Who cares what the public thinks?
I've been asked (more than once) by members of the public why my hat was "purple" or green and not blue. When I tried to explain, one guy actually told me that I should get a blue one, so everyone would know that I was a "peacekeeper" :
The point is, that the Canadian public is not well educated in terms of our military, and for the most part, does not want to be.
Thus, their perception of a fine group of volunteers who do excellent work in the northern and remote areas is of little concern. People that know who the Rangers are, know who they are and what they can do, so what if joe civvie can't figure it out? The whole point of the red sweater, caps and touques, if I recall correctly, is to encourage use of them. If the rangers were to be issued something impractical, like combats, which are wholly unsuited to the arctic, they would sit in their closets, unused. I lived up north for years, and a hoodie and hat always come in handy!
The criteria used for selecting weapons for different units is somewhat complicated, but the public's perception of how "military" it looks is really not a consideration. C7s lack stopping power for animals (or people), the furniture breaks in severe cold and 30 round mags are not generally required for hunting. I've never met a Ranger who did'nt like his Lee Enfield, and since the ones up north carry them more often than us "real" sodiers here in the south carry our C7/8s, I'll go with their assessments!
Finally, we need the Rangers more than they need us. Rifle companies from the south would have near insurmountable difficulties if they had to do battle with the elements and the enemy on sovops, without Ranger instruction.
The Rangers are a truly indispensible organisation. If you don't like their uniforms or weapons, too bad, they work well, and should not be changed so "the optics" can be improved for the 2% of Canadians who will ever see one.
