Administration costs rising, not falling at DND HQ: budget office numbers

OTTAWA – Spending on headquarters administration at National Defence may be rising 27 per cent, despite the Harper government’s insistence the department cut overhead.

That’s according to the most recent quarterly forecast compiled by the parliamentary budget office.

The figures cover the first six months of the just-completed 2012-13 budget year.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeatedly insisted last year that Defence have “more teeth and less tail” and that reducing the administrative burden should be the department’s No. 1 priority.

Yet the budget office’s forecast, which is posted online, suggests the reverse is taking shape.

Spending on internal services and property management is forecast to rise while there are expected to be major reductions to surveillance, known as situational awareness, readiness within the army, including training, international operations, and environmental stewardship.

Former army commander, lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie, told the Harper government in a landmark 2011 report that National Defence needed to take an axe to its bloated headquarters in order to meet future obligations.