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Dictatorship in Canada?

FredDaHead

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Hey,

I got to read a great article in "Voir" (free French newspaper, for those who don‘t live in Montreal/Quebec). It‘s not directly related to the CF but I think it‘s pretty true. If the parliament keeps going this way, we‘ll end up worse than in Cuba!

Anyway, I don‘t know where to find an english version, but for those who read french (you damn better read french if you call yourself Canadians), here‘s the link to the article:
Vers un État policier?

Hope you like the article,

:cdn: Fred :cdn:
 
Fred, I read the article. I think those laws are measures to be taken by the authorities against persons considered a threat to society. They may actually save lives... If you live in respect of the law, then you have nothing to worry about !!!
Also, if you read and agree with all that crap in those so-called "free french" revolutionary newspapers, maybe you should consider NOT joining the CF... maybe we do not want people like you... :cdn:
 
I didn‘t just go and take the paper from the stand, someone pointed the article to me. And I‘m just saying maybe we‘re over-reacting. We wouldn‘t do this if Sept 11th hadn‘t happened, would we?


...And what exactly do you mean by "people like you"? French people who like their languages? Or people who care about the laws?

Look, being against some laws doesn‘t mean being a "rebel" or whatever it is you want to label me as. I love this country, and I wouldn‘t want to live anywhere else (well, maybe someplace where it‘s warmer, but ;) )...

Anyway, I guess you can‘t say you don‘t agree with the gov‘t.

:cdn: Fred :cdn:
 
I am french, and love and respect my language. I have worked in french most of my military career. There is room for the French-Canadians in the CF. As a matter of fact, most senior positions in the CF are held by francophones. But no matter what background, there is no room for extremists of any kind; people who are against all authority and demonstrate at every opportunity should not be accepted in the CF. A lot of people who read "voir" are that way. You are not ? Tant mieux.
:cdn:
 
Jungle makes a good point.

I would like to query one issue, however. If there is a predominance of French-Canadians at the top levels, why is that the case?

I raise this issue since I was always led to believe that historically, Quebec (in particular) and French-Canadians (in general) were under-represented in the recruit population for NCMs and officers.

It is interesting that a group that is under-represented at the beginning of the career path would be over-represented at the end of it. This suggests that French-Canadians make better soldiers, that anglo-Canadians are more easily enticed away from the military, or that systemic aspects of the promotions system cause anglos to be selected out.

I would suggest the last given the focus on bilingualism as a key element of promotion. Simply put, it is almost a necessity for an officer (and possibly NCMs) to be bilingual to achieve high rank. The bulk of truly bilingual personnel are first-language French. This leads to the over-representation.

I would also suggest that this focus is over-emphasized. Bilingualism at high ranks is important for a political purpose, but not an operational one. This is particularly true for anglos learning French, since most multilingual operations are, by SOP, conducted in English (This is true in Canada and NATO as a whole. We do not need a repeat of RV89 and its bilingual radio comms.) Bilingualism would be more operationally important at low ranks - when communications are often terse, garbled, and time is of the essence.

Insisting on bilingualism at the top seems misguided, except on the political "spin" level. More opportunites may occur for bilingual discussion at higher ranks (i.e., above unit, or possibly brigade, level), but there is usually more time to resolve issues.

In my experience, bilingualism does not seem so essential to an officer‘s performance at higher rank that it should be used as a nearly certain barrier to promotion. I do accept (reluctantly) the political realities that lead to promotions boards awarding points for language achievements, but it seems that these points are disproportionate to leadership abilities, education and training, course performance, PERs, etc.

It is anecdotal and hearsay, but I know of one senior officer who was just below the cut on the promotion to a more senior rank. He was unilingual anglo, or barely functional French. A French-Canadian officer retired - and the person promoted was the top-listed French-Canadian -- who was several positions below the anglo officer. Worse, the slowdown in career paths then hit this officer‘s MOC the next year, and his promotion only came several years later.

