OTTAWA—A planned pay cut for soldiers serving in Afghanistan is on ice as the federal government takes a second look at changes to danger pay for troops serving abroad.

The government confirmed Wednesday it has asked for a review of the decision, soon after media reports that the reduction in allowances could cost soldiers now deployed in Kabul $508 a month.

“This decision was made by officials, and the government has asked for them to re-examine it,” a spokesperson for Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday.

The cut was proposed after officials determined that the current training mission is not as dangerous as the previous role chasing insurgents.

However, the pending change was stirring controversy among the uniformed ranks.

“The bean counters are saying it’s not Kandahar,” one soldier told the Star. “We’re outside the wire and we risk getting hit by suicide bombers or shot at or rocket fire.”

The Liberals and New Democrats accused the Conservatives of shortchanging soldiers.

“The Conservative government’s decision to cut soldiers’ danger pay is ethically wrong, downright mean and disloyal,” Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire said in a statement.

NDP MP Jack Harris said MacKay was shirking his responsibility to look after the welfare of the troops.

“Canadian soldiers are serving in a dangerous mission, regardless of what this minister thinks,” he said in a statement.

The defence department said the pay reduction was the result of an annual reassessment of hardship and risk allowances by the Treasury Board “based on significant input by deployed military personnel.”

Relying on intelligence and medical reports, a review committee had decreed the mission in Kabul was less risky and had fewer hardships than the military’s lengthy time in Kandahar.

The department denied the reductions were part of the government-wide cuts meant to rein in the deficit.

The cut would have hit close to 1,000 Canadian troops deployed in Kabul, where they are helping train Afghan security forces. And while the mission has so far proven safer than Canada’s combat role in Kandahar, Kabul remains a risky city, with insurgent attacks happening almost weekly.

Another 50 soldiers deployed on missions in the Middle East would also have been affected by the reassessed allowances.

Deployed soldiers qualify for a variety of special pay, including:

Hardship allowance that pays from $170 (mildly uncomfortable) to $1,017 (very austere) a month.

Risk allowance that pays up to $678 a month for “high and constant risk.”

Hardship allowance bonus for soldiers who have been deployed more than once.

Tax exemption for their time on deployment.

“It all adds up. You can make an extra several thousand dollars a month so it’s quite significant,” the soldier said.

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A department official defended the reassessment, saying the allowances given to Canadian soldiers serving on missions are the “envy of NATO,” a reference to the military alliance.

After the reassessment, the defence department said soldiers on the Afghan training mission would have received $848 per month for hardship and risk, plus another $759 a month as “operations foreign service premium.” Soldiers with previous tours under their belt stand to collect more.

For soldiers serving in Kabul, the special allowances can total more than $14,000 over six months, the department said.

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