Conservatives Demand Accountability on Defence
Ottawa, ON – James Bezan, Conservative Shadow Minister for National Defence, released the following statement regarding the recently revealed report concerning the failures of changes to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recruiting policies made by this Liberal government:
“The Minister of National Defence held a press conference last week specifically to brag about what he sees as successes in recruiting for the Canadian Armed Forces. But he failed to mention he knew that the basic training success rate has fallen to 77% in the first three quarters of 2025-26, down from a historical average of 85%.
“This is yet another example of Liberal mismanagement of our Canadian Armed Forces. A decade of Liberal mismanagement created a recruitment and retention crisis for the CAF, which was worsened by lowering the recruiting standards when selecting candidates and the government’s failure to increase training capacity.
“In addition to the 15-page report, Conservatives are hearing anecdotal evidence of recruits who cannot communicate effectively in either official language, horror stories of misogyny and racism among some new recruits, as well as recruits who do not meet the standards on screening being housed in tents instead of sent home.
“Conservatives will present a motion at the Standing Committee on National Defence to undertake a study on the Liberal changes to recruitment policies, their impact on Basic Military Qualification and Basic Military Officer Qualification success rates, and how to address the serious issues that continue to face the CAF recruitment and training process.
“Our troops deserve better – they deserve to know their colleagues have passed the highest standards of training and are able to cover their backs in extreme conditions, and Canadians deserve a highly trained military to defend our country.”