This is the internet and anyone can claim to be whoever they want.
Here are some quotes from a recent blog by a former Canadian soldier:
The reason that the Canadian Forces is having such a hard time retaining and recruiting troops is because of budget cuts, the state of the equipment, and the knowledge that if you are injured on the job you will not be properly taken care of by Veterans Affairs.
A soldier that serves in the Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry (PPCLI), one of the most revered and respected infantry units of the past century, has told me that they are allocated only 49 rounds for the entire training year due to budget cuts. The PPCLI’s service in World War I and II and Korea and thereafter is what legends are made of. Yet now they train with less than 50 bullets a year.
Another unit that has paved the way for Canadian freedom and democracy is that of the Royal Canadian Regiment or the RCR. 1 and 3 RCR are posted to Petawawa, Ontario. 1RCR was a mechanized infantry unit until recently when it began training as a light infantry unit again. This was not a tactical decision but a budgetary one. The maintenance and upkeep of the LAVIII vehicles is too much for the unit and has caused their fleet to be grounded. If you go to the base you can see the LAVS sitting there under piles of snow. Recent wars have shown that mechanized infantry has been proven to be essential to modern warfare.
To my knowledge there were no Canadian units that deployed to Kandahar in a light infantry role. This is just like the lack of ammunition to train with. The ability to be an effective force is conducive to being able to operate with the equipment required to do ones job. If the soldiers are not able to use the LAVs then their confidence in operating them is reduced and the overall effectiveness is greatly diminished.
As bad as it is for the regular force the budgetary cuts are even worse for the reservists. At one point reservists were making up to 30-40 per cent of the numbers deploying to Afghanistan. Since then the life of a reservist has been reduced to make-believe bullets and shoe-string budget exercises.
The budgetary cuts easily plays into the next reason that the Canadian Forces can’t maintain a fighting force of 68,000. The dilapidated state of the equipment is no secret. The submarines that don’t float or sink. The naval vessels that need to be towed home. Or the plane parts being taken out of museums.
The F-18s are 40 years old — a full two generations removed from being relevant. The Sea King Helicopters that require 100 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight time. It seems that more Sea Kings are falling out of the sky lately than Geese in the month of October.