Ottawa has come up with the funding for a navy fisheries patrol that was initially cancelled as the mission in Afghanistan drains the Canadian Forces' resources and other departments are asked to tighten their belts.
The Globe and Mail reports that naval commanders have cancelled discretionary spending in order to compensate for a $25-million shortfall before the next fiscal year starts on April 1.
Among the casualties of the cutback was a scheduled 35-day fisheries patrol by HMCS Halifax, a multi-role patrol frigate set to start its mission on Monday.
The patrol is intended to prevent foreign ships from fishing illegally in Canadian waters.
After word spread that the mission had been cancelled, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said on Wednesday his department would come up with the money for the mission, which costs more than $25,000 per day.
"I was given an estimate today that the navy would need $3-million to $5-million for fuel, essentially to meet these fishery patrols and a few other issues," O'Connor was quoted as saying. "And I've told our officials, make sure they get the $3 million to $5 million."
There is no word, however, on whether other fisheries' patrols will also be bailed out by the Defence Department.
The Afghanistan mission has become the top priority for the Canadian government, with the majority of the military's resources being funneled towards military and development efforts in that country. As a result, other departments are feeling the crunch.
"Afghanistan is eating money like you wouldn't believe," Peter Haydon, a retired naval officer now with the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies in Halifax, told The Globe.
"The demand for money is being transferred through the whole military system. Afghanistan is a huge financial drain."
The National Post reported on Thursday that the Defence Department is asking Ottawa to more than double its annual funding to $36.6 billion by 2025, and wants more than 30 projects focused on Arctic sovereignty approved.
Though the navy had planned activities worth roughly $315 million this fiscal year, their funding ended up being $290 million, Lieutenant Marie-Claude Gagne, a Maritime Command spokeswoman on the East Coast, said Wednesday, according to The Globe.
However, she acknowledged that Maritime Forces Atlantic typically over-programs, based on the assumption that the department will have extra money at the end of the year due to projects that were cancelled, delayed or cheaper than projected.
Rear Admiral Dean McFadden, commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic, has asked all of his commanding officers to allocate funds where they are most needed, but to exercise spending prudence.
Included in the current belt-tightening taking place within the navy, professional development has been put on hold, training exercises may be cancelled and personnel may be asked to reduce vehicle use to the minimum.
Gagne suggested the Canadian Forces' priorities have shifted for the moment, resulting in the funding cutback.
"I don't know. I believe it is because other priorities have taken precedence," Gagne said.
The priority, defence experts say, is now Afghanistan.
"I think the big picture here, if I have to make one, is that Afghanistan has become so all-absorbing of time, energy and resources for everyone that there's nothing left over," Dan Middlemiss, a political science professor who teaches defence policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax told The Globe.
"They haven't been able to budget adequately for Afghanistan, as much as they are trying, because needs keep evolving and new requirements emerge on the spot and they have to deal with them quickly. So it's exhausting everybody in the process."
Dawn Black, the NDP's defence critic, said O'Connor needs to assure Canadians that money that is needed here at home is not being shipped out to Afghanistan.
"If fishery patrols are being cancelled, and they are telling us that, what does that mean about environmental patrols, what does that mean about drug interception, what does that mean about border security?" Black asked.
"I think there are a lot of questions here that the Minister of National Defence has got to make clear to Canadians. I think it raises huge concerns."
With files from The Canadian Press
