Join the new world

I am running for Congress in the next elections for the CNC although in Alberta. Instead of writing a single platform I want to write a series of articles on the issues of the day. The first issue two parts of my platform are here, and here.

This time I want to discuss the Military. I am a strong supporter of the CAF, but after all it wouldn’t do any candidate for office a bit of good to say that they weren’t strong supporters of the CAF. I’ve been a member of the Reserves since I returned to Canada after PEI was liberated, and in the time before the fall of Canada I had applied to join the Reserves as soon as my strength met the requirements for membership. I don’t want to say much more about my membership in the Reserves as I do not want to politicize it. That is in fact part of the Code of Conduct for the CAF.

I do want to commend the commanders and Ministers of Defense for their efforts to rebuild the CAF. Those who don’t remember the time of the invasion don’t know what it was like before and during that event. People were desperately attempting to join the Reserves and not getting any response. Supplies from the Government were hard to come by and eventually dried up entirely. In August, shortly after Canada was reborn, a detailed plan for restructuring the Canadian Armed Forces was released. It envisaged an increase in the number of regular platoons, a second Reserve division of three platoons with its own supply branch, and the establishment of the Rangers as a third branch of the services; a branch for those whose strength levels are not at the levels required for the Reserves or the Regular forces. The net result of this plan has been a military force of over 400 members but organized in such a way that it is an efficient sword and shield for the nation. This is by any measure a tremendous achievement and one of which those responsible should be justly proud.

There are considerable problems facing the CAF, but for the most part they are beyond the ability of politicians to fix. Virtually every industry has an impact – directly or indirectly – on the CAF. The two biggest factors are Moving Tickets and Weapons. The Moving Ticket market is primarily driven by decisions to deploy the CAF and the Rangers outside of the country, which obviously means that the market has an unpredictable cycle. The potential exists for disaster if several large troop movements occur after a long period of quiescence, which can lead to companies shuttering, or at minimal production. The market price currently seems to have settled in the $6.90 to $7.50 range but inventory draw downs combined with the sometime absurd wages being offered on the Job Market – particularly in the SL 2 to SL 4 region – may well drive market prices up in the not too distant future. But there’s nothing Government can do about that. What they might possibly do is perhaps spread purchases out so that there aren’t spikes in sales and sudden drops in national inventory that drive up prices. This is something that I’d like to bring up if elected.

Similarly the Weapons market is a problem. In a not particularly long period of time prices for Q1 Weapons have jumped from the area of $4.10 to $4.50 and sometimes higher...much higher. Ramizeth, the Operational Commander of the CAF has stated that there have been times when he might need to purchase weapons internationally where at times the price can be up to 50% less (stated in gold). The situation on the Job Market has had an impact here as it has on the Moving Ticket market. The “Buy Canadian Bill,” which I helped JaysonV to write, was intended have Government entrench a policy in which the Government would buy Canadian goods in preference to foreign made goods. The bill does however provide an out for purchases such as this by providing a maximum price difference (5😵 above which the Government could buy on the open market.

The Canadian Military has made tremendous strides in the period following the liberation of the first Canadian regions. As someone once said of the Royal Navy it is now a force that is able to go anywhere and do anything. We need to continue to work on making the CAF the best force possible. There are challenges beyond manpower to deal with however. Congress needs to do what it has to in order to support the CAF in all ways necessary.