I read a very disturbing article today. In this article it was suggested that our Canadian troops deployed in Afghanistan have to shell out money from their own pockets in order to upgrade their inadequate equipment.
I’m appalled and disgusted but by no means surprised. Our Canadian military has been grossly under funded for years and “making do” with ancient relics has become a specialty of our resourceful troops. If you don’t believe me ask any member of our Air Force how reliable those Sea King Helicopters are or one of our military members that have been put in dangerous parts of the world without such necessities as a canister for their gas mask.
When our new Prime Minister was on the campaign trail he promised more money for our military’s budget. Mr. Harper has only been in office since February 6th of this year, so I suppose it may be a little premature to start criticizing him about broken campaign promises but I sincerely hope this one’s at the top of his “to do” list.
I will say that I’m encouraged by his recent visit to the Middle East and the reports of him bunking down in the mobile tents with the rest of the men gives me hope that he got a true understanding of what our troops face over there. What I did find laughable, though, was the statement made by Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor in which he stated that nobody complained to them during the Prime Minister’s visit about their equipment.
You don’t say!
As a former brigadier general, Mr. O’Connor should know full well that no military member, when in the presence of their commander-in-chief, is going to say something such as, “It’s an honor to meet you, Sir. Can you lend us some money for new equipment?”
The article goes on to say that Mr. O’Connor will be asking Ottawa to investigate. I sincerely hope they take this seriously and get these men and women the equipment they need…pronto!
To read the full article click here.