2014-10-09 Letter to RAdm Bennett

8/10/2019 2014-10-09 Letter to RAdm Bennett

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October 9, 2014

Attention:

Rear Admiral J. J. Bennett, Chied Reserves and Cadets

National Defence Headquarters, Major-General Pearkes Building

101 Colonel By DriveOttawa, ON, K1A 0K2

RE: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CADET PROGRAM

Dear RAdm Bennett;

Cadets have a significant role to play in making the Cadet Program all it can be, and that starts

with an open, honest, public conversation between the cadets and the program leadership.

Cadets want to know where the program is now and how it got here. Cadets also want a say in

where the program should go and how it might finally reach its potential.

In the past two weeks, the Truth about Cadets Facebook page has received over one hundred

submissions detailing problems with, concerns about, and criticisms of Canadas Cadet

Program. Most submissions were made by cadets. Please note that many submissions were not

published as they contained vulgarities or failed in other ways to meet our publication criteria.

Since it seems likely that there are facts influencing the delivery of the program that most

cadets have no knowledge of, we do not presently regard these initial complaints as an

indictment of the program but, instead, consider them an informed starting point for a

meaningful investigation into the real problems facing the program.

As a next step in that direction, we have gleaned questions from the many submissions to our

Facebook page (and other research inspired by the submissions), and organized them into the

following subject areas:

financial management and fiduciary responsibility;

cadet identity;

metrics and reporting performance;

the CIC;

honesty and integrity, and;

publicly criticising the cadet program.

Each subject area is covered by a separate video already published to the Facebook page.

In answering the questions, we encourage you to be honest, candid, and make full disclosure as

cadets deserve nothing less. Your response will be made public for the benefit of all cadets. We

hope to hear from you soon.

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PART 1 - Financial Management and Fiduciary Responsibility

In 1993/94, the Chief Review Services conducted an evaluation of the cadet program. At that

time, DND found that the administrative portion of running the program was too large to be

sustainable. The report pointed directly at the Cadet Programs growth in full-time employees

as a major contributor to increasing program costs, and the report warned that ifadministration costs were not contained, it would hinder the programs ability to fulfil its

mandate and could even lead to program failure. In 2013, twenty years later, CRS conducted

another evaluation. Instead of decreasing the number of fulltime staff, the CRS found that

Cadet Leadership more than doubled the number of fulltime staff. Moreover, the program

served almost 8000 fewer cadets.

1. Why did Cadet Leadership ignore the 93/94 CRS evaluation and, instead of reducing

fulltime staff, more than double it?

2. Are all these staff necessary in delivering the program? If not, do you owe cadets an

apology for failing to effectively and efficiently manage their money which, without a

doubt, reduced opportunities for increased cadet engagement (things such as more

camp spots; more exchange spots; etc.)?

3. You are on record stating that you intend to cut almost 50% of fulltime staff and return

the savings to corps and units. Why didnt you do this sooner?

4. Do you understand why cadets and other stakeholders might not trust the current Cadet

Leadership when it says that it will cut fulltime positions given that it has steadily and

recklessly grown the bureaucracy of the program over the past twenty years even while

the cadet population is in decline?

In the past several years, Cadet Leadership has spent millions of dollars on things like iPads,

new computers, tablets, cameras, scanners, and all-expenses-paid conferences, all for the

benefit of administration staff, while, at the same time, they stopped accepting orders for new

uniforms, stopped issuing parkas and PT gear, reduced camp spots, reduced the number of

cadets that attend provincial, regional, and international exchanges, and suspended the

national biathlon and marksmanship competitions.

5.

In your opinion, has the Cadet Leadership always made the best choices when decidingwhat to spend money on and what to cancel? If not, please give the five most impactful

examples where Cadet Leadership got it wrong.

6. Do you understand why cadets and other stakeholders might think that the Cadet

Leadership is corrupt because it routinely chooses to spend money on high-cost, low

value perks for itself instead of using the money for an activity of direct value to cadets?



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Good stewardship of Cadet Program resources requires complete transparency in financial

reporting to all stakeholders. The Cadet Leadership does not make the budget or any of its

financial statements available to cadets or other stakeholders and requires persons interested

in finding out exactly where the money is spent to file a formal access to information request.

Even then, the Cadet Leadership responses are often unprofessional, improperly organized, andsend a strong message of informational resistance.

7. Why hasnt the Cadet Leadership made detailed budgets and financial statements

available to all stakeholders as a matter of standard operating procedure?

8. Will you make public the annual budget and financial statements each year for the cadet

program and include enough detail and organize them in such a way as to provide

stakeholders with a good and accurate understanding of where the money goes? If so,

when will you start?

