CFB Cold Lake Thread- Merged

[Jungle]

This means what, exactly?

It means that I observed a lot of shiny, expensive toys in the Cold Lake PMQs. I am not saying it is the case of the Cpl in the story, but not everybody in the Cold Lake PMQs is a CWO or Maj and above...

 

[Pusser]

If folks start looking carefully at how much a corporal makes, the fact that CF members don't have to pay for their training and the value of all the other benefits CF members receive, then the tide of public sympathy can easily be turned against us.  I have no idea what this guy's debt load is, but there are certainly many others across Canada who are getting by just fine on considerably less than a corporal's base salary - and that's what the public will notice.

If any CF member wants to go out an earn extra money by busking or moonlighting, there's nothing wrong with that and in that sense, this guy has done nothing wrong.  Where he's gone astray is in making it a protest against government policy.  If he'd not put out his helmet to collect the cash and he'd not mentioned that he was a soldier on his sign, then this wouldn't have even made the local, let alone national news.  This isn't that much different than the mountie who went on TV, smoking a joint in his red serge.  He was doing something entirely legal and ethical, but chose to cross the line and make a political issue out of it.

 

[George Wallace]

If any CF member wants to go out an earn extra money by busking or moonlighting, there's nothing wrong with that and in that sense, this guy has done nothing wrong.  Where he's gone astray is in making it a protest against government policy.  If he'd not put out his helmet to collect the cash and he'd not mentioned that he was a soldier on his sign, then this wouldn't have even made the local, let alone national news.  This isn't that much different than the mountie who went on TV, smoking a joint in his red serge.  He was doing something entirely legal and ethical, but chose to cross the line and make a political issue out of it.

I disagree; unless you unintentionally contradicted yourself.  There is nothing wrong with a CF member wanting to earn extra money moonlighting.  There is something wrong, as in this case, with the CAF member protesting the government and bringing the CAF into that form of protest. 

As for your Mountie example; that Mountie faced disciplinary action for his 'stunt'.  We will likely see this Cpl face disciplinary action as well.

 

[Haggis]

We will likely see this Cpl face disciplinary action as well.

It will be interstiong to see if this Cpl did indeed exhaust all the COAs available to assist him and his family before going this route.  It will also be interesting to see if the Chaion of Command was responsive to his attempts (if any) to purse the appropriate COAs.

 

[Occam]

As for your Mountie example; that Mountie faced disciplinary action for his 'stunt'. 

He did?  I don't want to derail the thread, but I know he had his red serge seized and he was charged for assaulting another RCMP officer when they found him disoriented on the street, but I had not heard of any disciplinary action for smoking the joint in uniform.

 

[Pusser]

I disagree; unless you unintentionally contradicted yourself.  There is nothing wrong with a CF member wanting to earn extra money moonlighting.  There is something wrong, as in this case, with the CAF member protesting the government and bringing the CAF into that form of protest. 

No contradiction.  We're in agreement that he has gone astray by making this a protest.  However, busking is not the same as protesting.  Busking is simply street performing and is a legitimate means of making money (lots of people do it legally and make a living at it).  If he wants to sit on a street corner and play his guitar for money, there's nothing wrong with that (provided he has proper permission from the applicable municipal authority).  Putting out an identifiable piece of a CF uniform and a sign implying that the CF has driven him to poverty was what he's done wrong.

 

[George Wallace]

I did not say busking was not a legitimate method of moonlighting, nor a form of protest.

 

[OldSolduer]

This is what I term the "Culture of Embarassment". A busking corporal, a soldier with PTSD who could not get on an Air Canada flight - the list goes on and on.

In every case the media bites and swallows. The CF leadership is made to look like ogres and fools, while the busking corporals are always right.

:facepalm:

 

[pbi]

If they were smrt they would have drove him to SISIP and begun the process of trying to repair his family finances.

"They"?

How about getting off his ass and getting HIMSELF to SISIP, and repairing his own family finances, which is what he's responsible to do, not the chain of command.

I doubt very much that Gen Hainse would issue an Army memo to address an RCAF issue. This was probably motivated by something else. I should declare my bias here: I had the great pleasure to work directly for Gen Hainse for a while, and I have a very high opinion of him, as do most people (incl allies) whom I have met who have also served with him.

