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pbi said:It is possible. I was a young (and rather poorly paid) 2Lt with a wife and infant in 1984, back when soldiers on food stamps and out driving pizza deliveries were in the news. We were single income, so we adjusted. We didn't own a car until I was a Capt, and our first TV was a gift from my mother in law. We walked, bussed, or took taxis. We entertained friends at home. Now, I know this probably sounds terribly sanctimonious and holier-than-thou, but it can be done. The CF overall is very well paid, and much more secure than most Canadians could ever dream of. The CF have a gold-plated pension scheme if you compare it to what most people (other than Senators or MPs) get in the non-Federal govt world. The CF is one of the very few employers that actually has systems in place (for decades...) to help its people who have financial problems.
All of this would probably make it a bit difficult for the average working class, non-unionized Canadian, who makes less than a Cpl does in a year, to be particularly sympathetic.
Thanks for that, pbi. Another post with which I fully agree.
The CF has not been poorly paid since the 1960s. If anything one might want to argue that there is not enough space between corporal and sergeant and, again, between sergeant and WO; if you agree that $100,000/year is a fair rate of pay for CWO then, maybe, corporals are, ever so slightly, overpaid.
But that's not the point. I see two points:
1. Leadership, which, in my opinion, ought to be on top of soldiers with problems ~ offering things like financial counselling;* and
2. Systems, like cost of living differentials, that are not kept up to date.
As I said earlier: I do not believe that senior leadership/management (civil and military) is indifferent to pay and morale. But resources are always limited and
Now, obviously, like most people here, I know nothing about this soldier's problems. Maybe he needs a kick in the arse (which he seems likely to get) and some good, free, financial counselling. Maybe the system need s a shakeup ... but, the CF is neither poorly paid nor is it being kicked about by heartless bureaucrats.
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* Many decades ago regular, en masse, financial planning lectures were a routine event for junior ranks. That largely died out, on a CF wide basis, by the 1980s. I reintroduced it in my unit ~ inviting interesting experts to share tips and tricks with my soldiers. I insisted on "interesting" because I wasn't going to keep 400 junior ranks sitting in a theatre for 45 minutes listening to dry statistics. I found bankers and investment managers and lawyers who were both: willing, even eager, to take on the task (most lawyers and bank managers hate seeing problems when it's too late to help) and who gave lively, interesting, useful presentations.