[Newsbot]

Title: Canadian commander in Haiti relieved of duty
Category: World
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2010-07-09 15:16:47
Canadian

[GreenTiger]

You have to be careful who you are bing inappropriate with especially the military.

[DerbyX]

Seems the military is taking a beating at the command levels. 2 high profile commanders relieved of duty for "inappropriate relationships" and 1 serial killer.

[Scape]

Unbelievable.

[Freakinoldguy]

WTF is going on? I really thought they'd done away with the aura of priviledge in the Senior ranks after the scandals of the 80's and early 90's and now things like this keep comming up.

[desertdude]

DerbyX DerbyX:

Seems the military is taking a beating at the command levels. 2 high profile commanders relieved of duty for "inappropriate relationships" and 1 serial killer.

Serial Killer !

[bootlegga]

WTH is going on lately?

[Bodah]

This could be part of the problem. Quoted from the comment section.

$1:

"These scandals will continue in the Armed Forces and are a direct result of decisions made years ago on the selection and promotion of senior officers.

In order to be promoted beyond Major these days you must be bilingual. This decision forces many highly capable and experienced officers to decide not to continue careers in the armed forces and limits the selection pool.

I am not suggesting that Francophones are any less capable than Anglos, but when 10% of the population needs to fill 90% of the command roles, there are going to be bad apples who are forced through the cracks."

Read the bold comment a few times before anyone calls me a francophone hater.

[Guy_Fawkes]

Bodah Bodah:

This could be part of the problem. Quoted from the comment section.

$1:

"These scandals will continue in the Armed Forces and are a direct result of decisions made years ago on the selection and promotion of senior officers.

In order to be promoted beyond Major these days you must be bilingual. This decision forces many highly capable and experienced officers to decide not to continue careers in the armed forces and limits the selection pool.

I am not suggesting that Francophones are any less capable than Anglos, but when 10% of the population needs to fill 90% of the command roles, there are going to be bad apples who are forced through the cracks."

Read the bold comment a few times before anyone calls me a francophone hater.

[Brenda]

Bodah Bodah:

This could be part of the problem. Quoted from the comment section.

$1:

"These scandals will continue in the Armed Forces and are a direct result of decisions made years ago on the selection and promotion of senior officers.

In order to be promoted beyond Major these days you must be bilingual. This decision forces many highly capable and experienced officers to decide not to continue careers in the armed forces and limits the selection pool.

I am not suggesting that Francophones are any less capable than Anglos, but when 10% of the population needs to fill 90% of the command roles, there are going to be bad apples who are forced through the cracks."

Read the bold comment a few times before anyone calls me a francophone hater.

There is a huge educational system in the military, right?
Why not add French and English? If your personnel has to be bilingual to get promotions, provide the tools...

[Guy_Fawkes]

Brenda Brenda:

There is a huge educational system in the military, right?
Why not add French and English? If your personnel has to be bilingual to get promotions, provide the tools...

It's very hard to get a french course in the military, especially if you do not know a lick of french. Even if you do get a french lang course you are pretty much taken out of regular training for close to a year, then you are likely to get posted to a francophone base. Putting your career on hold for a year and getting posted to Quebec is something most do not want to do.

Now when you get to the higher ranks (Chief Warrant Officer ect) you are encourage to improve your french. So some people will put the effort toward it, but a lot just dont see it worth the trouble since they are due to retire in a few years at that point. Being bilingual will significantly improve your career, but you can still have a great one without it.

My understanding is that french soldiers have a different situation, by the rank of Sgt you are supposed to be bilingual. I hear it is easier to get an english course and your next posting can be anywhere in Canada.

[kenmore]

Thinking with the wrong head again!

[desertdude]

Is it a big deal if you can't speak french outside of Quebec ? As far as I know around 80 to 90% of the population speaks English, and is there is a sizeable population that only speaks French and what is it like to be a non french speaker in Quebec ?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer these questions.

P.S : I would seriously like to know and its not a loaded question looking to spark off some debate.

[raydan]

Just saying...

It's not that hard to learn another language, IF you put the effort into it.
I know that if I got a job and one of the requirements of getting a future promotion was to learn Mandarin, well, I'd learn Mandarin.

I think that military personnel that are serious about getting that promotion will learn French. They know the rule.

3 months before going on a trip to Cuba, I started an online course in Spanish.
Can't say I was fluent, but I'm sure that in less then a year, I would have been.

I will concede that it's easier for a French Canadian to learn English than the other way around.

[Guy_Fawkes]

desertdude desertdude:

Is it a big deal if you can't speak french outside of Quebec ? As far as I know around 80 to 90% of the population speaks English, and is there is a sizeable population that only speaks French and what is it like to be a non french speaker in Quebec ?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer these questions.

P.S : I would seriously like to know and its not a loaded question looking to spark off some debate.

In the grand scheme of things... not really. If you speak english you can get by quite well, for government jobs its a bit different, because when you get to the higher levels of an institution you are expected to converse with someone regardless if they are french or english.

Being english in Quebec ranges from painless to impossible. It depends on where in Quebec you are and what you are trying to accomplish, as well as your attitude.