Photo: LS Erica Seymour, 4 Wing Imaging
By Scott Taylor
A recent headline in the National Post served to grab my attention. It read -"Canadians overwhelmingly in favour of mandatory national service, poll finds" while the sub-head added -"Support drops off when respondents were asked about military service.”
Of those polled, roughly equal numbers were for and against the idea". This data was compiled in a survey conducted by Angus Reid on behalf of the National Post. Respondents were asked if they supported mandatory national service in five different categories; Public Health Support, Environmental Support, Youth services, Civil Protection and Military Service. In the case of the four civilian roles, public the response was over 70% favourable, whereas the idea of conscripted military service scored only 43% in favour, 44% opposed and 12 % undecided.
While such low numbers for military service could in part be due to the steady stream of scandals that have rocked the Canadian Armed Forces for the past decade, it is reassuring to know that the majority of Canadians feel that as citizens of this fine country we should be doing something to give back to the collective.
I have long believed in a nationwide mandatory youth service program. Since 1977 there has been the voluntary Katimavik program which brings together youths from all across Canada to spend 22 weeks living under one roof, and supporting two distantly separate Canadian communities during their engagement.
I had a sister-in-law enrol in this program back in the mid-1980's when the program was a full year long and involved four separate communities. For her it was an incredible experience that exposed young Canadians to our vast and diverse nation at an impressionable age. One option which she chose was a three-month military awareness program which she completed at HMCS Esquimalt in BC. While to date Katimavik has had over 40,000 young Canadians enrolled, it is not nearly on a scale that would make it truly effective.
If Prime Minister Carney were to act on this measure of public support of national service, he could do so by providing options in all five of the categories that were polled.
While the military option was the most opposed and least supported, particularly in the youth demographic, if we are talking a national scale of mandatory service the numbers would still be sufficient to fully flesh out the ranks of the CAF. According to the most recent census data there are approximately 3.6 million Canadians aged 18 - 24. If that were the targeted bracket for national service (i.e. you must serve twelve months within those 6 years) that means enrolling roughly 600,000 youth per year.
While the majority would no doubt opt to serve their stint providing Public Health Support, Environmental Support, Civil protection or Youth Services, the 20% of that youth demographic which is claimed to support military service still amounts to 120,000 recruits. If there was also an increased pay incentive for military versus civil national service I think you would also increase the number of takers.
For the CAF it could be a much enhanced version of the current Naval Experience Program (NEP). The brainchild of Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, the NEP offers recruits a one year, fully paid chance to learn what Navy life is like. These one-year-wonders go through basic military qualification (aka Boot Camp) and are then posted directly to a ship without first getting a trade qualification. In their 12 month engagement sailors can opt to serve on both coasts.
The hope is that they will fall in love with the lifestyle and eagerly re-enlist. However, this project is not without a past precedent.
Back in 1983 Canada faced a nation-wide employment shortage with the youth sector facing the most serious challenges. To solve this problem, the government created the Youth Training and Employment Program (YTEP). While it was a well meaning initiative to take unemployed youths and put them in a uniform for twelve months, in practice it did not work so well.
It may have taken these individuals off the list of the unemployed, but for the military it created a whole new tier of personnel. These YTEP’s were neither fish nor fowl in the eyes of the chain of command. While subject to military discipline, their short term of service meant that commanders were reluctant to invest time and resources into developing their individual skills. Priority for things like leadership advancement or parachute training courses went to those who had voluntarily signed up for a three-year contract.
As such the YTEP experience became the opposite of what VAdm Topshee hopes the NEP will be: the YTEP soldiers rarely re-enlisted to become career soldiers. Hence that experimental program was quickly discontinued.
However, if these one-year engagements were part of a mandatory youth national service program, there would be a steady flow of new recruits. Problem solved.
