Federal government looking to cut $1 billion from National Defence budget

The Liberal government is looking to cut almost $1 billion from the annual budget of the Department of National Defence (DND) a demandthe country's top military commander says is prompting some "difficult" conversations within the military.

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre and Deputy Minister of Defence Bill Matthews testified before the House of Commons defence committee late Thursday, where they acknowledged in more detail the ramifications of the federal government's spending reduction plan.

Earlier this month, Eyre and Matthews released a joint internal statement warning that the department would be expected to contribute to the federal government's overall plan to reduce spending.

"There's no way that you can take almost a billion dollars out of the defence budget and not have an impact," Eyre told the four-party committee. "This is something that we're wrestling with now."

DND's main estimates for 2023-24 say the department'sbudget for this year is expected to be $26.5 billion.

Late Friday, Defence Minister Bill Blair issued a series of posts on social media denying the budget will be cut, putting himself at odds with his two most senior officials.

"Canada's defence spending has increased year after year under our government. That spending growth will continue," Blair wrote on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

"We're reviewing spending to find savings on things like consulting and travel, but overall spending on defence will continue to grow."

He defended the amount of money the Liberals have put into defence since being elected in 2015.

"From protecting Canadians during forest fires and floods, to training Ukrainians and supporting our NATO allies, our Canadian Armed Forces always deliver for Canada," Blair wrote.

"We'll continue to invest in them, so that they have the tools they need to do their jobs.Any claim that Canada is 'cutting'defence spending is not accurate, because overall defence spending has increased and will continue to increase."

WATCH |'Difficult' conversations coming on defence spending,chief of the defencestaff says

'Difficult' conversations coming on defence spending, chief of the defence staff says

12 months ago

Duration 0:29

During a meeting of the Senate defence committee Thursday, Chief of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre told Parliamentarians about the impact of cutting the close to $1 billion the Liberals have said they'll shave off the defence budget.

With their 2017 defence policy and subsequent budgets including a 20-year $38 billion plan to modernize NORAD the Liberals have increased defence spending and have pledged to continue to do so.

Blair's statementis at odds with what the committee heard, however.

Answering a question about proposed cuts from the Bloc Quebecoisbefore the committee on Thursday, Blair acknowledged the exercise was underway.

"We are looking very carefully at expenditures. It may require, for example, that we make different choices," the minister said, citing one possible area of reduction: the number of professional services contracts the department issues.

Cutting those serviceswould not amount to $1 billion in annual savings, however.

While he didn't state itdirectly,Blair's posts suggestthe Liberals will claim they'll continue to put additional money into defence just not as much as they had plannedearlier.

"We have to, to look very carefully at expenditures," Blair said. "It may actually require some of the investments that we know we have to make we may have to make over a longer period of time in response to the current fiscal situation."

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Canadian military relaxes rules to try and increase recruits

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The Canadian Armed Forces has introduced relaxed rules for service terms and appearance allowing longer hair and facial hair as strategies it hopes will help recruit and retain members.

On Thursday, Eyre said thatearlier in the day he'd had a "very difficult session" with the commanders of the various services. He said that meetingwas intended "to explain this to our people" at a time when the international situation is becoming increasingly precarious partly due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Word of the planned cuts, which have not been specified, comes just weeks after the Liberal government agreed with other NATO allies on a pledge to make thealliance's defence spending benchmark of two per cent of gross domestic product an "enduring commitment."

Living up to that pledge would require a substantial increase in the defence appropriation.

Cuts could undermine Canada's NATO commitment

According to NATO's latest annual report, Canada spent an estimated 1.3 per cent of its GDP on the military last year well below the target. Coming out of the alliance's summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the Liberal government faced a storm of bad press and increased pressure from allies to step up its financial commitment.

How the planned cuts will affect Canada's commitment to NATO is unclear. Germany also recently walked back its pledge to meet the two per cent target.

Matthews told the defence committee Thursday that the process of identifying proposed cuts is underway and will lead to a spending reduction of "nearly, I think ... $900 million and change, [which will] ramp up over four years."

While he insisted the cuts will be prioritizedso that "they have the least amount of impact possible," he acknowledged that "there will be impact."

Matthews said the spending reductions will be aimed at "minimizing impact on military readiness."

WATCH: Defence critic questions budget plan for Defence

Conservative MP wants assurances cuts won't affect military capabilities

12 months ago

Duration 2:32

Conservative defence critic James Bezan questioned Bill Mathews of the Department of National Defence on planned cuts to the department. Mathews says the DND is aiming at the 'least amount of impact possible.'

Conservative defence critic James Bezan demanded assurances on that point.

"What's going to give here on a billion dollars this year?" he asked. "And how are we going to deal with the threat environment that we're in if we're going to continue to cut rather than invest in our Canadian Armed Forces?"

Treasury Board President Anita Anand, the former defence minister, told other federal cabinet ministers in August they will be required to cut $15.4 billion in government spending and that they had until Oct. 2 to present their ideas.

At the time, Anand said the Liberal government wanted to ensure money was spent wisely while delivering on key government promises such as dental and child care.

Blair suggested to the defence committee that some of the savings could be attained by putting off planned equipment spending.

"We do know that we have to look very carefully at the expenditures," he said.

"It may actually require some of the investments that we know we have to make, [that] we may have to make over a longer period of time in response to the current fiscal situation."