Last Updated: Oct 1, 2012 7:07 AM ET
Defence Minister Peter MacKay announces the new
Canadian Forces Leopard 2A4 tank at CFB Gagetown in Oromocto, N.B., on
Thursday, September 13. (David Smith/Canadian Press)
An independent analysis has concluded the waves of federal budget cuts washing over National Defence will run deeper and likely be more painful than advertised by the Harper government.
While it won't exactly be a return to the "decade of darkness" the Conservatives attribute to the Liberal years, the reductions will be significant and are expected to cut into the military's "readiness" — or ability to respond quickly to a crisis.
The days of soldiers rationing their training ammunition, fuel and money used to make equipment operationally ready may be about to return, the report warned.
The research paper, written for the Centre for Security and Defence Studies at Carleton University, estimates the cumulative effect of the Harper government's strategic review and the overlapping deficit reduction action plan will carve up to $2.5 billion out of the nearly $21 billion National Defence budget by 2014-15.
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