By Scott Taylor
To even the most casual observer it is readily apparent that the Canadian military is in a woeful state. For months now it has been reported that the Canadian Armed Forces are in the midst of both a recruiting and retention crisis.
This double whammy has resulted in a shortfall of 16,500 personnel from an authorized Regular and Reserve Force strength of 105,000.
In terms of procurement there has been a steady drum beat of news reports detailing lengthy delays and massive cost overruns involving most, if not all, the major equipment purchase programs currently in progress.
Then there has been the relentless crap storm of sexual misconduct cases – many involving the most senior positions in the military.
If Canada’s Defence Department were a private sector company one would expect to see much of the senior leadership being escorted to the elevator with their personal belongings in a box.
Which is what made the recent headline in the Ottawa Citizen all the more shocking. It read “National Defence executives take in almost $3.5 million in bonuses.” According to documents released under the Access to Information law, some 252 executives at DND received a performance bonus between April 2021 and March 2022.
This equates to virtually every senior civil servant getting this extra boost to their pay package.
To put this in perspective, during the time frame that they earned these bonuses, the lowest-paid executives received salaries ranging from $103,000 to $131,000. More senior executives made between $195,000 to $230,000, while Deputy Minister level executives pulled in between $219,000 to a potential maximum of $371,000.
It should be also noted that not all bonuses are created equal, as one civil servant performed so well that they were rewarded with a staggering $101,000 bonus.
The documents outlining these bonuses were obtained originally by Ottawa-based lawyer, Colonel (ret’d) Michel Drapeau. He questioned the need for any such bonuses, given that these executives are already well remunerated and they receive additional benefits. In particular Drapeau took exception to the $101,000 bonus. “You have someone that was supposedly so good at their job that they were worth an extra $101,000?” Drapeau told the Citizen. “Let’s hear all about their deeds.”
While Drapeau may have made that quip somewhat facetiously, I would like to echo that sentiment.
These were taxpayers dollars, and given that the individual was rewarded with such a hefty sum, then their exploits also deserve to be heralded in public. If either the recipient or those who awarded this massive bonus wish to contact me, I will be happy to detail the rationale behind the reward.
On the uniformed side of the Defence Department, the manpower shortage has not been felt at the highest levels. At time of writing the CAF has a total of 138 Regular and Reserve General Officers and Flag Officers (GOFO’s).
With the current depleted forces numbering just 88,500 this adds up to a ratio of one general for every 635 servicemembers. This is without a doubt one of the most ridiculously over ranked militaries in the world.
Admittedly rank creep has kept pace with the changing face of warfare itself. A military’s effectiveness is no longer gauged by massed ranks of soldiers, but rather the employment of cutting edge technology. However, Canada still outpaces our allies in the ratio of generals to soldiers.
During World War 2, the United States military had 2000 Generals for a military force of 12 million personnel which amounts to a roughly one senior ranked officer for every 6,000 soldiers. That ratio currently stands at roughly one general level officer for every 1,400 servicemembers. Which is still more than double Canada’s ratio.
Back in 1996 when media reports of Canada’s bloated senior ranks embarrassed the Liberal government of the day, Defence minister David Collenette vowed to bring that ratio down to one general per thousand serving soldiers. There was to be no immediate purge, just a slow methodical reduction through attrition.
Twenty seven years later, it is clear that no such reduction took place. By that 1996 yardstick, Canada would have 105 General Officers if our ranks were fully manned, and just 89 at the current troop strength. Instead we have 138.