PART 2 Identity

Many complaints to our Facebook page included the idea that the Cadet Program is drifting

away from its military roots. Various examples were offered including:

replacing the .22 gauge range rifle with an air gun;

having fewer and fewer Reg Forces people working at the unit level

having more and more non-soldiers working at the unit level;

seemingly fewer opportunities to shoot assault rifles;

seemingly fewer opportunities to share experiences with Regs and Reserves;

reduced opportunities to parade in public with rifles;

cadets have been told by officers that they are no longer allowed to play capture the

flag, paintball, laser quest, wear camouflage paint, or participate in any activity that

might be misconstrued as war-craft (except for shooting rifles);

officers spending an inordinate amount of time and energy convincing new cadets and

their parents that the cadet program is not a recruitment tool for the Canadian Forces,

and;

perhaps most telling and most disconcerting of all, the Renewal Plan makes no

provisions at all to inculcate in cadets any understanding of or appreciation for the



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Canadian Forces. In fact, the Renewal Plan has effectively removed the very idea of

Canadian Forces from the principals that are supposed to govern all future cadet

programming decisions and actions.

9. Over the past 30 years, has the cadet program been intentionally remade so as to help

ensure that cadets are not seen or thought of as soldiers?

10. What are the chief differences between a soldier and a cadet?

11.

Can the air rifle be replaced with a proper Canadian Forces issue combat rifle? If not,

please indicate the reason(s) why.

12. Can we participate in live-fire and other combat-readiness training exercises with Regs

and/or Reserves to provide cadets with a better appreciation for and understanding of

the CF? If not, please indicate the reason(s) why.

PART 3 Metrics and Reporting Performance

Every organization keeps track of key indicators so that stakeholders know whether or not the

organization is succeeding in its purpose. Many contributors claim that the cadet program is

failing but the only numbers anyone provides relate to cadet attraction and retention, which is

not a measure of the programs effectiveness per se. The Chief Review Services audit concluded

that, there is no measurement of youth outcomes for the Cadet Program.

According to the Queens Regulations, the aim of the Cadet Program is to:

to develop in youth the attributes of good citizenship and leadership;

promote physical fitness; and;

stimulate an interest of youth in the sea, land, and air activities of the CF.

13.

How much more developed are the attributes of good citizenship and leadership in

cadets compared to their non-cadet counterparts?

14.

How much more physically fit are cadets compared to non-cadets?

15. How much more interested in the sea, land, and air activities of the CF are cadets

compared to their non-cadet counterparts?

16.

Why arent these critical measures of program success made readily available for public

viewing so that all stakeholders can know the effectiveness of the program and thereby

assess the programs value and the worth of their support?



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Cadet force strength, trends related to force strength, and cadet engagement are significant

indicators of the program success and also indicate where problems might exist.

17.

Will you publish weekly roster and attendance numbers for every unit and includesummary totals for branch and region so that all stakeholders can see how many cadets

are listed as belonging to the program, how many are actually engaged, which units are

doing well and which units are struggling in terms of attraction, retention, and

engagement? If not, why wont you make this information public?

PART 4 The CIC

One of the three aims of the program is to promote physical fitness:

18. What percentage of CIC officers are overweight or obese?

19.

Can overweight officers that are not actively engaged in reversing their condition be

effective role models for physical fitness to the youth they command?

20. How likely are cadets that serve under an obese officer to view any positive message

that the program offers about the importance of physical fitness to be either erroneous

or hypocritical?

21. How likely are cadets and others to view obese officers as shameful to the uniform?

Recently, DCdts issued new guidelines requiring more CIC to take the physical fitness test.

However, in most instances, the officer is only required to take the test but is not required to

pass it, meaning that Officer fitness is not required more now than before the change in policy.

22. Why did DCdts spend time and money developing and deploying a new policy that will

have almost no impact on the fitness of most CIC officers?

23.

Why doesnt DND demonstrate its commitment to the Cadet Programs aims and simply

require every CIC officer to pass the fitness test every year or else be immediatelyremoved from active service?

Some cadets complain that the CIC has become an institution unto itself, so much so that the

program now primarily exists to recruit and train CIC. That is, cadets are brought into the

program for one purpose only: to give people career opportunities within the CIC. The Chief



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Review Services audit found that over 60% of the total program budget is spent on staff while

only 14.5% of the budget goes to support the actual corps and squadrons.

24. Why arent all CIC positions completely voluntary?

25.

On average, how much more money is spent dressing a CIC officer than dressing acadet?

26. On average, how much more money is spent training a CIC officer than training a cadet?

Some cadets complain that CIC are faux-CF meaning that they are not real officers.

