Government default: in 1996, Canada's then-top military leader, General Jean Boyle, said the country's army was unfit to fight in a serious war and the rank-and-file had justifiable doubts about the quality of the high command.(DEFENCE--NEGLECT)

Publication: Canada and the World Backgrounder

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During their first tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2002, Canadian soldiers wore forest-green camouflage, making them stand out in the largely treeless country. This wasn't a bureaucratic error, it was because our military couldn't afford to buy the desert camouflage needed there.

Two years earlier, a group of senior officers reported that outdated radios, bomb shortages, training cutbacks, and government neglect of equipment needs threatened Canada's participation in NATO's air war against Yugoslavia in 1999.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser's 2001 report pointed out that mechanics had to borrow batteries from the Spanish air force to keep Canada's CF-18 jets flying in missions over the former Yugoslavia. And, she said Defence Department claims of improved combat readiness should be "taken with a grain of salt." This was in light of "the declining readiness of the major aircraft fleets, the impairment of the CF-140 Aurora's ability for maritime patrol, and the growing backlog of naval maintenance work."

The report listed several serious concerns including vastly reduced maintenance for navy frigates, a five-year delay in repairing the Auroras flight instrumentation, and a shortage of operable army vehicles. Ms. Fraser also said that, although the forces had about 15,000 maintenance workers at the time, there was a shortage of such personnel. In addition, about 15 percent of the maintenance people didn't have the qualifications their ranks require&

Reports surfaced of soldiers turning up at Canadian food banks because they couldn't afford to feed their families on the wages they were being paid. In return for risking their lives on dangerous peacekeeping missions overseas they sometimes needed part-time jobs at home, moonlighting as security guards or delivering pizzas to make...

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