Ah... You are so right. A few factors can explain that...
1a - Our politicians (since the end of the War of Korea) let down the army, cutting down it's budget every year. For that reason, we are about 30 years behind the US army on the technology side.
1b - Not only are we late on technology, but the equipment we already have is in bad shape... very bad shape. F-18s are rusty and falling apart, Sea Kings can't stay in the air, submarines catch fire... I once saw a Canadian tank with a cookie plate underneath to prevent oil from falling on the floor of the show room. There is also the malfunctionning weapons... Remember that anti-tank rocket ? You want me to use one of those ? No f*cking way !
2 - Actually, some (not all, fortunatly) of our commanding officers are brainwashed freaks (a little like De Gaulle was), running away when the bullets start to fly. The best example being General Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian commander of the peace keeping force in Rwanda, who let ten of his men (mostly, if not all of them, Belgians) being slaughtered there. Those poor blokes fought off the rebels as long as they could but had to surrender when they ran out of ammunitions. They were then beaten up to death with shovels and pickaxes. Making Dallaire look like a coward to the Belgians but was threated like a hero by our politicians (being awarded the Order of Canada and appointed as a senator).
3 - Most of the guys (and gals) enlisting in the Canadian army today (I know some of them personnally), go there to "travel around the world" or to "help peoples who need it". They forgot the main point of being a soldier : killing. Basically, a soldier is a killer hired by a country to fight off an other one. This is very disturbing... because you don't know if the soldier next to you is one of them. Breaking down in tears as soon as someone starts shooting at them. Would you like to sit beside one of those ? Certainly not me !
Rule 1 : If you wanna travel around the world, enlist in Air Canada. Not in the Canadian Army !
Rule 2 : If you wanna help peoples who need it, enlist in the Salvation Army. Not in the Canadian Army !
That's the main reasons why I won't enlist in the Canadian Army unless I'm forced to.
Hey ! I got an idea ! Why not combine the US and Canadian Army ? The Canadian Army could become a kind of National Guard like the US have in some states.