27. What percentage of CIC are current or former Regular Force members?

28. What percentage of CIC are current or former Reserves?

29. Why do CIC participate in the same basic rank structure as Regs, wear the same basic

uniform as Regs, participate in similar pomp and ceremony as Regs, organize themselves

like Regs, get paid and have benefits like Regs, have authority commensurate with their

rank like Regs, but not receive nearly as intensive training as Regs nor be subject to

combat deployment like Regs?

30. Do you understand why Cadets, Regs, and members of the public might think that the

CIC is wrongfully usurping a Canadian Forces identity?

31.

Can the CIC be reconstituted under DND with an identity that does not include aQueens Commission or make inappropriate use of the CF identity?

32. Can the CIC be reconstituted without rank?

33. What percentage of people are expected to quit the CIC if the CIC were no longer

commissioned and had no rank or authority in the Canadian Forces?

PART 5 Honesty and Integrity

Last fall it was announced and evidenced in internal emails leaked onto the internet that, as a

result of funding issues, there would be a temporary freeze on issuing new uniforms to units,

and no new parkas or PT gear would be issued. Several mainstream media outlets carried the

story and, as a result, Colonel Conrad Namiesnioski, the senior most officer responsible for the

cadet program, gave a telephone interview to CBC wherein he discussed the matter. In his

opening remarks, Col Namiesnioski says that the change to the budget is not having an impact

on [cadet] clothing. This caused the interviewer to pause because it was a complete denial of



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the effects of the reallocation that were reported on earlier. Col Namiesnioskis denial

prompted the interviewer to then ask, Where is the miscommunication? The Col replied,

suggesting that in an organization as large as the CCO, sometimes messages are misunderstood,

implying that issuance of cadet clothing was not being negatively affected by financial factors.

However, the internal emails are very clear on the subject and are in conflict with the Cols

statement.

Later in the same interview, the Col suggests that the sole purpose of the Winter Parka is for

cadets to wear when traveling from home to their weekly parade. In actuality, Cadets use and

are expected to wear that parka for outdoor parades and Remembrance Day services.

The Col went on to say that PT gear was cancelled because it was unfashionable, unsuitable for

the task, and disliked by cadets. While all that may be true, it must have been so for years and

yet this did not result the PT gear being cancelled earlier. Moreover, the Cadet Program is now

in a new fiscal year and has resumed issuing this exact same PT gear.

34. Did Col Namiesnioski intentionally mislead the interviewer and therefore the listening

public in any part of his explanations relating to changes in clothing issuance?

35. Why did Col Namiesnioski say the purpose of the parka is for cadets to wear to get from

home to weekly parade nights when, in fact, the parka is used extensively for outdoor

parades and events, especially Remembrance Day services?

36. Why did Col Namiesnioski suggest that the reason PT gear was no longer being issued

was because cadets didnt like it or want it when an internal email states that the PT

gear was cancelled because of budgetary considerations?

37. Why didnt Col Namiesnioski simply tell the interviewer the truth, that changes in

resource allocations meant that there would be a freeze in issuing new uniforms, new

parkas, and PT gear, but the freeze is temporary?

38. What message does Col Namiesnioskis failure to speak openly and honestly about the

problems facing the cadet program send to cadets about the real role of honesty and

integrity in the program?

In DNDs Renewal Plan, theChief of the Defence Staff, Chief Warrant Officer, the Presidents ofthe Navy League, Army Cadet League, Air Cadet League, and DND proper (as unsigned authors

of the Renewal Plan), all refer to the Cadet Program as world class. They say the Cadet

Program teaches our youth valuable life and social skills such as teamwork, discipline, respect

and leadership, while also instilling in them an appreciation for health and fitness. The plan

goes on to say that, a body of information has amassed [] that validates the tremendous

value of the Cadet Program. However, a CRS audit released earlier this year (and which was

independent and evaluative) said that the CIC Officers running the program at the community



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level do not believe the program is particularly effective. Moreover, when the auditors tried to

determine the success of the program, they found there is no measurement of youth

outcomes for the Cadet Program. In other words, Cadet Leadership does not measure any

metric that might indicate the extent to which the program is achieving its aims and therefore

no one can know if the program is succeeding.

39. Why does Cadet Leadership regard the program as world class, say the program

achieves its aims, and is a tremendous value when, in fact, there is absolutely no good

evidence to support this claim and considerable evidence to the contrary?

40. Given the aforementioned, do you think that cadets are justified in regarding the Cadet

Leadership as lying? If so, how does that impact the ability of the program to teach

cadets the importance of honesty and integrity?

