The Canadian military is going through a crisis of leadership, and if major changes are not made soon, its reputation will crash like that of the RCMP. In recent months; an air force Colonel charged with murder and multiple-sex crimes, a Capt charged with killing an unarmed prisoner, BGen Daniel Menard relieved of command in Afghanistan for “inappropriate relations”, and just this week another army Colonel, Bernard Ouellette, relieved of duty from the United Nation’s mission in Haiti.
Believe it or not Colonel Ouellette commanded a 10-person unit – at an annual pay rate of between $200,000 and $250,000 per year we are not getting our money’s worth. Mon Dieu, I had more personnel under me as a 21 year old MCpl. According to news sources, he could not even handle those 10 because in addition to the “inappropriate relationship” charge, he is also being investigated for mishandling the management of his team. Apparently while Ouellette was on vacation in Quebec his subordinates officially brought forward the allegations which were sufficient to have him removed from command. So much for loyalty, and like BGen Menard, his time in the sun is done!
It is important to note that both cases are still under investigation and everything in this post is in the public domain – I will say no more. However, although I wish both Quebeckers well, I’ve served under sufficient senior “francophone” officers and SRNCMs to know that there is an obvious lack of leadership ability there and I also know that the CF must have strong cases against both of them to take such drastic action.
The systematic shortfall: everybody with anytime in the Canadian military is aware of a major flaw in the promotion system. In a nutshell: extra points toward promotion are awarded to members who are bilingual. Since all military members from Quebec are given the opportunity to learn English (not all English have the same opportunity); by default they receive these extra promotion points. As a result, during the past 10 years alone, the proportion of French-speaking members at senior rank levels has nearly doubled (ref: AB-37 – Paper). Currently in the CF we have too many senior French-speaking officers who are too inexperienced and too lacking in leadership ability to take command. The ability to speak a second language simply does not qualify you as a leader – either you have it or you don’t – and they obviously do not. As a caveat: I’m saying MOST but not necessarily ALL. As a francophone (French-Canadian not from Quebec) and a retired senior officer – I know what I’m talking about – its a serious problem. If you don’t believe me – have a look at the portion of senior officers in the CF from Quebec vs the military enrolment totals de la bonne province de Québec . MPC
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