No surprises, just depressing reading

The Canadian Press is reporting that all the problems the Canadian Armed Forces have been experiencing have not evaporated with the announcement of new funding:

Canada's armed forces are so underfunded and overstretched that the government's much-lauded budget commitments may not come close to fixing them, suggest documents released to The Canadian Press.

Economic impact assessments filed by all three services paint a picture of a decaying military that is, as the navy commander put it, fast approaching the point of "critical mass in its ability to execute its mission."

The navy is docking ships, the air force is grounding planes and the army may someday be unable to meet overseas commitments without significantly more cash, say the documents, obtained under access to information.

It may come as a surprise to reporters, but as Damian Brooks has pointed out, the "new" money that the government promised is as much illusion and deception as it is PR fodder. Little or no actual funds would be provided to the military until years four and five of the plan — and is dependent upon the current government managing to pass the budget anyway.