Canadas military facing death spiral on recruitment, minister says – National [Video]

The Canadian Forces is facing “a death spiral” when it comes to recruitment, even as the government is “constrained” on more defence spending, Defence Minister Bill Blair says.

Blair made those remarks after speaking to a crowd attending the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence on Thursday, though stressed the government’s commitment to spend more on defence.

“If what you have been doing for decades is no longer working for you, you can’t just keep doing it,” he told Global News parliamentary bureau chief and The West Block host Mercedes Stephenson, who moderated a question-and-answer period with Blair.

“Over the past three years, more people have left than have entered. That is, frankly, a death spiral for the Canadian Armed Forces. We cannot afford to continue at that pace. We’ve got to do something differently.”

At the same time, Blair said calls to boost defence spending face challenges.

“We’re also constrained a little bit in our ability …