Mandatory Military Service in Canada?

The recent Canada Day incident (in which 3 morons were caught urinating on the National War Memorial in Ottawa) hightlite a point I've made in the past, that there is a steady errosion of respect for this country among other things with each generation. Primarily, many expercts point to generations of Canadians that have grown up without major economic hardship or military conflict leading to the Gen X and Y'ers known as the "spoiled brat" generation. So, I propose a mandatory military service for all Canadians immidately following high school. I believe this would re-instill some desperately needed respect in young people not only for their country but for rules, elders, and themselves. The military would provide valuable experience for those serving while reinstilling Canada's sense of patriotism for generations to come. This idea has already been in place for some time in countries such as Russia, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, and Denmrk to name a few. So, is anyone else here willing to consider mandating short-erm military service for Canadians? Would this instill a lost form of much needed discipline in today's young generations? Before you write me off as crazy consider the fact that I am a 23-year-old male.

I don't see how turning our military into a social program is beneficial to anyone.

I dunno. Make a year or 2 of service or 4 years in the cadet program mandatory to get into college. Least then you have a choice. Do your time in your teens when you have virtually no chance of having to go to war, or do it after you graduate.

cadets is a good program, but all of us hate it when parents make their kids go. It's all about choice. Besides, we aren't gonna fix your problem child. This isn't boot camp. :roll:

I think it would be beneficial because of the variety of skills that one may have when in the military but the number one benefit would probably be less obese people and more fit men and women in the country. If I remember correctly, lack of exercise is a growing problem in Canada. If you already exercise, good for you.

It might also give direction to many people who are still trying to find their purpose and give them a sense of comradery and building friendships. Of course, nobody ever said making friends was easy.

Not only no, but HELL NO!!. The job is tough enough without having to deal with a shitload of people that don't want to be there in the first place. I want the men and women that are beside me there because they volunteered to be there.

Besides, where do we get the personel to train them? The recruit school is short instructors now. To train tens of thousands every year for a 2 or 3 year stint would cost about half the defence budget in training and wages alone. At the end what do you have? A bunch of pissed off folks who figure they just wasted 3 years of their lives.

Stick with an all volunteer force thanks. It served us well enough in two world wars.

Conscripts were used in small numbers in both wars. It was the volunteers that won those battles and those wars. Fewer than 100 conscripts are amoung the 42,000 Canadian war dead from WWII. I do not diminish their service or their sacrifice, but to believe that they had any meaningful impact on the outcome of either world war is to give too little credit to the volunteers that did the heavy slogging.

True....most conscripts were given duties within Canada freeing up people who volunteered to go over seas...although some did fight......Pvt. Stanley Scislowski for one....wounded 3 times in Italy on the Gothic Line.

Military service wouldn't be a good idea.

Another project along the lines of the Depression era US Civilian Conservation Corps might be better. Go with something like: every year of service will earn one year of university. Don't want to go to school? Then the equivalent in wages will be issued on completion. Make it mandatory for, say a year. After that, strictly voluntary to a maximum of 4 years. Minimal wages while in an austere camp. Healthy hard work, healthy food, and worth while projects. No beer bash bush party BS. No communing with the polar bears. Digging nature will be done with a D handled shovel! :lol:

After serving you'd be fit, have an established work ethic and have contributed to the betterment of Canada. The post secondary schools will gain a more mature and motivated student. The bonus is, it isn't centered on the military (which frankly turns off lots of kids) but on conservation. It isn't a job, so the focus isn't on a wage, it's community service writ large.

Would it fly in today's Nintendo/Fast Food world?

If you make military mandatory then it'll be taking away peoples choice on what they want to do with their lives after high school. Sure some countries use that, but it won't work in every single country. You can't really force people to do something they don't want to do because they will refuse to listen to their commanders and do anything to get kicked out of the military.

People don't always learn from being in the military how they are raised has alot to do with it as well. Then again I don't live in canada so I wouldn't know.

Well, I can see most people reject the idea, and I support that. I merely listed the obvious benefits pertaining to such a procedure.