I would welcome comment from senior officers who believe they have greater need for bilingual capability now than they did as platoon leaders. In particular, I would seek the view of anglo officers needing French, since it seems far more diffcult for anglos to acquire French. My follow-up question for them would be "Is the second language skill of such general importance that it is essential for every officer, or only particular to certain positions such that a language specialty qualification would suffice?".



None of the above should be taken as a negative statement about French-Canadian soldiers, their capabilities, etc. We‘ve all met good and bad soldiers and officers of both languages.

Nor is it to suggest that all training be conducted in English. Training in our first language ensures the best learning. The point is simply to query whether the extensive effort towards bilingualism, and particularly anglo bilingualism, is misguided.

Thoughts?
 
I‘m not extremist, I just think out gov‘t is sometimes pretty stupid, but does that make me an extremist or a terrorist? I certainly hope not!I don‘t actually read "voir", my dad (ex-air force, left in early 80‘s) reads it and told me it was a good article. I mean, it _is_ well written and it has good arguments...
If I was so crazed, I wouldn‘t post on an English board and chat with English people, would I?

Jungle> I guess billinguals go higher because if you can‘t speak to your troops (or superiors) in their native tongue they don‘t like it or something. I don‘t have first-hand experience, so I speak on hearsay and theories.

Oh well... guess misphrasing strikes again
 
Rceme_rat, you are right that it is mostly because of bilingualism, and it is for political ,not operational, reasons. In the school where I am an instructor, the only people teaching in their second language are francos. It is hard work to teach at all, but teaching in your second language is extra work. So while it is not operationnaly necessary to promote people according to second language abilities, it is probably a way to reward those who make the extra effort. Remember that you are exposed to a lot more people when working in both official languages. As I said, I worked in french most of my career, and I am now teaching in english. I enjoy it but it is very different and I am not as comfortable as in french. :cdn:
 
Absolutely, there should be rewards for developing important skills.

The problem is (or was) a system that only recognized such developments through promotions. This fails when promotions cease - such as when you are "three years from promotion" three years in a row, even as your ranking is closer and closer to the top - when the skills are not a leadership skill but a trade skill, or when the skill is not essential but only desirable. Examples of such skills exist for officers and NCMs. There should be a way of encouraging and rewarding their development.

Skill development can exist through symbolic means (jump wings, QL badges, qual medals/badges as in the U.S., etc.), bonus payments (successful completion of a course, e.g.), full repayment of tuition expenses for non-military courses, or lateral progression where certain skills are so highly valued they draw a permanent increase in pay.

By example, those with second language skills could be given a qualification bonus, increased pay while in a bilingual-designated position, or even a small pay bump.

These types of recognition still allow those without the qualification to have a fair shot at being promoted if they have the leadership abilities necessary for the next rank.

Personally, the second language skills just never really came to me, despite ample training and exposure. If I‘m going to learn French, I‘ll have to move to a unilingual French community -- the "learn French or starve trying" method.
 
you are right... I certainly would not mind getting some extra money for being bilingual !!! But the bilingualism thing is the same as women in combat arms and visible minorities: they are political agendas... no real operational requirement. I think it makes sense that top commanders should be able to adress troops in their language, even though it is "nice to have"; how many other "nice to haves" are out there like that "i count" thing. Some people build their career on pet projects like that...
:cdn:
 
Everything has politics behind it. At one time, I thought that using the military to promote the political agenda was absolutely wrong. Now, I recognize that as a tool of a democratic government, the military can serve many purposes, including advancing human rights.

The question is one of balance. Woman in combat arms? -- why not? As long as they can do the job - and as long as the job they must do is clearly defined by the job, rather than by the men who do it now. Same as language - we can‘t exclude all francophones, all anglophones, or all non-bilingual citizens. But we don‘t have to insist everyone be bilingual.

Just a pet peeve. Like insisting all books be bilingual, rather than having both language versions available in sufficient quantity - aprticularly when they are individual issue. The number of OPDP texts I saw ripped down the spine to ditch one side or the other ...

Enough of this rant.
 
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