This is not a business - This is Sparta!
The Canadian Gov't keeps trying to treat our military like it was a corporation, or a business. Even our pay and benefits are negotiated along with the Public Service contract, as if we worked at the DMV or Revenue Canada or something. (Somehow our pay and benefits never quite measure up to theirs, though.)
And while we may work for the public, there is a far cry from a military member and a public service employee.
PSEs don't have to worry about being tried and possibly paying a fine - or worse yet, being confined or going to jail - for not having their haircut, not shaving, not having their uniform up to an exacting standard, not paying their bosses proper or enough respect, being late for work, not keeping their room spotless, losing a part of their uniform (gloves, hat, boots--whatever) etc. Or the catch all, Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order and Discipline - which basically covers anything that annoys the boss but there isn't really a rule for.
I'm pretty sure PSEs can't be forced to work 24 hours a day for days on end, with next to no notice, at no extra pay.
I'm pretty sure PSE's aren't forced to move across country every few years.
I doubt their boss can come to them, and--even though they're a secretary, or accountant, or cook, or truck driver--tell them to get their stuff together because their leaving in 24hrs to go stand chest-deep in the freezing waters of the flooding Red River and stacking sandbags, or providing relief to the people of Quebec because of the devastation caused by the latest ice storm, or helping to dig trenches and cut down trees to fight forest fires blazing in British Columbia, or doing a search for some little girl reported missing in the woods for the last three days. And it doesn't matter that they may not have the training to do any of these things.
Odds are nobody that works at the DMV are going to be ordered to go to Afghanistan, Rwanda, Kosovo, Iraq, etc--where the locals are actively trying to kill them.
They're certainly not going to be ordered to "run out there and draw there fire." Because even if they were, they could say NO, and not have to worry about being court-marshalled and sent to jail. Even firefighters and police officers in Canada have the right to say no if they believe the situation too dangerous or life threatening. Soldiers do not - even if it's almost a certainty that they will die performing their duty. (Even if they have no faith whatsoever in the plan or the person ordering them to do so.)
So when you tell me that I'm not entitled to this or that benefit or perk, or that from now on I have to pay this or that service, because it's more in line with what the public service gets, I'm not buying it. And neither should the rest of Canada.
Of course now that the war in Afghanistan is over, who cares about the military and the men who served?
Certainly not the tax payers.
And while we may work for the public, there is a far cry from a military member and a public service employee.
PSEs don't have to worry about being tried and possibly paying a fine - or worse yet, being confined or going to jail - for not having their haircut, not shaving, not having their uniform up to an exacting standard, not paying their bosses proper or enough respect, being late for work, not keeping their room spotless, losing a part of their uniform (gloves, hat, boots--whatever) etc. Or the catch all, Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order and Discipline - which basically covers anything that annoys the boss but there isn't really a rule for.
I'm pretty sure PSEs can't be forced to work 24 hours a day for days on end, with next to no notice, at no extra pay.
I'm pretty sure PSE's aren't forced to move across country every few years.
I doubt their boss can come to them, and--even though they're a secretary, or accountant, or cook, or truck driver--tell them to get their stuff together because their leaving in 24hrs to go stand chest-deep in the freezing waters of the flooding Red River and stacking sandbags, or providing relief to the people of Quebec because of the devastation caused by the latest ice storm, or helping to dig trenches and cut down trees to fight forest fires blazing in British Columbia, or doing a search for some little girl reported missing in the woods for the last three days. And it doesn't matter that they may not have the training to do any of these things.
Odds are nobody that works at the DMV are going to be ordered to go to Afghanistan, Rwanda, Kosovo, Iraq, etc--where the locals are actively trying to kill them.
They're certainly not going to be ordered to "run out there and draw there fire." Because even if they were, they could say NO, and not have to worry about being court-marshalled and sent to jail. Even firefighters and police officers in Canada have the right to say no if they believe the situation too dangerous or life threatening. Soldiers do not - even if it's almost a certainty that they will die performing their duty. (Even if they have no faith whatsoever in the plan or the person ordering them to do so.)
So when you tell me that I'm not entitled to this or that benefit or perk, or that from now on I have to pay this or that service, because it's more in line with what the public service gets, I'm not buying it. And neither should the rest of Canada.
Of course now that the war in Afghanistan is over, who cares about the military and the men who served?
Certainly not the tax payers.
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