Enroll Permanent Resident / Naturalized Citizen

[rogsco]

The mechanism for enrolling landed immigrants already exists. The CF just needs to make it a bit easier to use the existing regulation and less "exceptional" and the media should stop publicizing that only citizens can join. Now, if the Govt wants to fast track citizenship, that's a different story.

From QR&O 6.01:

"(1) In order to be eligible for enrolment in the Canadian Forces as an officer or non-commissioned member, a person must:

(a) be a Canadian citizen, except that the Chief of the Defence Staff or such officer as he may designate may authorize the enrolment of a citizen of another country if he is satisfied that a special need exists and the national interest would not be prejudiced theirby:..."


From the CF recruiting website:

Citizens of another country who have landed immigrant (Permanent Resident) status in Canada may also be considered for enrolment when the CF has need of their skill, when the position cannot be filled by a Canadian citizen, and if the national interest would not be prejudiced. However, only under exceptional circumstances will authority be granted to enrol a citizen of another country.

 

[cameron]

I'm here with my fingers crossed so hard the circulation has almost stopped.

 

[1feral1]

I don't see anything wrong with it, as long as all the standards are met, and they don't come from a scheduled country, or a country where their backgrounds cannot be verified.

It worked before, and not that long ago.

To enhance this even more, the CF could dangle a carrot, like other BCW nations, and if so, could do some honest poaching from say the UK and Australia for example, capturing some quality 'pre trained' soldiers with experience in operations, and sound leadership.

It all works for Australia. Currently with us right now, we have one Canuck (me), one Fijian,, a Philippino, one Croat and a Serb (they get along - don't mention soccer though), a host of Poms, and Kiwis, plus an Irishman, all mixed in with convict stock (haha). Its a big dysfunctional family of circus sideshow freaks and misfits (a combination of paratroopers, armoured, and the rest of the lot), but we all get along, we're professional, well focused, and we all have a common goal of getting the job done right, and coming home safe and sound.


Cheers,

Wes

 

[geo]

well, for a start, any foreign citzen coming from a Comonwealth country should be eligible for special treatment... applying citzenship rule to them never made sense.

citzens coming from a NATO alliance country should be eligible for some consideration.  If we are prepared to fight alongside their countrymen's formed units, armed to the teeth, then we should be prepared to consider them for individual augmentation.

For the rest, do your screenings, ensure that language is not a problem and if they are a good pick, then they are a good pick - without having to wait the 3 - 5 years for citzenship.

 

[mike_l]

Hey it'll be the Canadian Foriegn Legion.  In the FFL after serving 3 years you get your citizenship.  As long as proper background checks done it should not be too bad.  As long as they speak English, French or Newfenesse.

 

[Hisspouse]

I also fully support this option for fullfilling our recruitment quota !  If we have newcomers who are ready to show pride and respect for their new country by supporting it's military I say go for it. We are a mixing pot and having a truly blended army has many benefits, both for peacekeeping and our humanitarian roles.
Especially when the DART is deployed, anything that helps open the lines of communication in foreign countries to speed things up is great!

 

[armyrules]

I agree with Lost_Warrior as long as they pass all the entry stuff like we all had to and are not forced into it they do it voluntarily then sure.

 

[big bad john]

In the UK Commonwealth citizens make a significant number of the recruits each year in the Armed Forces.

 

[TMM]

BBJ, that surprised me when I watched some Britsih military training shows on TV. It seemed like at least 25% of that group was from the Caribbean.

 

[big bad john]

Fijians are particularly common in Scottish Regiments.  Many recruits from South Africa and Zimbabwe also.

 

[armyrules]

This maybe a bit off topic but a little bit of military training never hurt anyone like I've heard in some countries that its mandatory for people of a certain age to enlist for so many years. Does anyone think that would fly in Canada or would it violate some human rights?

 

[big bad john]

This maybe a bit off topic but a little bit of military training never hurt anyone like I've heard in some countries that its mandatory for people of a certain age to enlist for so many years. Does anyone think that would fly in Canada or would it violate some human rights?

They call it a draft, and no since World War II it hasn't "flown" in Canada.

