Military showing 'no interest'
TheStar.com - News - Military showing 'no interest'
Canadian Forces admits recruitment of minorities may be falling through cracks
Rick Westhead Toronto Star
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Twenty-three-year-old Ramis Jamali seems like the ideal Canadian Forces recruit.
The fourth-year York University psychology student speaks English and Dari, a language common throughout much of Afghanistan, where several thousand Canadian soldiers are deployed.
What's more, he said he's entertained thoughts of a military career.
Trouble is, years after the first Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan to help overthrow the Taliban, prospective Afghan-Canadian recruits like Jamali – who are familiar with both the language and culture of the crippled Middle Eastern country – say they remain overlooked by Canada's military. "We really don't see very much interest from the Canadian military in our community," Jamali said.
A Canadian Forces spokesperson says the military doesn't track how many troops speak languages like Dari or Pashto, common in southern Afghanistan, but one Afghan-Canadian in the armed forces says there are fewer than a half dozen.
Capt. Holly Brown, a Canadian Forces spokeswoman, conceded prospective Afghan-Canadian recruits may have fallen through the cracks.
"When you look at Toronto, we have one recruiting centre with only two full-time diversity recruiters," she said. "The problem is there are so many different communities in Toronto that it's hard to cover them all."
Canadian soldiers typically hire local interpreters in Afghanistan, she said. But military experts say Canadian officers would prefer to rely on uniformed, enlisted translators who are subject to a more rigorous security check and can't refuse dangerous assignments.
Soldiers also rely on expensive gadgetry. The Canadian Forces bought $9,000 worth of translation equipment in May 2005 from Integrated Wave Technologies, according to a copy of a paid invoice obtained by the Star. The Washington company sold the Forces a device that allows a soldier to speak a common English phrase into a headset and a translation booms out of an ammo clip-sized speaker. Canadian Forces spokesman Lt. Adam Thomson declined to comment on the purchase.
The dearth of Canadian troops with first-hand knowledge of Afghanistan's culture and languages is troubling, said Wahid Monawar, consul general of Afghanistan's consulate in Toronto. As many as 70,000 Afghans live in Greater Toronto, he said, adding many are unemployed or working in low-income jobs and would probably be receptive to the Canadian Forces.
The Sabawoon Afghan Family Education and Community Centre in Scarborough held a career day in August and invited the Canadian military. The invitation was accepted, but the military failed to show and offered no explanation
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(Moderator edit to clarify title.)
TheStar.com - News - Military showing 'no interest'
Canadian Forces admits recruitment of minorities may be falling through cracks
Rick Westhead Toronto Star
Article Link
Twenty-three-year-old Ramis Jamali seems like the ideal Canadian Forces recruit.
The fourth-year York University psychology student speaks English and Dari, a language common throughout much of Afghanistan, where several thousand Canadian soldiers are deployed.
What's more, he said he's entertained thoughts of a military career.
Trouble is, years after the first Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan to help overthrow the Taliban, prospective Afghan-Canadian recruits like Jamali – who are familiar with both the language and culture of the crippled Middle Eastern country – say they remain overlooked by Canada's military. "We really don't see very much interest from the Canadian military in our community," Jamali said.
A Canadian Forces spokesperson says the military doesn't track how many troops speak languages like Dari or Pashto, common in southern Afghanistan, but one Afghan-Canadian in the armed forces says there are fewer than a half dozen.
Capt. Holly Brown, a Canadian Forces spokeswoman, conceded prospective Afghan-Canadian recruits may have fallen through the cracks.
"When you look at Toronto, we have one recruiting centre with only two full-time diversity recruiters," she said. "The problem is there are so many different communities in Toronto that it's hard to cover them all."
Canadian soldiers typically hire local interpreters in Afghanistan, she said. But military experts say Canadian officers would prefer to rely on uniformed, enlisted translators who are subject to a more rigorous security check and can't refuse dangerous assignments.
Soldiers also rely on expensive gadgetry. The Canadian Forces bought $9,000 worth of translation equipment in May 2005 from Integrated Wave Technologies, according to a copy of a paid invoice obtained by the Star. The Washington company sold the Forces a device that allows a soldier to speak a common English phrase into a headset and a translation booms out of an ammo clip-sized speaker. Canadian Forces spokesman Lt. Adam Thomson declined to comment on the purchase.
The dearth of Canadian troops with first-hand knowledge of Afghanistan's culture and languages is troubling, said Wahid Monawar, consul general of Afghanistan's consulate in Toronto. As many as 70,000 Afghans live in Greater Toronto, he said, adding many are unemployed or working in low-income jobs and would probably be receptive to the Canadian Forces.
The Sabawoon Afghan Family Education and Community Centre in Scarborough held a career day in August and invited the Canadian military. The invitation was accepted, but the military failed to show and offered no explanation
More on link
(Moderator edit to clarify title.)
