ࡱ> 1305@ objbj22 "XXo   & ( ( ( ( ( ( $ R<L r r r L a  r & r & *   c j | & w 0 !p !  ! XdE CcL L D Office of Laurie Hawn April 25, 2006 Op-ed/Column Word Count 380 Serving Canadas Defence and Immigrant Communities For many years, the Canadian Armed Forces has had difficulty reaching its targeted recruitment levels. This is due to a variety of factors, such as visibility issues, lack of funding by the previous Liberal government, and demographic pressures from baby boomer retirement. On April 27th I introduced a bill that will address elements of the Canadian Armed Forces recruitment needs, while simultaneously aiding the thousands of permanent resident immigrants who call Canada home. My bill is simple. It will allow for expedited citizenship for permanent resident immigrants who join Canadas armed forces. For every day served in the Canadian armed forces, immigrants will receive one day off the three year time requirement before they can acquire citizenship. This bill is a win-win for the military and Canadas vibrant immigrant communities. The military will be helped to reach their recruitment levels, while immigrants will more quickly enter into Canadian life and acquire valuable skills in the process. Currently, such a system is already in place in several Western democracies, such as France and the United States. In the United States, immigrants represent approximately 5% of the American armed forces. If similar numbers were seen in Canada, we could boost enrollment by 2-3000 servicemen and women. This represents a significant proportion of the 13,000 new personnel the Conservative government has committed itself to raising. The Canadian Armed Forces would also benefit in other ways not directly related to recruitment targets. Immigrants have brought to Canada new skills and vibrant cultures. Immigrants unique experiences would equally serve Canadas Armed Forces. For example, language skills would be particularly helpful, with Canadas Armed Forces taking a more active role in peace building and security operations overseas. Many permanent residents may speak these languages and help Canada in rebuilding failing states. As well, many permanent residents bring currently unrecognized credentials that the military may be able to use. What remains clear is that both permanent residents and the Canadian military would acquire benefits from such a system. While some may criticize such a proposal as queue-jumping, I believe that permanent residents who are willing to join Canadas armed forces, and willing to die for their country, should be shown the respect and gratitude of all Canadians. Accepting them more quickly as citizens is the least we could do for their service to Canada. %2ABuv  Y [ \ v ֽ~e~P>0>hy7OJQJ^JmH sH "hy7CJOJQJ^JaJmH sH (hk5CJOJQJ\^JaJmH sH 1hPhP5CJH*OJQJ\^JaJmH sH (hP5CJOJQJ\^JaJmH sH (hy75CJOJQJ\^JaJmH sH (h|5CJOJQJ\^JaJmH sH 1h^h^5>*CJOJQJ\^JaJmH sH (h^5CJOJQJ\^JaJmH sH (h+dY5CJOJQJ\^JaJmH sH %2ABuv[ \ v w ,-mno1$gdy7$a$gdy71$gd^ $1$a$gdy7ov w ,-%(@BG_`>KMPmnoμhy7hy7mH sH hy7mH sH "hs CJOJQJ^JaJmH sH "h SCJOJQJ^JaJmH sH "hM&FCJOJQJ^JaJmH sH "h#bCJOJQJ^JaJmH sH "hy7CJOJQJ^JaJmH sH hy7OJQJ^JmH sH  1h/ =!"#$%F@F y7NormalB*KH_HmH phsH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No ListHH | Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJo %2ABuv[\vw,-  m n q 000000000000000000v o o o 8@0(  B S  ?2n2 !222J2,[2LU2N2d2F2$"2zP2<2Z2"2:2 2į 2D 2 2t 2t2T229LLff  ff e e q      RRllll   k k q  V*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplacehttp://www.5iantlavalamp.com/_*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-regionhttp://www.5iantlavalamp.com/ SuvY\vw,-(q $%12@BtvZ\uw+-  l q %@q q William A, Masek$ k]& m3y7@M&F,wN S+dY#b*j|V^s P@vIEvvo @UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial5& zaTahoma"qhڤڤf::#r4d[ [ 3HP)?y7eFor many years, the Canadian Armed Forces has had difficulty reaching its targeted recruitment levelsChambre des communesWilliam A, MasekOh+'0<HTd     fFor many years, the Canadian Armed Forces has had difficulty reaching its targeted recruitment levelscor Chambre des communesanahamhamNormal William A, Maseknes2llMicrosoft Word 10.0@ @>c@rY j@rY j՜.+,0` hp  BChambre des communes :[ A fFor many years, the Canadian Armed Forces has had difficulty reaching its targeted recruitment levels Title !"#$%&')*+,-./2Root Entry Fc j4Data 1Table!WordDocument"SummaryInformation( DocumentSummaryInformation8(CompObjj  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q