Ipsos i-Say Survey

[Rifleman62]

I just completed an election survey which also included several military questions. The first question I did not copy was did you know that there was full time and part time soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

The questions were:

- Regular soldiers are in the Canadian Army on a full time basis and it's their full time job; reserve soldiers are part-time volunteers who train during weeknights and on weekends, live in the community and hold full time, regular, non military jobs.
Until now, were you aware that at least 25% of Canadian army forces serving in Afghanistan were volunteer soldiers who dress like and experience the same situations there that regular soldiers do--including battle conditions and potential harm?

Yes/No

- When both regular and reserve soldiers return home after their six to seven month tour in Afghanistan, do you believe they receive the same level of counseling, support and access medical professionals for things such as Post Trauma Syndrome (PTS)?

Yes/No

- In fact, when regular, full time soldiers return to Canada they usually end up on a Canadian Forces base where they have access to support and services-such as dedicated psychologists and psychiatrists-that far exceed that of reserve, part-time soldiers who return to their communities and after a short break are expected to return to their civilian jobs and lives with limited assistance provided by their local regiment and are expectd to use their provincial healthcare system if necessary.

Knowing this, please consider the following scenerio:

A 24 year old reservist, part-time civilian soldier returns from two tours of Afghanistan which included engagement with enemy combatants. He has an exemplary record, has received commendations and is up for promotion beyond his current rank of Master Corporal. He has exhibited no real behavior changes since returning home and has been debriefed occasionally by army psychologists.

One night just a few months after returning from his last tour and after drinking in a bar words are exchanged with a fellow soldier and he get's into a fight. The other soldier has some of his teeth knocked out so the Master Corporal is charged by local municipal police with battery assault which, if convicted, carries a criminal record.

The Master Corporal is remorseful for his actions and pleads guilty to the charge. Now, here are two possible sentencing scenerio's that could be imposed by a judge:
• The judge could accept the Crown's position that battery assault took place and that his exemplary record as a reservist civilian soldier is evidence that he should be treated like any other civilian in an identical situation and serve 30 to 60 days in jail and have a criminal record.
• The judge could accept the Defence Lawyer's position that the battery assault may well have occurred as a reaction to undiagnosed Post Trauma Stress Syndrome (PTS) and what the soldier should be given is a conditional discharge--which means that if he enters into a court ordered community based mental health program for at least a year for behavior counseling and reports back to the court with medical evidence of progress and no interim behavioral difficulties, that the charge be dismissed with no criminal record imposed.

If you were the judge, which sentence would you impose?

Jail sentence and criminal record

Mental health counseling and discharge without criminal record

- Considering what you have just read, do you believe that there are civilian reservist soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and returned to their community who may have undiagnosed PTS?

Yes/No

-  Do you believe that the equivalent level of mental health counseling, services and support should be provided to civilian reservist soldiers as they are to full time soldiers in the Canadian Forces?

Yes/No

 

[Neill McKay]

For a start, I'd say the writing is terrible.

Is this something that was directed towards election candidates, or produced by one or the parties, or what?

 

[kratz]

I agree, no matter how I read this the biased slant of this 'survey' renders it useless IMO. If  In most circumstances, if I received this I would be counted as one of the people who would not even bother answering it.

Who sent the survey? Why? and what will the results be used for? These are all questions that immediately pop up when I read something like this.

 

[PuckChaser]

First question is awful, we're all volunteer soldiers.

 

[Rifleman62]

Ipsos i-Say is the survey company.

 

[Kirkhill]

The questions seem to be waaaay too long and replete with special pleading. 

I could almost see an alternate ulterior motive - establishing the ground work for arguing that it decent, hard working civilians that have been stressed by service in Afghanistan can be excused criminal assault charges why can't decent, hard working civilians that have been stressed by other means also be excused criminal charges.

This surely didn't come from any friend of the Right.

 

[Hawk]

Keep in mind that the people who write these surveys (there are usually 3 of them) started as 16-year-olds on the call floor. Through doing a good job of surveying and getting high marks while being monitored 4 or 5 times in a 4 hour shift, they applied for a transfer to this job. I heard one ask another one day if the rain forest was the same thing as the watershed. You judge!!! Some of them are more intent in going down to the Japanese Garden outside the building where the druggies gather than doing a good job.