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Did anyone catch the story (CTV news last night) of the young man who moved to Canada from France when he was 9 years old and is having problems with his security clearance? He thinks it's unfair that his application should be held up just because he wasn't born in Canada and has lived here for half his life. (no mention of whether he continues to have ties in any foreign countries)
Seems like a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" to me.
I realize this young man more than likely doesn't pose any security threat to Canada. But can you imagine the hue and cry of the media, the finger pointing in Ottawa and the outrage of the Canadian people if we didn't investigate (for the purpose of security) all people applying to the military? Gawd forbid if somewhere down the road a young soldier emerges who was indoctrinated into some Al-Quaeda type organization from early childhood, applied for and gained entry into our military, then passed our military secrets on to terrorists?
When I filled out my application I was given a list of countries and asked to mark off any I'd visited, had relatives in, lived in, etc. I would fully expect if I had family ties, investments or had lived in many of these countries, my security clearance would be still winding it's way through the various divisions and departments of CSIS. And rightfully so!
Personally, I'd rather see us err on the side of caution than cave in to media pressure and regret it later.
Here's the story:
Whistleblower: Post-9/11 rules delaying army recruits
Kathy Tomlinson and Margo Harper, CTV News
Marc Bucaya is a frustrated Canadian soldier in waiting.
The 17-year-old, from Toronto, dreamed of a career in the Canadian military. He and his family were thrilled when they heard that this country wants to hire 10,000 new soldiers and reservists. But when Bucaya went to sign up, he was told that he faced a possible wait of two years before he could even begin basic training.
Because Bucaya was born in France and came to Canada fewer than 10 years ago, new post 9/11 rules make him a "security risk."
That means he needs a special clearance to join the military. And the back-log in getting those clearances can run two years, or longer.
"I was nine years old when I came to Canada and right now I should be able to join cause I have no criminal record," says Bucaya.
His mom Tess Abad is equally frustrated.
"He was so excited when he was applying," says Abad.
"If you are 17 years old and never had a real job and you are excited, all the energy is there and then you get so disappointed."
That disappointment is being felt by hundreds of potential young recruits every year, say insiders in Canada's military recruiting offices.
Because of the new rules, all Canadians in the country less than 10 years must go through the security clearance process.
Recruiters estimate that up to a third of all new applicants, especially in diverse cities like Toronto and Vancouver, are being turned away because of the backlog.
It represents a tremendous loss of potential for Canada's military -- at the very time the force is looking to expand and represent the changing face of Canada.
"To have a basic recruit having to wait up to two years for a security clearance is absolutely ridiculous," says Scott Taylor of the military magazine Esprit de Corps.
"To have this type of draconian measures keeping everybody out of the system is ridiculous and that's what they have to wake up and realize they need to apply some common sense here."
Taylor says the Canadian military will not be able to meet its current recruiting with the current restrictions. And he says there are plenty of internal security mechanisms in place to deal with an unsuitable soldier.
"They can weed them out once they are in the system," explains Taylor.
"Even if they had evil intent and wanted to join for nefarious purposes once they get into the militia and into the regular force they find out they are only being trained on a very secure supervised setting and they don't have access to their weapons."
The minister in charge of expanding Canada's fighting forces, Bill Graham, didn't want to answer questions on the military recruiting back-log. He referred Whistleblower to the Minister in charge of CSIS, Anne McLellan.
McLellan defended the system of checks, even for potential soldiers who came to this country when they were children.
"The reality is we have to be thorough, because we cannot afford mistakes," says McLellan.
"What we need to do is ensure that we have the human resources and the technical resources to do the security checks as quickly as possible but you must never sacrifice the thoroughness of the security check."
Prospective soldiers and their families don't buy the minister's explanation.
Anna Belyntseva and her family immigrated from Russia eight years ago. Belyntseva's older son got into the Canadian navy before 9/11. But her youngest son Nikolei, now 17, is now caught up in the bureaucratic black-hole of the security check. His mother says her son's dreams of a life of service are now on ice.
"It was awful. It drove him crazy," says Belyntseva of her son's experience at the recruiting office.
