Canada's Defence Budget Crisis- Impact of recent Defense Budget Cuts on The Canadian Armed Forces- Opportunities for Industry
Even though the present government committed to increasing defence spending, the reality of reducing the deficit incurred during the financial crisis has affected every part of government including National Defence. In order to understand the impact of the various spending reduction exercises on DND, it is essential to be aware of the background to the current budget situation, which offers some key insights.
Initially, the new government immediately took action to procure much needed strategic and tactical airlift, heavy lift helicopters and tanks and other vehicles for the Army. Immediate requirements for the combat forces in Afghanistan were satisfied in short order and the Government released the Canada First Defence Strategy, which coincided with the start of the financial crisis in 2008. The CFDS was immediately followed by the first in a series of budget cutting initiatives as the government came to grips with the huge increase in the deficit that was used to stimulate the economy. More spending cuts followed with DND responsible for over 25% of overall reductions in government spending between 2009 and 2013. Readiness, capital spending and operational support were all affected by these reductions. However, these reductions can also be viewed as an opportunity for industry as many of the functions affected by the budget cuts still have to carried out. If industry can carry them out at the same or reduced cost while improving readiness and availability, then government should be prepared to outsource where it makes sense. In this webinar, we will explore these opportunities in m ore detail.
Why should you Attend:
One result of these budget cuts has been a slowdown in funding for operational readiness, particularly in those areas traditionally carried out by uniformed personnel such as in service support, training and logistics. During the Afghanistan conflict, the Canadian Army relied heavily on reserves to flesh out the ranks of the combat units sent overseas, especially for support personnel.Now that Canada has withdrawn its forces from that conflict, the Army's combat units are even more short of personnel and have resorted to moving support personnel into combat units. This has further exacerbated the budget reductions that targeted support functions. While on the face of it, this could be viewed as a major issue, it does open the door for industry if they can show that they can provide the same service at a lower cost while at the same time improving readiness. Industry must now focus on such opportunities as other avenues to increase revenues in the defence sector are rapidly drying up.
Areas Covered in the Session:
- Background
- Canada First Defence Strategy
- Defence Budget Realities - 2009-2014
- Operational Impacts of Budget Reductions
- Impact on Capital Procurement
- Opportunities for Industry
- Potential Issues
- Way ahead for industry
- Concluding remarks
Who Will Benefit:
- VP Project Management
- VP Contracts
- VP Operations
- VP Business Development
- VP Program Management
- Program managers
Moving from Toronto to L-3's Halifax facility in late 1997, he assumed responsibility for starting up the Vehicle Electronics manufacturing program for the Canadian Army's Light Armoured Vehicle program. With the then General Motors Defence as the main customer, vehicle electronics developed one of the largest programs at the Halifax facility. It expanded even further with award of a contract from the GMD/GDLS joint venture for the US Army's Stryker Vehicle program to build all of the vehicle electronics for over 2000 vehicles.
In 2003, Capt Goode moved from Program Management to Business Development and was appointed Director of Business Development for L-3 Electronic Systems. He retired from L-3 in 2006 to join CFN Consultants Atlantic in their Aerospace and Defence consulting practice. In addition, he is currently the VP for Business Development for the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Nova Scotia. He belongs to the Naval Officers Association, NS Branch and is an active Rotarian. Tony is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada and the National Defence College of Canada.