TheNomad said:So a convicted criminal wants to hold a Queen's Commission.
Not only I want, but I will. It's only a matter of time. If it fails this time, it won't once I will have received a pardon...
TheNomad said:You may have turned your life around etc, but maybe you should have thought about how your voluntary criminal career might affect your later life choices.
That's why now I know more than a lot of people about what responsibility is, for my own actions and for actions that other do because of my influence. What I've done affected my whole life, but it also affected who I am. And from the moment I have learnt from it, I'm a better, more responsible and more mature person, making myself a better person compared to what I would have been without commiting that mistake. I know what consequences a bad action can have, so I always think twice everything I do in my life. Maybe that's one of the reason that caused my career in computer science and management to be very successful.
TheNomad said:You have a history of dishonesty, why should the Queen entrust the lives of her soldiers to you?
I don't know anybody that has been 100% honest everytime in their lives. The fact that I faced my mistakes and paid for it without trying to run away, and the fact that I have learnt from it and repaired what I did, proves that although I have made mistakes, I'm not a criminal but a one time mistaker. There's a difference between someone making a mistake once then repair it, and someone choosing the crime as a way of life... Don't you think people derserve a second chance? Not a third or fourth chance, but only a second chance...
TheNomad said:It is one thing for a soldier to be recruited with a dubious past, but as a commissioned officer? I would not want to serve under you, with you, or have you under my command. How much credibility do you think you would have once knowledge of your criminal past got out?
I don't think credibility depends only on a criminal record. It's also a matter of who you are, and how you are. From the moment you are a good worker, a good leader and a good person, you can get high credibility although you have a criminal record. I have 45 employees under me, and I have a lot credibility (and they know for my criminal record because I have many friends now among my team (and because I need a waiver to enter USA...)).. Why? Because the way I lead them. They know I am here to serve them, make sure they have everything they need to get their job done, to avoid external factors to disturb them when doing their job and do the political things they don't like to care about. They know I only have another function, not a domination role... To have a criminal record don't affect the way we work together and what we can achieve as a team.
If I would have a pardon and join in the army without anybody knowing my past, could you really see a difference? Probably not. What's the difference between me without a pardon, and me with a pardon? I'm still the same person. The only difference is that in the first case, you would never know I made mistakes. But I'm still the same person...
And what if I would have been convicted of driving drunk? Would it be different to you?
TheNomad said:You may think I am being harsh, but that is how I see it. It is not personal and I do wish you good luck in another career choice.
It's ok. You have your opinion and I have mine. Your not harsh, you're honest with yourself and other about what you think, wich I think is a quality.
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x80 said:I for one am going to have to disagree. The whole foundation of the military justice and administrative punishment system is to allow our members a second chance to improve on their faults and become better members of the CF. That's why you don't automatically throw someone on C&P without first going through the other steps and providing counseling. If this individual has indeed pulled themselves out of whatever slump got them into trouble in the first place then power to him. Sure he may have a black mark on his record; an IC stays on your file forever but if you correct your fault in 3 to 6 months then it becomes a moot point.
You are right x80. Our system is based on the fact that someone can commit a mistake, repair it, and change the way he is to nver commit it again. It's not only about the military justice, it's about Canada. We are one of the rare country allowing a second chance. And it seems it's a good system if we look at the statistics. And you guys in the CF are working to preserve that system. And that's what I want to do : preserve the way we live and the foundation of our system. I don't know any other country in which I would have succeed to start my life in one of the poorest place in Canada, then make a stupid thing, then turn around and succeed in my personnal and profesionnal life, becoming a really good citizen.
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HFXCrow said:I know MP's with prior criminal records.
Everybody deserves a second chance!
Totally agree!
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Occam said:I had no idea that officers were as pure as the driven snow.
They are not, and nobody is. If someone says he is, he just lies. There's only one man in the history that was, and unfortunatly he died 2000 years ago... But I have to admit that not everybody made a criminal offence. My mistakes were sometimes bigger that a lot of people.
Occam said:http://www.forces.gc.ca/cmj/decisions_e.asp
How many of them had prior criminal records? It could be interresting to see the numbers... I don't think there's a correlation.
Occam said:You might want to take a look at the number of officers whose careers have not been adversely affected by a criminal record. It doesn't appear to have affected their credibility.
Indeed, credibility do not depend only on the criminal record. I know people without criminal record that hve absolutely no credibility. That depends mainly on how you are with others and who you are in general...