful situation.Murray Lytle is a retired professional engineer and a former commissioner with the National Energy Board

LYTLE: When will Ottawa treat armed forces as if they mattered?

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