With a volatile federal budget still in the red, cuts are being made across the country, including at CFB Edmonton, where a multitude of issues are currently being faced.

According to Lieut.-Col. John Reiffenstein, base commander at CFB Edmonton, the local base is seeing cuts of more than 50% to its operations and maintenance budget.

Reiffenstein said that, as a result of the new budget, some programs will have to be cut.

“Whereas before we relied on commissionaires... to provide security in a couple of spots, that ate up a considerable portion of my budget,” he said at the Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon.

“We can’t do that anymore, so we’ve got to figure out what risks we can assume in terms of, say, roving patrols; what risks we can assume in terms of having a soldier who’s also a clerk, keeping an eye on the front entrance to a building — things like that.

“We cannot continue to spend money the way we were spending it while we were fighting the war in Afghanistan. Those days are over and our job in uniform is to get on with it.”

Although it has not yet been confirmed, Reiffenstein said that programs associated with areas such as the family resource centre, which provides services like daycare, could be some that see cuts.

“We’re still working through that. I am concerned,” Reiffenstein said.

“I provide a certain amount of support to them right now and I am concerned about what I am going to be able to continue to do in the future. (Right now, the daycare) is right where they work and everybody wants that... But if I can’t continue to provide funds, do I look at things like that? I don’t know.

“And are there other options available to our families, albeit not as good of ones? Yes.”

An auditor general report that came out last week showed CFB Edmonton has not been spending as much as it ideally would on the maintenance of its infrastructure, according to Edmonton base commander.

“That problem is exasperated because we’ve got new kit coming in,” Reiffenstein said. “We got Leopard tanks that we bought for very good reason, to fight in Afghanistan. They save untold numbers of Canadian lives, but at the time, we didn’t put the money into the infrastructure they would require.”

He added plans are now being determined in order to properly accommodate similar pieces of equipment, including the possibility of building permanent or temporary buildings.

Another problem being faced by the local base revolves around retention of soldiers.

“We are on track to set a record for the number of folks taking their release from Edmonton,” Reiffenstein said, adding that more than 500 men and women in uniform will be resigning from their post.

“That’s a significant chunk of our workforce,” he noted. “The military, as a federal institution, cannot compete in terms of wages with... what’s going on in Fort Saskatchewan, in Edmonton, in Leduc... So folks are sitting there going ‘I had a good go.’ I see the release memos, and they say ‘I had my adventure. I went to Afghanistan, and that’s what I wanted to do. Now I want more stability for my family.’”

As time goes on, changes will be coming to CFB Edmonton, with a restructuring of command set to hit the base.

Reiffenstein will soon be handing his duty of base commander over to Col. Carl Turenne, who will then oversee CFB Edmonton, as well as bases in Suffield, Wainwright and Shilo, Man.

“He’s going to have to sit there, worry about Edmonton, because we’re by far the biggest base in the west... and at the same time, (he’s going to have to) worry about what’s going on in Wainwright — they’ve got a host of challenges down there — worry about what’s going on in Manitoba,” he said. “That’s not easy when it’s about a 15-hour drive or two hours on a plane.”

ben.proulx@sunmedia.ca

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