Technoviking said:
Hi Crantor
I understand that. That was not my issue. My only issue was with the assertion that a diverse forces is "better" and by great extension, important, in the CF. The job is the job. If right handed heterosexuals aren't attracted to the MSEOp trade, then so be it. I don't think it's worth the effort to pander to them. Just show the job for what it is, and they will come, whoever "they" are, and I could care less, so long as they can perform, left-handed or right handed. That's all.
All righty then, here I go with the response that I attempted earlier ... My response is in "ref" to the "mis-trust" brought up earlier in this thread - and frankly, I'm just too damn lazt to go back to find that particular post ... ;D
___________________________________
Here's my thoughts on "mistrust". I don't believe that the intention of Armychick's earlier post was to infer that the majority of average Canadians "mistrusted" their military which is how you took it; the internet has a funny way of doing things like that.
I don't believe that the "majority" of Canadians "mistrust" their military/govnt, but of those Canadians who DO mistrust their military --- I'm willing to wager a strip-tease on the odds that MOST of them belong to Canadian visible minority groups.
I say that because a great many immigrants to this country came from war-torn nations or otherwise previously lived in areas subject to dictatorships, martial law etc. If I were one of them - I'd "mistrust" those "authority" figures too. No, they do not have to fear their military here in Canada and we don't live in a dictatorship, but it can be a very long time before persons new to Canada are "comfortable in actually believing that".
As for our aboriginal peoples, they too have experienced items in the past which created a "mistrust" of the government. Although land claims issues etc are still being disputed to this day, the government has issued an apology to our aboriginal peoples on behalf of all Canadians regarding items like Residential Schools. This apology was much required in order to begin the healing process. Many aboriginal elders today are those whom were removed from their families by the govnt. I'm quite sure that some of their "mistrust" factually based upon what actually did occur to them in their lifetimes has been passed down to the following generations.
It seems to me that Canada is now over this hurdle and is striving to go forward in a posotive manner. Regardless of whether or not there remain outstanding issues to deal with, and regardless of whatever side of the fence you may be on regarding those particular issues - the CF is attempting to attract "the average Canadian" to join our midst. We are not seeking to attract the far-right or the far-left "Canadians" on
any issue.
That brings us to "average Canadians". "White versus Minority". I'd wager another pole dance on an idea that the overwhelming majority of immigrants in Canada reside in urban areas. Large urban metropolis' to be exact. That is not the case however with our aboriginal peoples. A great many of them live in isolated areas and regions within this huge country.
Areas where having access to cable television can not be taken for granted, nor can internet access. Nor, for that matter, are these aboriginal people availed of same availibility of many other things that "we" (and by using "we" - I'm now including us "white folk" AND Canadian immigrants) take for granted. Such as accessibility to daily newpapers on a regular basis. Such as access to programming on television where they can see what their nation's military is doing and what we "really are like". Heck, some of them have a hard enough time accessing clean drinking water.
I also suspect that CFRCs, or even recruiters at their schools during job fairs, aren't exactly "known" in these communities so that they are aware of what we can offer. We certainly just can't say "go to your nearest CFRC & find out what we're about" or "google CF Recruiting". I don't know too many of "us" who would be able to afford to just fork out the dough to travel up to 1500km to hit the nearest recruiting centre - let alone a young "average Canadian" living in an isolated community who probably "mistrusts" us in the first place.
Let's not kid ourselves, these opportunities (that we take for granted because they are SOOOOOO accesible and known to the rest of "us" have to be presented to those who would otherwise NOT be availed or even aware of the opportunity.
Bold Eagle goes along way towards that achieveing that goal. It ensures that this program is both "communicated to" and "accessible" by those who just don't have the same resources that you & I enjoy and seem to assume that they enjoy also.
We offer them the opportunity to learn about us, sometimes for the very first time; the opportunity to learn for themselves that we can be trusted; the opportunity to build their self-confidence all with the possible goal of attracting that "average Canadian" into our midst. Hopefully, passing it along to their friends.
IF these aboriginals who attend Bold eagle are successful, THEN they have opportunity to
apply to enrol into the Canadian Forces if they so choose. That is ALL that they are guaranteed - the opportunity to apply. Upon submitting an application they have to complete and meet every single requirement that every other one of us "average Canadians" has to meet. IF they meet those requirements, they then get merit listed amongst all us other "average Canadians" - they compete amongst those other applicants exactly as everyone else does. They get merit listed wherever they deserve to be (after having "earned it") and are enrolled in order of merit listing exactly as every other Canadian applicant is (no matter to creed, race, sexuality etc).
Mostly for Eye in The Sky:
If they are hired, it is because their number came up and they WERE the best person for the job IAW the merit list. Someone behind them on the merit list has no reason to blame anyone hired ahead of him/her ... they earn their spot on that list just as everyone else does. They don't skip over anyone because we DO NOT have quotas (exactly as many recruiters on this site have
prepeatedly stated). No "better" people do not get hired because an aboriginal Canadian does.
Average Canadians come from all walks of life. Average Canadians are representative of our society. When there is a portion of those "average Canadians" who do not have ease of access or who possess a limited knowledge of the CF and who very well inherantly "mistrust" us, we HAVE to show them differently. We have to ensure that WE present them with an opportunity to learn differently, to see us for themselves, to avail them of the same accesibility that we others take for granted. That's what Bold eagle does.
A pro-Bold eagle, pro-Aboriginal stance does NOT equate into pro-quota, anti-white man, anti-fairness position. It simply ensures that a portion of our population is afforded the ability to makes themselves familiar with "us" and who we are and what we are about, to learn that "we" are not to be feared ... an as an added bonus ... if they actually DO like us - we may gain a potential applicant who may successfully enrol who then may go on to become a successful soldier/sailor/airman/airwoman.
To my way of thinking: There ain't nothing wrong with that. Both sides win. Canada wins. Isn't that what it's all supposed to be about?
There is a bigger picture out there people, and there's a whole lot of "best" Canadians who don't have the access and info or opportunity that we take fro granted.
