15 October, 2024
In the lead-up to the October 2024 RMCSD event featuring Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD (Retired), RAUSI recalls the detailed document authored by LGen Leslie entitled Report on Transformation 2011. After an in-depth analysis of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, LGen Leslie put forth a number of cogent and strategically relevant recommendations designed to ensure the CAF was postured for success in a post-Afghanistan world. Unfortunately, like many similar reports in the past, a number of the recommendations were not implemented. Very aware of DND/CAF's reluctance for change, LGen Leslie noted in his report that
Since the end of World War II, at least 15 studies, reviews and commissions have examined DND/CF activities, structures and organization. A number of consistent themes were discovered in the review of the results of these initiatives. Perhaps the most significant is that after nearly 40 years and many initiatives, numerous constantly reappearing recommendations were not implemented, despite appearing time and again. The bottom-line is that the record of implementing major defence reform in Canada has been intermittent ... Indeed, it can more aptly be described as one of ‘unfinished business’ and missed opportunities rather than enduring success.
You may also be interested in...
Since the Report on Transformation was released in 2011, Canada has gone from a valued ally in Afghanistan to being perceived as a NATO laggard, unwilling to fund either extant or emerging military capabilities. This recently reached a crescendo prior to the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington, D.C, when a rare bipartisan letter was sent to Canada's Prime Minister by nearly two dozen U.S. senators, demanding that Canada meet its NATO commitments. With a new Chief of Defence Staff recently installed, pressure from internal and external entities and the admitted recognition of the poor state of affairs in the CAF, perhaps now is the time to review LGen Leslie's Report on Transformation in order to inform how Canada may attempt to address the current dismal state of affairs.