I hope I didn't come across as whining in my post, my point in posting was to highlight some of the obstacles I'm currently facing.
Roy: I don't know if CSIS has a board somewhere - but it's a good idea to take a look - I'm a regular lurker on Army.ca and when I saw this thread I thought others might find my experience interesting - I shouldn't have made it sound like I want the CF to change. Those are the rules, and I can only abide by them, I'm willing to wait and if the CF doesn't want me for whatever reason, then, although disappointing, I'll move on.
To be honest, I'm not completely clear where the hold-up is. Whether it's RCMP or CSIS, I'm not sure how the process works. My case officer has vaguely said things about Ottawa, about RCMP, about CSIS. I can only vaguely hope whichever relevant institution will streamline this process, but I'm also assuming each institution has an important part in making sure communication and processes are streamlined - they must work closely with each other and have influence on the policies in place.
Recce by Death: Yes China is a major source of espionage, but I'm not asking for corners to be cut for my sake. At this point it seems to me that people who have worked overseas have a fairly large mark against them, fairly or not. I agree living and working in China should raise security flags, but there should be ways for whichever institution to do their checks to their satisfaction, and that to me seems lacking. It's almost as, "Your situation is unique, oh well and tough luck."
Like I previously wrote, I was told the RCMP can only ask Interpol for a background check and if the Chinese counterpart doesn't respond then there's nothing else they can do. Well, there should be a secondary process. Polygraph? Loyalty test? Hockey quiz? I don't have the answers, but it frustrates me is that I get the impression that I'm a special case and since I don't fit into the peg, then there's nothing else that can be done.
I'm not applying to CSIS, so I understand military requirements versus civilian requirements will be different (I'm assuming CSIS will more readily recruit people who have lived extensively overseas, have overseas connections, etc), but I honestly believe overlooking people who have extensive international experience is a detriment to the CF. Living overseas can be a vastly rewarding experience and give people insights into a culture and people that can't be attained any other way, and in my case, makes one to realize how great a place Canada is.
The Chinese background check was requested by my file officer to check on the time I was in China - if it's not valid, why ask for it? I hope it's given some weight, especially the difficulty I went through in getting it, plus it seems like my only hope at the moment staving off a prolonged enhanced check.
Again, I don't want to come off as whining, just letting people know my experience in applying. I'm not blaming the CF, RCMP, or CSIS. But it would be shame to lose potentially valuable members with unique experiences because there are no secondary processes available to ensure they're not a security risk. It must be a difficult task to do security checks on someone who has spent a significant amount of time overseas, but given how globalized people now, it would be worthwhile to have something in place for such people.
Hope this post didn't stray too much off topic.
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