 

[a78jumper]

And NEVER did in Quebec.

 

[patton]

If the military is having a problem with recruiting people from it's own Country, maybe it is time for Canadians in general, to start supporting their troops by helping to increase its numbers, instead of verbal and political support.  Maybe it is time for Canadians to realize that 3 years of mandatory service (Regular and Reserve) be implemented.  Using landed Immigrants, to increase the Canadian Militarys numbers, is only a temporary solution, for a long term problem.  I feel that Canadians are finding it easy to sit at home saying they support their troops, but many Canadians are not educating themselves to find out what their troops are doing to support their fellow Canadians.  I feel that, people that are unemployed for longer than 12mnths and on the welfare system should be required to do 3 yrs, of mandatory service.  These are people that have been supported by the Canadian Public, Tax Payers and Government.  This could be one way that they return the favor.  Obviously only people that are able to meet the CF requiremnts should be considered, but this is a large demographic that has not been tapped into.  Yes,  there are Recruiters at Human Resource Centres across Canada, but at no point has CF service been made Mandatory, and I feel very strongly that it should.  This may not be a Recruitment solution, but it will get alot of people off of welfare!  This is my opinion on the recruiting problem.

 

[patton]

This maybe a bit off topic but a little bit of military training never hurt anyone like I've heard in some countries that its mandatory for people of a certain age to enlist for so many years. Does anyone think that would fly in Canada or would it violate some human rights?

As for human rights, you choose to live here, sometimes that requires people to do what the Government says.  I agree that a little bit of Military training never hurt anybody, it helps to build ones character.  Human Rights, I feel is one of those politically correct phrases poeple use to hide behind, so they doen't have to join.  The Canadian Military is one of the most diverse militaries in the world, and is teaching other countries like the States. 

 

[tomahawk6]

As for human rights, you choose to live here, sometimes that requires people to do what the Government says.  I agree that a little bit of Military training never hurt anybody, it helps to build ones character.  Human Rights, I feel is one of those politically correct phrases poeple use to hide behind, so they doen't have to join.  The Canadian Military is one of the most diverse militaries in the world, and is teaching other countries like the States.   

I think that I have to take issue with your last sentence. The US military is probably more diverse if you consider nationalities as we have 40,000 foreign born military personnel in the force. If you consider openly gay service members then Canada would have a leg up on the US as we dont allow openly gay service members.

 

[patton]

What I was referring to was the fact that many other countries have opted to use the Canadian military human rights model, or teaching programs to teach tolerance in the CF.  As far as numbers go, the American military has many more soldiers overall than the Canadian military does.  It is totally expected that they would have a larger amount of soldiers who are of different races.  If you take into consideration the size of the U.S. military, and compare it to the size of the Canadian military we are most likely averaging the same.

 

[m410]

I will not give orders to conscripts.

I'm all for landed immigrants in the military, with some bonus towards their citizenship.

 

[TCBF]

"This may not be a Recruitment solution, but it will get alot of people off of welfare!"

- Ever teach at a Recruit School?    2% of  your recruits will cause 98% of your headaches.  A lot of people are on welfare for medical (visible and non-visible) injuries and disorders that preclude them from being gainfully employed. 

Yes, not even by us.

Not their fault - but not our problem to solve, either.

The idea of conscription is to fill your ranks with the BEST material you can coerce off the streets, and select, assign, train and administer them in the most cost effective way possible.  Assess everyone - select the best.  Conscript armies in peacetime often have a higher general intelligence than volunteer armies do.  They also have a somewhat more robust system of military justice to keep their bright lads (who would much rather be smart outside the army than in it) from getting out of hand.

If you call the shots on who goes in, why not stack the team?

We ain't an employment agency...

 

[goodform]

TCBF, agreed.
You don't see many people downtown east side Vancouver (or anywhere for that matter) in lines for charity or welfare who would pass muster. I do think we should be more open to recruiting landed immigrants and commonwealth citizens, with options for citizenship after a certain service period. I was considering joining the british army for a time because of, all things considered, how easy it was. Heck, maybe as part of army transformation we can have a foriegn legion as well as slotting people into the usual spots? Just a thought, I'll start on the memo...