Martin pledged more money for troops and equipment as he made a campaign-style visit to Canadian Forces Base Valcartier near Quebec City on Monday.

After inspecting the troops, touring the base and taking lunch with soldiers just back from peacekeeping duty in Afghanistan, Martin said he wants the armed forces to enjoy Canada's full support.

"We have to turn around our dwindling investment which, I admit, I have a certain responsibility for causing,'' Martin said.

"Your superiors here are just too polite to say it,'' he added, spurring chuckles from several of the soldiers.

Martin served as finance minister during the 1990s, at the time the military took deep budget cuts that resulted in troop cuts.

Now, Martin says that's got to change.

Lauding the just-returned peacekeepers for their work in Afghanistan -- without which recent elections would not have been possible, he said -- Martin told them it's not right to worry about outmoded equipment.

"When they're serving abroad, peacekeeping ... they have the right to know they have the
most up-to-date technology possible," the prime minister said, outlining a promise that went beyond equipment.

"We've got to make sure that when we discharge our responsibilities -- either in terms of the defence of Canada or in terms of defence of Canada outside of Canada's boundaries -- that we are able to do and carry through what we say were going to do."

Martin's comments come the same day Canada's military ombudsman said he plans to travel to Afghanistan to investigate troop complaints of health problems.

Responding to many soldiers' informal complaints -- that they are coming from Afghanistan suffering from respiratory problems, as well as sores and lesions that won't heal -- Andre Marin says he will go to Kabul next week.

"Canadians are very concerned about the the welfare of their troops and I take that responsibility very seriously," Marin said as he announced his two-day trip.

"I will be right there in the eye of the storm and if there are any issues I hope to hear from those soldiers."

For his part, Martin said he welcomes the civilian watchdog's probe.

"I think that anytime soldiers return from battle and there are these problems, or simply battle trauma, governments have got to concerned. And it's one of the reasons there is an ombudsman," Martin told reporters.

"We have to recognize that you cannot ask men and women to go abroad unless you're prepared to take care of them when circumstances like this arise when they return."

Reporting from Quebec City, CTV's John Grant says in his other remarks, the prime minister showed he is preoccupied with world affairs.

In addition to his upcoming one-day visit to Haiti, Grant says Martin also touched on the ongoing crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, as well as U.S. President George Bush's promised visit to Ottawa.

With files from CTV's John Grant and The Canadian Press