Justin Trudeau hints at boosting Canada’s military spending

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I worked in a HQ before and directly for GOFOs. What I found is that the GOFOs themselves are not necessarily afraid to act but the staff underneath always tried to have the 100% solution before they presented anything to GOFOs. I was more than happy to send 80% solutions when I was working there and my small staff and I were able to effect some significant change to airworthiness policies in several domains. I am comfortable implementing something that may be flawed but at least, it’s a starting point to iterate from.

All that to say, it’s easy to blame GOFOs but in reality, some people are somehow afraid to bring anything they don’t consider perfect and that slows the system down. Paralysis by analysis.

Amen to that....

"In any bureaucracy, there's a natural tendency to let the system become an excuse for inaction."

- Chris Fussell

 

[dimsum]

We have 100+ GOFOs all with their own staff and bloated salaries, you’d think at least of one those people can come up with ideas to reduce applicants waiting from years to a few months.

Yes - those staffs and the entire CMP organization are morons and have never thought of any ideas to help the problem.

I’m just one of the dudes keeping the lights on the titanic, not my job to sell the tickets.

"Not my job" is frankly one of the lines that is holding us back as an organization.

Stop Saying “It's Not My Job” and Say This Instead

You can still say no without sounding whiny. Here's how.

www.themuse.com

 

[Halifax Tar]

Yeah I have umm, questions about the navy’s one year program I won’t lie

What would you like to know ?

Naval Experience Program (NEP) | Canadian Armed Forces

The Naval Experience Program (NEP) will provide you with exposure to life in the Royal Canadian Navy and help you decide if life in the Navy is the right fit for you.

forces.ca

 

[dapaterson]

Security clearances are an issue for both military and civilian hiring in defence, and are becoming more, not less, onerous.

With most military technology imported, Canada is subject to foreign controls which can restrict even Canadian citizens from access, depending on their country of birth. This puts additional pressures on personnel management - a highly qualified widget fixer, for example, may not be able to be employed in support of a new vehicle fleet because she was born in Grand Fenwick.

 

[ueo]

Blue fleet they are trying to switch electric, green fleet probably not happening any time soon.

Also please no two fleet system, stop the milcot/smp split buys. Just buy one common bloody fleet

I guess once recharge stas are avail in the trg areas in places like Gtown, Pet or Wnrt.

 

[ueo]

Start rebuilding single PMQ's into duplexes?

What single PMQs?

 

[ueo]

Absolutely. This is just one of many assumptions being made by out of touch people.

Our system is antiquated and hasn’t modernized. We aren’t targeting the right demographic the right way with the right messaging.

Add to that our antiquated method of posting and human resource management and we have so many issues that fixing just one won’t cut it. Everything thing needs an overhaul.

Also we are getting outflanked by everyone else.

Attempted "modernization" a while back BUT at the urging of some senior folks went down the rabbit hole of TQL with all its spinoffs!

 

[ueo]

That runs counter to what a recruiter told the news last fall...

Military sounding alarm over recruiting problems as Canadians steer clear

Ya well...

 

[Ostrozac]

What would you like to know ?

Naval Experience Program (NEP) | Canadian Armed Forces

The Naval Experience Program (NEP) will provide you with exposure to life in the Royal Canadian Navy and help you decide if life in the Navy is the right fit for you.

forces.ca

What I’d like to know is how these short term RCN enrolees are going to be rushed through the security clearance backlog. As noted in post #3916, “All trades onboard ship need higher than reliable.” And as we have a backlog in the clearance system, won’t large numbers of short-term hires just exacerbate the problem?

 

[markppcli]

I guess once recharge stas are avail in the trg areas in places like Gtown, Pet or Wnrt.

Did you miss the blue fleet part? Our base duty vehicles in Shilo are electric, perfect for the tasks it’s expected to do.

