The lives of Canadian soldiers could be put at greater risk because of Treasury Board regulations that prevent Task Force Kandahar from continuing to employ its best cultural advisers.
About half a dozen of Canada's top advisers, who are ethnic Afghans with Canadian citizenship, have been told that they cannot be rehired when their current contracts expire. They are being let go because of government rules that state that if they work for more than three years for any federal department they must be offered permanent employment in the public service.
The often highly educated advisers attend top level meetings between NATO, Canadian and Afghan officials and regularly accompany Canadian troops on dangerous combat missions to provide on-the-spot political and cultural guidance.
The issue has not only infuriated the advisers, who want to continue working with Canadian troops, but has frustrated the officers whose soldiers work with the cultural advisers alongside Afghan forces.
While no one in the military comments directly at the risk factor, officers say the role the mentors play is valuable to Canadian troops.
"Mentoring is the key to the lock and a good cultural adviser opens the door for NATO troops. He facilitates our job on the ground. A good adviser has lots of experience and provides wise advice as we conduct operations," said Col. Ian Creighton, the outgoing commander of Canada's Operational Mentor Liaison Team (OMLT), which works closely with Afghan combat forces in Kandahar.
"We're fighting a war so you need to be flexible with policies so we can engage and leverage those we need to assist us with operations." ....
