Last Monday Bill Graham, Trinity College chancellor and former defence minister, and Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, chief of transformation for the Canadian Forces, participated in a discussion titled “Canada’s Military: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going.”
Hosted in the Trinity College Combination Room, the event was organized by the Canadian Hero Fund, a student run charity who aims to provide assistance to military personnel and their families. The fund’s current ’11 for ’11 Campaign is trying to receive personal donations of eleven dollars leading up to Remembrance Day. The organization’s broader goal is to raise $2 million to support scholarships for children of fallen soldiers.
The event began when Hero Fund Director Michael Ball introduced the speakers. Before the two speakers began their discussion, a video clip for the Hero Fund’s 11 for 11 Campaign was played. “This November let’s remember our fallen soldiers,” said a voice-over at the end of the video. “But let’s also remember the children who lost their heroes.”
The introductory video also included a song by Canadian band The Trews entitled “Highway of Heroes,” a song which Ball says has been a big success. “Kids want to sing it at their assemblies. The song has really made Remembrance Day more relevant for young people. It’s about the soldiers who are dying now. Not just World War 1 and 2 — it brings a new relevance to young people for Remembrance Day.”
Leslie began the talk by explaining the increased importance of education in combat situations. “It isn’t the time, in the middle of a fire fight to have an academic discussion on whether you should move right or left,” said Leslie, who added that the new complexities of war require a higher level of education. “There are life and death situations [out in the field] every day. Educations helps one deal with these sorts of problems.”
“We promote education in the armed forces,” said Leslie. “We have many soldiers off getting [their] masters or are part of doctoral studies.” He added that attendance at the Royal Military College has increased in recent years from 600 to 1000 students. “To be an officer, one needs a degree […] this has changed the field for the better. It has changed our culture for good and it has made us [the army] better prepared for complex situations.”
The conversation then moved towards the importance of the reserves. “Half of the armed forces is made up of reserve forces,” explained Leslie.
“Reserves have a sense of being the poorer brother to the system,” added Graham, “But as far as I can see, without the reserves the system wouldn’t work.”
Graham added that budget concerns will be a major issue for the military. “After returning from Afghanistan, we will need to keep a high budget for the new threats such as arctic and cyber-threats.”
“There’s a price to pay for nationhood; there is a price for security,” added Leslie, who reaffirmed the need to keep the budget consistent after Afghanistan.
Discussions briefly shifted to the legitimacy of the war in Afghanistan when Graham asked Leslie if the conflict was worthwhile. “If in mid-2002, someone had told me that Canada would be in Afghanistan close to 10 years, I wouldn’t have believed them,” said Leslie. “The type of fight was not as horrendous as Korea or Vietnam but is more complex; to the drug trades, to the conflicts between ethnic tribes […] once again education is clearly important to dealing with such complex affairs. It has changed Canada and the armed forces for the better. The intensity of the impact of Afghanistan has changed Canadian soldiers and we will be prepared for whatever happens next.”
The Canadian Hero Fund raised enough money last year to provide a scholarship to a psychology student at the University of New Brunswick.
*Correction: An earlier version of this article described Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie as the chief of transportation for the Canadian Forces. In fact, Lieutenant-General Leslie is the chief of transformation for the Canadian forces. The Varsity regrets this error. *
