http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... e10702386/Spending on headquarters administration at National Defence was 27 per cent higher in the first half of the last budget year despite the Harper government’s insistence the department cut overhead, according to the most recent quarterly forecast by the parliamentary budget office.
The figures look at the first six months of the just-completed 2012-13 budget year, and compare actual expenses with previous years.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeatedly insisted last year that Defence have “more teeth and less tail,” and reducing the administrative burden should be the department’s No. 1 priority.
Yet the budget office forecast, posted online, shows the reverse is taking shape.
Spending on internal services and property management is forecast to rise, while there are major reductions to surveillance, known as situational awareness, readiness within the army, including training, international operations, and environmental stewardship.
A final tally for the last budget year won’t be available until this August.
http://colinkenny.ca/en/p102512Turf war heats up at DND HQ
Ottawa Citizen - September 19
By David Pugliese
Even though Canada's top soldier has told those in uniform it will be months before he has a clear idea of what needs to be cut from the military, battles inside National Defence headquarters are already under way as organizations try to protect their turf.
A Sept. 9 directive issued to personnel by defence chief Gen. Walter Natynczyk noted the recent report by Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie to find savings in DND's budget is being examined in light of other cuts the government is planning.
"Taken together, this creates a difficult backdrop for interpreting the potential advantages and drawbacks of recommendations made in the transformation report."
But the general added that it is already known that some of Leslie's recommendations won't be adopted and others will likely be deferred.
Leslie's report details how the number of headquarters staff has grown significantly, outpacing the increase of front-line troops. His team found that 46 headquarters employ 12,576 personnel at an annual cost of $3.1 billion.
Leslie's report indicates that savings could be achieved by cutting the number of headquarters and their staff, reducing the number of fulltime reservists, cutting by 30 per cent the $2.7 billion that DND spends on consultants each year, and moving 3,000 regular force personnel now in non-front-line organizations back to operational units. It also suggests cutting several thousand public servants.
Defence insiders say the report is meeting strong resistance from public servants and those in uniform.
Leslie has pointed out that there has been large-scale resistance to the cost-cutting measures outlined in the report. At a large meeting in December 2010 involving generals, admirals and senior DND public servants, he said there was a tendency for the group to argue for the status quo.
Retired general Rick Hillier, who brought in many of the changes in the command structure that led to increases in headquarters staff, has warned about the consequences of following through with Leslie's report.
Hillier, who did not respond to a Citizen request for comment, has spoken out about the report's recommendation to cut headquarters staff, noting that those individuals are needed to run the Canadian Forces.
If Leslie's report is implemented, "you destroy the Canadian military," Hillier said on CTV.
But Leslie's report calls for transferring staff in headquarters jobs to the front-lines and saving billions of dollars. The money saved would be redistributed to fund front-line military operations and staff.
Liberal Senator Colin Kenny says he is not optimistic the report's recommendations will be followed. "Their plan is to essentially outlast the news cycle and hope interest in it goes away," said Kenny, former chairman of the Senate defence committee.
He also questioned how the department's bureaucracy, led by Deputy Minister Robert Fonberg, can be involved in a review of what recommendations to follow when such public servants are part of the problem Leslie identified.
The upper echelons of DND's senior public service experienced significant growth, according to Leslie's report. In the executive category there are now 158 individuals, his team found. It also determined there was a 42-per-cent growth in DND civilian executives in the past five years.
"I think (Fonberg) believes he won't come under the knife," Kenny said. "The last people you cut are the executioners."
The senator said the only way the report's recommendations will be acted on is if the Harper government orders Fonberg and Natynczyk to do so.
Fonberg declined to be interviewed by the Citizen, but the department issued by e-mail an Aug. 5 joint statement he and Natynczyk sent to staff. It acknowledged the Leslie report had been delivered and would be instrumental in redirecting existing funding to meet equipment and operational requirements. The statement also noted the report is being analysed.
"As this analysis is underway, there is no need to comment further on the report," the e-mail said.
Leslie's report isn't the first to single out the growing and ineffective military and civilian bureaucracy at headquarters.
CKA Uber 