"He said Mom why did they do this to me, why didn't they mention this before? He was only nine years old when we came here. I don't understand what kind of checks they are doing. He was in elementary school when we moved here ... are they checking with the teacher?"
Seems like a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" to me.
I realize this young man more than likely doesn't pose any security threat to Canada. But can you imagine the hue and cry of the media, the finger pointing in Ottawa and the outrage of the Canadian people if we didn't investigate (for the purpose of security) all people applying to the military? Gawd forbid if somewhere down the road a young soldier emerges who was indoctrinated into some Al-Quaeda type organization from early childhood, applied for and gained entry into our military, then passed our military secrets on to terrorists?
When I filled out my application I was given a list of countries and asked to mark off any I'd visited, had relatives in, lived in, etc. I would fully expect if I had family ties, investments or had lived in many of these countries, my security clearance would be still winding it's way through the various divisions and departments of CSIS. And rightfully so!
Personally, I'd rather see us err on the side of caution than cave in to media pressure and regret it later.
Here's the story:
Whistleblower: Post-9/11 rules delaying army recruits
Kathy Tomlinson and Margo Harper, CTV News
Marc Bucaya is a frustrated Canadian soldier in waiting.
The 17-year-old, from Toronto, dreamed of a career in the Canadian military. He and his family were thrilled when they heard that this country wants to hire 10,000 new soldiers and reservists. But when Bucaya went to sign up, he was told that he faced a possible wait of two years before he could even begin basic training.
Because Bucaya was born in France and came to Canada fewer than 10 years ago, new post 9/11 rules make him a "security risk."
That means he needs a special clearance to join the military. And the back-log in getting those clearances can run two years, or longer.
"I was nine years old when I came to Canada and right now I should be able to join cause I have no criminal record," says Bucaya.
His mom Tess Abad is equally frustrated.
"He was so excited when he was applying," says Abad.
"If you are 17 years old and never had a real job and you are excited, all the energy is there and then you get so disappointed."
That disappointment is being felt by hundreds of potential young recruits every year, say insiders in Canada's military recruiting offices.
Because of the new rules, all Canadians in the country less than 10 years must go through the security clearance process.
Recruiters estimate that up to a third of all new applicants, especially in diverse cities like Toronto and Vancouver, are being turned away because of the backlog.
It represents a tremendous loss of potential for Canada's military -- at the very time the force is looking to expand and represent the changing face of Canada.
"To have a basic recruit having to wait up to two years for a security clearance is absolutely ridiculous," says Scott Taylor of the military magazine Esprit de Corps.
"To have this type of draconian measures keeping everybody out of the system is ridiculous and that's what they have to wake up and realize they need to apply some common sense here."
Taylor says the Canadian military will not be able to meet its current recruiting with the current restrictions. And he says there are plenty of internal security mechanisms in place to deal with an unsuitable soldier.
"They can weed them out once they are in the system," explains Taylor.
"Even if they had evil intent and wanted to join for nefarious purposes once they get into the militia and into the regular force they find out they are only being trained on a very secure supervised setting and they don't have access to their weapons."
The minister in charge of expanding Canada's fighting forces, Bill Graham, didn't want to answer questions on the military recruiting back-log. He referred Whistleblower to the Minister in charge of CSIS, Anne McLellan.
McLellan defended the system of checks, even for potential soldiers who came to this country when they were children.
"The reality is we have to be thorough, because we cannot afford mistakes," says McLellan.
"What we need to do is ensure that we have the human resources and the technical resources to do the security checks as quickly as possible but you must never sacrifice the thoroughness of the security check."
Prospective soldiers and their families don't buy the minister's explanation.
Anna Belyntseva and her family immigrated from Russia eight years ago. Belyntseva's older son got into the Canadian navy before 9/11. But her youngest son Nikolei, now 17, is now caught up in the bureaucratic black-hole of the security check. His mother says her son's dreams of a life of service are now on ice.
"It was awful. It drove him crazy," says Belyntseva of her son's experience at the recruiting office.
"He said Mom why did they do this to me, why didn't they mention this before? He was only nine years old when we came here. I don't understand what kind of checks they are doing. He was in elementary school when we moved here ... are they checking with the teacher?"
;D
