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the patriot
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Indian Abroad News Service
Canadian Army to recruit minorities
Ajit Jain, Toronto
Mar 10, 2001 13:45 Hrs (IST)
The Canadian Army, which is keenly looking for new recruits, is trying to reach out to the minority communities in the country who comprise a total visible minority population of 12 percent but make up only 2.1 percent of the military.
Lt Commander Dave Scanlon, head of the National Defense Public Affair in Toronto, is largely responsible of putting "Canadians in touch with their military and promote stronger communication between the Canadian Forces and the public."
"We do this through a series of outreach programs at the community level for all Canadians. It is all part of lending relevance to Canadians about what we do, and why," he said.
Several officers and civilians, at the recent one-day "community ties" seminar on "Ethnicity in Uniform" at Toronto‘s Moss Park Armoury, said the military is lacking in terms of representation of visible minorities.
It could be attributed to the lack of awareness of the military among the minorities or possibly the armed forces didn‘t make enough efforts to reach out to them, they said, adding the problem was still not being rectified.
The Army effort is that the word should "get out in ethnic groups that the military is keenly looking for new recruits", said Colonel Richard W. Deslauriers, commanding officer of the Toronto-based 32 Canadian Brigade Group, in which the number of minorities is as high as 50 percent.
"My brigade is most diverse in the country," Deslauriers told IANS, and that the best advertisement for the Army was through soldiers. "If we can have 50 percent visible minorities in 32 Brigade, why can‘t we have a similar number in other brigades, other areas?" he asked, saying some companies in his brigade have between 30 to 80 percent visible minorities.
Talking about his brigade, Deslauriers mentioned Major Sandy Banerjee, an Indo- Canadian, who may be sent to Bosnia next year as part of Canada‘s peacekeeping mission and the recent appointment of one Navraj Grewal, who is studying at the University of Toronto, as officer cadet.
Banerjee said his promotion as infantry officer from the ranks "gives me a chance to utilize skills that I have learnt during the last 15 years of being in the military". After graduating in international relations from Toronto University, Banerjee joined the military and has now opted to be a reservist after taking on a full-time job as vice-president of an information technology (IT) company.
"I joined the Army as both my grandfather and father were in the Army. My grandfather was a Lieutenant in the Indian Army during World War II with British and Indian forces in Burma (now Myanmar). My father was a sergeant in the Indian Army," Banerjee said, adding "the awareness of Canadian forces doesn‘t exist outside of the mainstream even today".
In answer to a question about the performance of South Asians and other minorities in the military, Deslauriers said, "There is no difference, absolutely no difference between them and others" and added there are "heck of more people amongst South Asians who are better educated than we are".
The buzz at the seminar was about Lieutenant Celine Joseph, an Indo-Canadian from Kerala, who though tiny looking, could drive ships of any size and weight, a trait she has specialized in during the last 14 years of being in naval defense.
Joseph did encounter some "improper remarks" made against her but she didn‘t consider those remarks offensive enough to discourage her from pursuing her career in the military, she said in an answer to a question. She was amongst four panelists from four different ethnic backgrounds who explained why they joined the military and how they feel after having joined the services.
Joseph and the other panelists -- Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Junor, a black from Jamaica, Sergeant Aida K. Gabriel of Russian and Eritrean background, and Sergeant Ian Wayne Lam a Chinese -- were speaking the second annual Canadian Forces Seminar for Community and ethnic Media "to build stronger ties between the Canadian forces and Toronto-area cultural communities".
There are about 60,000 full-time officers and soldiers, reservists not included, in the Canadian forces, said Pakistani-Canadian Batool Siddiqui, senior policy advisor in the Directorate Military Gender Integration and Employment Equity of National Defense.
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Okay... let‘s take a look at this one. There has always been visible minorities in uniform, or is this more grandstanding by DND to milk public opinion; just as in the "women allowed to be on submarines issue". If I‘m right, the subs were just purchased. It‘s kind of hard to have a service restriction, when we had no viable subs untill last year. That was just the Navy trying to look good. Women have been on ships, it was only understandable that they could serve on subs too. But the idiots in Public Affairs at NDHQ, just couldn‘t help themselves but to intellectually masturbate the masses, just one more time!!!!
Furthermore with the idea of DND trying to "reach out to minorities". Here‘s a reason why Asian and South Asian parents don‘t recommend the military as a career option. They will only think highly of their kids if they opt for professional programs such as medicine, law or engineering. Unfortunately, it doesn‘t matter how much you try to sell the military as a viable career route, Asian parents take a "do or die" approach to their children‘s academic and career pursuits. MEDICINE OR YOU‘RE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!! But even then, you will get the odd group of recruits from visible minority backgrounds who will buck this trend. TO HELL WITH MOM AND DAD!!!!! HUZZAH!!!!!!!! Here‘s a hint for the recruiters. If you‘re going to follow this "politically correct warm fuzziness", try and sell the ROTP and RESO programs to the candidates and their parents. When the parents see the benefits of these programs they‘ll say, "HEY! I don‘t have to pay for my kid‘s tuition and they won‘t be in debt with Canada Students Loans when they graduate!!!! Even then so, they will have a guaranteed job when they graduate!!!!!!!" This is probably the best way to go about it. If common sense prevailed, the left wing media would die overnight and realize, "Yes Virginia, there are coloured people in uniform!" before Public Affairs at NDHQ decided to make an issue out of it.
