OUR BOYS IN RED?

I HAVE ALWAYS WONDERER IF THE AMERICANS
ARE "OUR BOYS IN BLUE"
ARE CANADIANS
"OUR BOYS IN RED"?
Military may recruit immigrants
Move could fast track `route to citizenship'General
seeks ways to woo potential soldiers
Feb. 25, 2006. 01:00 AM
BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA—New immigrants could find themselves
on a fast track to Canadian citizenship if they
agree to put on a uniform and serve in the military.
That's one suggestion from Gen.
Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of defence staff, as
he looks at "aggressive" ways to fulfil the
Conservatives' ambitious pledge to add up to
23,000 more soldiers.
"We have to come at this from an entirely new approach," he
said yesterday during a speech to the
Conference of Defence Associations, an
Ottawa-based group of defence-related organizations.
That could even include incentives for newcomers
arriving in Canada.
"If landed immigrants join the Canadian forces they
have an accelerated route to citizenship in our
great country,"
Hillier said, floating one possible solution.
He also mused about an extra week of leave for
every soldier who brings in a new recruit although
he quipped that might bring back the days of
"press-ganging ... guys knocked on the head
and dragged off to a recruiting centre."
Despite military careers that promise a good
salary, training, job security and excitement,
Hillier said he's "puzzled" why more young
Canadians aren't lined up to join the forces.
"If you want to sail the seven seas in the most
high-tech ships in the world, you come see us,"
Hillier said. That's a pitch Canadians can
expect to hear a lot of as the military kicks
up its advertising campaign "in a big way"
to woo potential soldiers, Hillier said
"Realistic ads that show what we do, that show the
excitement that I feel myself," Hillier said.
But the top general had to admit yesterday that he's
offering new recruits a cash-strapped adventure.
Speaking to the conference just a day after Defence
Minister Gordon O'Connor offered the hope of
more money for the military in the upcoming
budget, Hillier delivered his own warning that the
forces are short-changed about $750 million a
year for day-to-day operations.
"That's everything from married quarters to
spare parts, to ammunition, the running of
simulators, to gas and oil, to rations and to
everything else necessary to march or fly or sail."
And he said that over the past two decades,
the forces has put off critical investments in
equipment and building maintenance, creating
a costly backlog.
"It is going to take us billions of dollars to dig out of
that hole. And I mean billions with a capital `B,'"
Hillier said.
Topping his wish list are replacements for
Hercules transport planes, which are now being
grounded because of old age.
"We run a risk that that fleet will end up grounded
and our ability to conduct operations significantly
constrained or stopped," he warned.
He also laid out the need for new search and
rescue aircraft to fly "life and death" operations,
new heavy-lift helicopters to move troops and
gear and the guarantee of long-range transport
aircraft.
While Conservatives and the Liberals before them
have together pledged almost $20 billion in new
military funding, Hillier said yesterday he wasn't
sure whether it would be enough.
But he hinted there is the potential for savings,
noting that one-quarter of the military infrastructure
— old hangars and base buildings — isn't
required for operations.
"We really need to be ruthless about how we
parse that down," he said.
Asked whether that spelled big cuts to military
bases, Hillier said it's too soon to know.
With files from Canadian Press
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AHH MOST OF THEM ARE RUNNING
FROM WAR TORN COUNTRIES.
CANADA HAS THE MOST REFUGES IN
THE WORLD, WHO DO NOT RECOGNIZE
OUR FLAG OR ANTHEM. AND DECLINE
TO SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO OUR GREAT
COUNTRY!
ERRRR WHERE ARE THES HIGH TECH
SHIPS?
NOT THE BRITISH SUBS I HOPE !