It has always been against the rules to "leak": he's just reminding everybody. Hes not saying don't talk to the media, just "stay in your lane", which was the rule even before Afghanistan.

 

[AmmoTech90]

My guess, and that is all it is, is that the leak concerns stem from the ATI that revealed the concerns over being able to support commerative events and carry out operations given budget cuts.  While the ATI is of course not a leak, the prompting for a journalist to make such an ATI could be considered one.

My  :2c:

 

[pbi]

My guess, and that is all it is, is that the leak concerns stem from the ATI that revealed the concerns over being able to support commerative events and carry out operations given budget cuts.  While the ATI is of course not a leak, the prompting for a journalist to make such an ATI could be considered one.

My  :2c:

Something like that seems more probable.

 

[Journeyman]

We actually need to hear a YouTube video of how well the kid plays -- then we can judge his actions.  op:

 

[Jarnhamar]

A bit off topic (and I'm not implying this is the case but) what stops a journalist from making something up and then "leaking" the information from an "unknown source"?  Do journalists have to keep an actual record of their sources for legal reasons?

 

[tomahawk6]

Do members of the CF receive an cost of living allowance for living in expensive areas ?

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Do members of the CF receive an cost of living allowance for living in expensive areas ?

That's what PLD is T6....

The purpose of the PLD is to reduce the adverse financial impact on military members and their families when posted to a PLDA (excluding isolated posts) with a COL above the national average. PLD rates represent the monthly differential between the COL at the Standard City and the COL at established PLDAs, grossed-up by the applicable marginal tax rate. PLD rates are taxable and are set annually based on a Treasury Board-approved methodology

And here are the rates:

PLDA Monthly PLD (in dollars) after March 2008
Aldergrove              418
Barrie -Borden          0     
Brantford                  0
Calgary                711
Cambridge            71
Chatham ON          0
Chilliwack              0
Cold Lake            319
Corner Brook          0
Dundurn-Saskatoon 0
Edmonton            684
Gander                    0
Grand Falls - Windsor 0
Guelph                167
Halifax                631
Hamilton            414
Kamloops/Kelowna 525
Kenora                  0
Kingston              0
Kitchener            62
Lethbridge        234
London                0
Meaford-Owen Sound 77
Medicine Hat      145
Montreal North Shore  505
Montreal South Shore 376
Moose Jaw  284
Nanaimo 75
Niagara/St. Catharines 0
North Bay 0
Ottawa/Gatineau 0
Peterborough - DND 0
Prince Albert 0
Quebec City - Valcartier 117
Red Deer 327
Regina 62
Rouyn-Noranda 0
Sarnia 0
Saskatoon 382
Sault Ste Marie 0
Sept -Îles -DND 107
Sherbrooke 0
Shilo 0
Saint-Hyacinthe 0
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu 0
St. John's 149
Stratford - DND 82
Sudbury 0
Thunder Bay 0
Timmins 0
Toronto Area 1  1,485
Toronto Area 2    506
Toronto Area 3    522
Toronto Area 4    819
Toronto Area 5  1,167
Trail 0
Vancouver 1,083
Victoria/Esquimalt 816
Windsor 0
Winnipeg 0

 

[pbi]

Do members of the CF receive an cost of living allowance for living in expensive areas ?

Yes. It varies depending where you are. When I lived in the Greater Toronto Area in 2005-2007, the gross allowance was about $1100.00 Cdn/month. When I lived in Winnipeg 2002-2005, it was about $60.00/month (which seemed hardly worth the paperwork).

 

[tomahawk6]

Thanks.So to resolve the issue maybe an increase in PLD for Cold Lake would be the way to go ?

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Simon Kent joins Brian to discuss how the outrage over the armed forces member busking is off-the-mark.



Actually a good listen....

Already posted... didn't see it.... :facepalm:

 

[George Wallace]

Already posted.

 

[Journeyman]

Actually a good listen....

I didn't think it was worth the 10 minutes. 

Basically, you have a 'reporter' who's more of a pro-CF cheerleader (which in itself seems odd) who knows nothing of the Cpl's personal situation, but managed to Google (and misreport) CF pay scales.  He's then joined by......an expert?  Nope, just another reporter -- who also knows nothing of the kid's situation -- but is brought in to say the same things over again.

Does it feel good that people are actually saying the CF is doing things and support is available?  Yes.  Is it news?  Not really.

:2c: