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Recovering backpacker, Cornwallite at heart, political enthusiast, catalyst, writer, husband, father, community volunteer, unabashedly proud Canadian. Every hyperlink connects to something related directly or thematically to that which is highlighted.

Tuesday 14 July 2015

Mind Your Military









The Harper government is big on the military - you know, Canada's proud fighting forces keeping troubling seas at bay and fighting against bad people overseas.  Fair enough; ISIL is mass-murdering, enslaving, raping, etc.  They're bad and need stopped.

Thing is, the Harper government isn't taking care of Canada's military.  From medical support to compensation, the system is being jigged away from supportive and more towards the same model the Tories see the rest of the workforce - as tools to be used, with anything not-work related their own problem.

Such is the laissez-faire capitalist model.

Only thing is, that model isn't working; burnout, PTSD, etc are bad.  I'd be curious to see what military recruitment stats are, or any metrics around morale.

Which is the moral of the story - an under-supported military is a less functional, shrinking military.

Can you fix that with the draft, numbers-wise?  Even if you can, will it be effective in supporting a dynamic, responsive fighting force?  If you can't - what happens when people object?

It's an untenable model, which is fine - in the long-term, the system will right itself, which is how evolution works.

The grand irony?  Half of what Team Harper supports is at odds with the other half.  And long-term trajectory doesn't favour them at all.

None of this is low-hanging fruit, though, and therefore not their concern.


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