Meanwhile, up to 10 per cent of the country's military bases, their buildings and parts could be sold off to reduce operating expenses and raise funds. These latest downsizing proposals come at the end of a two-year review of the state of the Canadian Armed Forces. The review found, among other things, that personnel costs continued to escalate in the 1990s even as the size of the Armed Forces dwindled. But that budget doesn't provide enough spending room for the forces to buy the billions of dollars' worth of equipment it needs, Auditor General Denis Desautels noted in a report two years ago. Peter Kasurak, who now handles the Defence file for the Auditor General's office, told the Citizen that the military must decide over the coming months whether to eliminate parts of the organization or allow the forces to continue to deteriorate.
Internal documents suggest the military's combat-readiness is already in some doubt.