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The Defence Review is now underway but so far Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has ruled out cuts to the two of the most costly areas of the defence budget – military personnel and major infrastructure.

In February, Sajjan stated categorically that the Liberal government would not be cutting any military personnel – in fact he was looking to expand the size of the Canadian Forces he noted. “We are not looking at reducing our personnel,” Sajjan said at the time. “The conversation I’m having right now is about where do we need to increase some of the personnel.”

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Salaries and benefits for personnel make up around 50 per cent of the defence budget (that figure also includes public servants).

In addition, on Monday night Sajjan revealed to a Commons committee that the Liberal government has “absolutely no plans to shut down any bases.” Keeping aging infrastructure operating has been a costly affair over the years for the Department of National Defence and base closures, have under the Jean Chretien government, been used to save money. But not this time, according to the minister.