 

[ueo]

Did you miss the blue fleet part? Our base duty vehicles in Shilo are electric, perfect for the tasks it’s expected to do.

Base vehs! The project aim appears to incl tac vehs. Can you see a cbt team lined up at recharger at Gr 123456?

 

[GR66]

At the same time as NATO is planning on making 2% of GDP the hard minimum target for defence spending Canada is desperately trying to expand what is included in that calculation...you know, so we don't have to actually increase our defence spending. Sounds like the US so far is having none of it. Hopefully they stick to their guns (which unlike us they have lots of!)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-nato-spending-definition-1.6901473

 

[Quirky]

Yes - those staffs and the entire CMP organization are morons and have never thought of any ideas to help the problem.


"Not my job" is frankly one of the lines that is holding us back as an organization.

It’s not. At all. I wasn’t hired to fix recruiting and anything posted here or on Reddit is irrelevant. I don’t ask the clerk to help me troubleshoot a problem and they don’t ask my help with processing claims. I don’t care if the CAF takes a year + to process an applicant, we have thousands of overpaid post secondary officers to come up with ideas. My application took over a year to process and this was in the early 2000s, 20 years later and nothing has changed. It’s a disgrace.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

I do wonder if we could let people’s back ground checks be pending during their time at St Jean ? I imagine medical has sorted to ensure the candidates can actually do what ever passes for physical training in BMQ now. But back ground stuff could probably be pending with some kind of policy shift to allow dismissal if it’s not clear.

There are HR and Legal Reasons of why you want everything like background checks done prior to completion of BMQ.

Yeah I have umm, questions about the navy’s one year program I won’t lie

It will be declared a success because .... reasons

Whether it is actually a success or not will be another question.

A generally good solution to manpower shortages is money. My company increased their overall manpower numbers by close to 2000 in a year. They did this with the use of things like signing bonuses, relocation incentives, etc.

They also spent a bucketload of money on advertising on social media, hired additional HR specialists, hired additional training staff, built additional training facilities, etc.

 

[Navy_Pete]

I worked in a HQ before and directly for GOFOs. What I found is that the GOFOs themselves are not necessarily afraid to act but the staff underneath always tried to have the 100% solution before they presented anything to GOFOs. I was more than happy to send 80% solutions when I was working there and my small staff and I were able to effect some significant change to airworthiness policies in several domains. I am comfortable implementing something that may be flawed but at least, it’s a starting point to iterate from.

All that to say, it’s easy to blame GOFOs but in reality, some people are somehow afraid to bring anything they don’t consider perfect and that slows the system down. Paralysis by analysis.

On the flip side, I've sent up 60% solutions for direction on which COAs to focus on, and been kicked in the dick, so the 'paralysis by analysis' is a bit of an ingrained defence mechanism.

I've also done some back of the napkin analysis, summarized it in a briefing note with a recommendation, and then had to spend the next year watching 3 high priced consultants (who had no relevant expertise) do the same kind of analysis to come to the same result for about $600k.

We have an institutional distrust for our own internal expertise sometimes, which is unfortunate, especially in niche areas where industry doesn't have the relevant expertise. I get second guessed daily in my normal job where we have to ask the class societies, and it goes to some random person that just looks at rules but has no actual experience.

 

[Navy_Pete]

A generally good solution to manpower shortages is money. My company increased their overall manpower numbers by close to 2000 in a year. They did this with the use of things like signing bonuses, relocation incentives, etc.

They also spent a bucketload of money on advertising on social media, hired additional HR specialists, hired additional training staff, built additional training facilities, etc.

Woah, wait a second, you increased your manpower by increasing training/HR capacity? That's madness.

I love how we expect our training throughput to increase by magic, when we still have old facilities, empty billets, high turnover, pulled for taskings etc. I know a few people who were instructors at CFNES for 'shore posting' but demanded to go back to a ship because they were actually sailing more filling empty billets then if they were on a ship with a bit more protection on their position.