The entire purpose of the Renewal Plan is to address the many serious and longstanding

problems affecting the Cadet Program and which pose a real risk to its long term viability.

However, the language of the Renewal Plan strongly suggests that the Cadet Program is

working very well and this is just an effort to make something already great even better. The

language of the Renewal plan does not include even a single negative descriptor. In this way,

the Renewal Plan is in stark contrast to the CRS report and the assessment of other vocal critics

of the program, which call into question the very need of the program given the complete lack

of evidence that it is even slightly effective in its aims.

41. Why doesnt the Renewal Plan accurately convey the fact that the program is facing

several very serious problems?

42. Do you understand why cadets and other stakeholders that read the Renewal Plan

regard it as further evidence that Cadet Leadership is either incapable of understanding

the size and seriousness of the problems facing the program or, perhaps even worse, it

is lying to us?

PART 6 Publicly Criticising the Cadet Program

One of the most common complaints we received from cadets was their view that they would

be punished for making any public criticism of the cadet program. Indeed, this was thelongstanding policy. According to the DCdts Internet Acceptable Use Policy, which was in

effect until just recently:

Grievances and personal dissatisfactions about the CCO/CIC and/or one of its members

shall not be posted on an Internet forum, including the various social media sites.

Instead, concerns are to be channelled through the official chain of command.

Administrative and/or disciplinary measures could be taken against individual members



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of the CCO/CIC electing to voice their grievances in an open public forum. Voicing

grievances in public is not only unprofessional; it can also damage the reputation of an

individual, his/her unit, the CCO/CIC or the DND/CF.

43. Why was it ever policy or practice that cadets should not make public grievances or

other complaints about the cadet program?

44. Why has the Cadet Program created a culture of fear that causes cadets to keep quiet

about problems, expecting they will be punished (officially or unofficially) if they raise

their concerns, especially if they do so in a public manner?

On September 19, you issued an internal instruction via a PA announcement that effectively

stated that cadets are free to criticize the program in public. Before and after this

announcement, CIC Officers told cadets that they would be punished for making public

criticisms about the program. So far, none of the officers have reached out to the affected

cadets to recant their threats.

45. How can you prevent officers from informally punishing cadets that make public

criticisms about the cadet program?

>

Continued



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We have asked a lot of questions, which reflects the fact that the problems facing the cadet

program are many and varied. After receiving your response, we intend to submit a second

round of questions relating to:

favouritism;

bullying;

sexual harassment/assault, and;

attainment standards for cadet promotions, awards, and activity placement, and;

other issues.

Please accept that we would normally never jump command, but the current circumstances are

as serious as they are unique and we feel necessitate direct engagement between cadets and

the highest level of program leadership. The renewal process is a real opportunity to finally fix

the Cadet Program. We fear it may also be the last, so it is critical to get this right.

With that aim in mind, we are convinced that cadets must be at the center of the renewal

process, and they should have a loud voice and real participation in identifying both the

problems and solutions. It is, after all, our program.

Finally, in answering the questions, we encourage you to be honest, candid, and make full

disclosure: cadets deserve nothing less.

We hope to hear from you soon. As said before, any response you issue will be made public as

we have asked these questions for the benefit of all cadets and your answers will be treatedlikewise.

Thank you for your time and your service.

Regards,

The Truth About Cadets Movement*, Interim Steering Committee, undersigned:

Sergeant Jaden Beelby

2277 Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps

Langley, British Columbia



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Marissa Hsu, Sergeant (retired)2137 Calgary Highlanders Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps

Calgary, Alberta

Sergeant A. Taylor543 Wingham Air Cadet Squadron

Wingham, Ontario

Cavan Pollard, WO1 (retired)

*The Truth About Cadets Movement is an unincorporated, not-for-profit organization made up

of cadets and former cadets from the Canadian Cadet Organizations. It is based on two ideas: 1)

presently and for a long time now, the Cadet Program is a significant failure in terms of its own

aims, and; 2) in properly constituted and run, the Cadet Program will have very significant and

demonstrable positive effects for cadets and the larger Canadian society and shall thereby

become a deservedly venerable institution. The Movement aims at inserting meaningful and

effective cadet representation into the Department of Defence Cadet Renewal Process in order

to ensure real and right reform occurs, and then to have permanent cadet representation in the

programs senior leadership group so as to be a full participant in the ongoing decisions of theprogram. The Interim Steering Committee came into existence organically and assumes to

realize the aims of the Movement. As the Movement grows and more cadets and former cadets

become involved, the committee intends to formalize committee seats and the processes for

filling them.


Documents

2014-10-09 Letter to RAdm Bennett