-the patriot-
Canadian Army to recruit minorities
Ajit Jain, Toronto
Mar 10, 2001 13:45 Hrs (IST)
The Canadian Army, which is keenly looking for new recruits, is trying to reach out to the minority communities in the country who comprise a total visible minority population of 12 percent but make up only 2.1 percent of the military.
Lt Commander Dave Scanlon, head of the National Defense Public Affair in Toronto, is largely responsible of putting "Canadians in touch with their military and promote stronger communication between the Canadian Forces and the public."
"We do this through a series of outreach programs at the community level for all Canadians. It is all part of lending relevance to Canadians about what we do, and why," he said.
Several officers and civilians, at the recent one-day "community ties" seminar on "Ethnicity in Uniform" at Toronto‘s Moss Park Armoury, said the military is lacking in terms of representation of visible minorities.
It could be attributed to the lack of awareness of the military among the minorities or possibly the armed forces didn‘t make enough efforts to reach out to them, they said, adding the problem was still not being rectified.
The Army effort is that the word should "get out in ethnic groups that the military is keenly looking for new recruits", said Colonel Richard W. Deslauriers, commanding officer of the Toronto-based 32 Canadian Brigade Group, in which the number of minorities is as high as 50 percent.
"My brigade is most diverse in the country," Deslauriers told IANS, and that the best advertisement for the Army was through soldiers. "If we can have 50 percent visible minorities in 32 Brigade, why can‘t we have a similar number in other brigades, other areas?" he asked, saying some companies in his brigade have between 30 to 80 percent visible minorities.
Talking about his brigade, Deslauriers mentioned Major Sandy Banerjee, an Indo- Canadian, who may be sent to Bosnia next year as part of Canada‘s peacekeeping mission and the recent appointment of one Navraj Grewal, who is studying at the University of Toronto, as officer cadet.
Banerjee said his promotion as infantry officer from the ranks "gives me a chance to utilize skills that I have learnt during the last 15 years of being in the military". After graduating in international relations from Toronto University, Banerjee joined the military and has now opted to be a reservist after taking on a full-time job as vice-president of an information technology (IT) company.
"I joined the Army as both my grandfather and father were in the Army. My grandfather was a Lieutenant in the Indian Army during World War II with British and Indian forces in Burma (now Myanmar). My father was a sergeant in the Indian Army," Banerjee said, adding "the awareness of Canadian forces doesn‘t exist outside of the mainstream even today".
In answer to a question about the performance of South Asians and other minorities in the military, Deslauriers said, "There is no difference, absolutely no difference between them and others" and added there are "heck of more people amongst South Asians who are better educated than we are".
The buzz at the seminar was about Lieutenant Celine Joseph, an Indo-Canadian from Kerala, who though tiny looking, could drive ships of any size and weight, a trait she has specialized in during the last 14 years of being in naval defense.
Joseph did encounter some "improper remarks" made against her but she didn‘t consider those remarks offensive enough to discourage her from pursuing her career in the military, she said in an answer to a question. She was amongst four panelists from four different ethnic backgrounds who explained why they joined the military and how they feel after having joined the services.
Joseph and the other panelists -- Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Junor, a black from Jamaica, Sergeant Aida K. Gabriel of Russian and Eritrean background, and Sergeant Ian Wayne Lam a Chinese -- were speaking the second annual Canadian Forces Seminar for Community and ethnic Media "to build stronger ties between the Canadian forces and Toronto-area cultural communities".
There are about 60,000 full-time officers and soldiers, reservists not included, in the Canadian forces, said Pakistani-Canadian Batool Siddiqui, senior policy advisor in the Directorate Military Gender Integration and Employment Equity of National Defense.
**********************************************************************
Okay... let‘s take a look at this one. There has always been visible minorities in uniform, or is this more grandstanding by DND to milk public opinion; just as in the "women allowed to be on submarines issue". If I‘m right, the subs were just purchased. It‘s kind of hard to have a service restriction, when we had no viable subs untill last year. That was just the Navy trying to look good. Women have been on ships, it was only understandable that they could serve on subs too. But the idiots in Public Affairs at NDHQ, just couldn‘t help themselves but to intellectually masturbate the masses, just one more time!!!!
Furthermore with the idea of DND trying to "reach out to minorities". Here‘s a reason why Asian and South Asian parents don‘t recommend the military as a career option. They will only think highly of their kids if they opt for professional programs such as medicine, law or engineering. Unfortunately, it doesn‘t matter how much you try to sell the military as a viable career route, Asian parents take a "do or die" approach to their children‘s academic and career pursuits. MEDICINE OR YOU‘RE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!! But even then, you will get the odd group of recruits from visible minority backgrounds who will buck this trend. TO HELL WITH MOM AND DAD!!!!! HUZZAH!!!!!!!! Here‘s a hint for the recruiters. If you‘re going to follow this "politically correct warm fuzziness", try and sell the ROTP and RESO programs to the candidates and their parents. When the parents see the benefits of these programs they‘ll say, "HEY! I don‘t have to pay for my kid‘s tuition and they won‘t be in debt with Canada Students Loans when they graduate!!!! Even then so, they will have a guaranteed job when they graduate!!!!!!!" This is probably the best way to go about it. If common sense prevailed, the left wing media would die overnight and realize, "Yes Virginia, there are coloured people in uniform!" before Public Affairs at NDHQ decided to make an issue out of it.
-the patriot-