 

[KevinB]

Security clearances are an issue for both military and civilian hiring in defence, and are becoming more, not less, onerous.

True, but it shouldn’t be a significant problem if you have a trained staff conducting the background investigations.

With most military technology imported, Canada is subject to foreign controls which can restrict even Canadian citizens from access, depending on their country of birth. This puts additional pressures on personnel management - a highly qualified widget fixer, for example, may not be able to be employed in support of a new vehicle fleet because she was born in Grand Fenwick.

That’s not how it actually works, unless they are dual nationals.
We (the US) don’t care where someone was born, just what their citizenship is, as far as technology goes. There is one organization down here that requires US born citizens for certain job streams (hint Christian’s in Action).

Down here it’s fairly simple for naturalization, 5E countries can retain dual citizenship with no restrictions, no one else can. For born duals, there are security implications if one retains dual citizenship from a non 5E, (some but lesser implementations if one retains dual citizenship from a non 5E NATO country) and total implications (including no security clearance to be given) for other countries.
If Canada is allowing some citizens to retain dual citizenship from unfriendly nations, that is in Canada, and no major difference from here.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... it’s easy to blame GOFOs but in reality, some people are somehow afraid to bring anything they don’t consider perfect and that slows the system down. Paralysis by analysis.

Wherever that's happening, then, if the GOFO can't unlock the log jam, then it's levels above that encouraging risk aversion to the point of "100% or nothing". You're right, it's not as simple as JUST one level.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Woah, wait a second, you increased your manpower by increasing training/HR capacity? That's madness.

I love how we expect our training throughput to increase by magic, when we still have old facilities, empty billets, high turnover, pulled for taskings etc. I know a few people who were instructors at CFNES for 'shore posting' but demanded to go back to a ship because they were actually sailing more filling empty billets then if they were on a ship with a bit more protection on their position.

We also build accommodations for our workers and their families so that they are able to work for us in strategically important locations:

PHOTOS: CP opens the doors to their new staff accommodations in Revelstoke

The facility has 48 rooms spread between two buildings

www.revelstokereview.com

The Canadian Pacific (CP) staff accommodations opened today (Jan. 12) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The accommodations include two new buildings, furnished suites with a kitchen, a fitness centre, laundry facilities, and more. The units will be rented to CP workers who come through Revelstoke for work. At a partially subsidized rate, the units will be less expensive than the hot rental market.

“We’ve been in Revelstoke for more than 140 years and we want to be in Revelstoke for 140 more years,” said Chad Rolstad, Vice President of human resources and chief culture officer.


Rolstad said the new accommodations will help ensure the company remains an important part of the community, while continuing to help their workers.

Mayor Gary Sulz echoed Rolstad’s sentiments, expressing his appreciation to the company for their continued active role in the Revelstoke culture and community.

Muhammad Pasha, Director of Facilities, said he was excited at the speed of the project, which broke ground in May of 2022.

“To get it done within this time frame — it was a feat in and of itself,” said Pasha.

Of the speed of the project, Rolstad similarly expressed his appreciation.

“Well, as is common with CP culture, when we see something that needs to be done, we got at it with a tenacity to get the job done as quickly, as safely, and as efficiently as possible,” said Rolstad.

The accommodations have 48 rooms split between two buildings, with a kitchen in every room. The facility also has a fitness centre and games room, with foosball, pool, and ping pong tables.

The facility is already hosting its first occupants with about a dozen workers already living there. As the facility is only available to workers staying in Revelstoke, the time limit for rental will be roughly six months.

Six months flash to bang for the company to build 48 apartment suites for their workers in a high cost location. That's what you're competing with btw:

"when we see something that needs to get done, we get at it with the tenacity to get the job done....quickly, safely, efficiently"

 

[Navy_Pete]

That's not a problem, we've got (checks notes) dazzle paint, uh.... not benefit cuts, and uh.... hair dye.