can't have you looking better than the rest Uniformity to the lowest bidder must be upheld.
Dogmatic uniformity is a relatively recent thing. Prior to 1968, officers in all three service were required to buy their own uniforms and so there was bound to be variances. Other ranks often purchased "tiddly rigs" for special occasions. Even with the old green uniform, people would sneak in items of higher quality. I think it was only with the DEU that we starting cracking down on this stuff.
Personally I would like to do away with many of the practices we have in place and change to a more open funding practice.
Uniform allowance that would actually cover the purchase of the basic requirement every X years and a small maintenance one monthly. Want the fancier stuff then you pay for it.
Agreed, especially since we finally sorted out the tax implications - and then cancelled CUA...
Lump sum move - CFM is $50k so here you are now RFD on 30 Jul. You decide everything based on the money you are allotted, no claim required. Fly first class, garbage everything and buy new, whatever. Go over the allotted amount though and it's out of your pocket.
We actually looked at that. Be careful what you wish for. The 1990s' Cost Move Project, which only covered meals, incidentals and accommodations, proved disastrous and the analysis of the proposal to extend it to include shipment of F&E concluded that it would get even worse. One of the biggest problems with the concept was that unless the money is tied to specific items, it would taxable - merely shifting the administration from Claims Offices or an IRP contractor (e.g. Brookfield) to the member and his/her tax return
No income tax - bit ridiculous to say here is $5k a month but we are taking back $1k for taxes. Make our pay tax free and save everyone the hassle.
This would really only work for government employees (i.e. folks who pay taxes to the same organization that pays their salaries). This would likely lead to a PR disaster (military people don't pay taxes!). Interestingly, the UK manages income taxes somewhat differently. Taxes are deducted at source, but they are assumed to be correct unless proven otherwise (i.e. similar to our deductions for EI and CPP). Since they have few deductions, this works to a certain extent. If you do happen to qualify for a tax benefit, you apply for it separately.
A few years back in dealing with billings between CAF and an other government agency we reached a mutual agreement to use CFM rather than actuals. The dollar amount at the end of the year was a relatively small difference and for the workload/man hours/hassle required to do actuals it was considered worth it.
I've never understood why we have Customs Clearance Clerks in Base Supply Sections. This position exists to transfer funding from DND to CRA for items that DND has purchased abroad. We don't let the provinces charge taxes to the federal government, but the federal government will pay taxes to itself?
Of course none of these will ever happen as the government and public would see it that we are getting big money for nothing. Sure for some individuals this would be the case but the overall effect may be a saving.
