An initiative created by the National Citizens Coalition;
To date the Support Our Troops Fund has raised over $30,000 for the Chief of Defence (CDF) Military Families Fund. This unique program, created with the support of thousands of NCC members, enables the Canadian Forces to respond quickly to the extraordinary stresses faced by military families in times of crisis, providing a pro-active, front-line source of immediate assistance in urgent situations.
Click here to find out how you can contribute.
and Calgary city council thinks putting “Support Our Troops” decals on city vehicles does nothing.
vote anyone but Bronco!
It’s not enough that he refuse to allow the decals on city vehicles, he has to denigrate the whole idea of yellow ribbons as ‘cheap, easy and of no value’, and then later he characterized it as merely ‘the flavour of the month’. Astoundingly, this last was less than a week after he officially proclaimed September as (Cheap, Easy, and Worthless) Yellow Ribbon Month.
For the record, here’s a list of council members who voted against placing the support decals on civic vehicles:
Alderman Dale Hodges
Alderman Gord Lowe
Alderman Helene Larocque
Alderman Bob Hawkesworth
Alderman Craig Burrows
Alderman Druh Farrell
Alderman Madeleine King
Alderman Joe Ceci
Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart
Alderman Linda Fox-Mellway
Mayor Dave Bronconnier
Election day is October 15.
Not to rain on anybodys parade ,but.
I thought our government supported our troops via tax dollars.
Are the military so hamstrung for cash to support family needs that we the public are asked to kick in extra money?
I have no problem making a donation but would really like to know why i have to.
Thought we had a surplus.
alexb, here’s your answer as stated in the story:
“to respond quickly to the extraordinary stresses faced by military families in times of crisis, providing a pro-active, front-line source of immediate assistance in urgent situations.”
Wait, my 63% annual “donation” doesn’t cover this stuff?
WTF?!
The support systems that are required to help out military families in times of crisis were so underfunded by librano idiocy, that it is going to take a few years to get that support up to where it should have been all along. Liberals are good at helping junkies get their fix, or criminals get degrees, not so good at helping soldiers deal with PTSD or wounds received in combat.. I know what I speak, as my brother is still recovering from what he saw in Somalia. Once again, another librano legacy!
Done.
kingstonlad at September 17, 2007 8:10 PM
Do you even know what the MFRC is and who created it?
Do you know who created the office of the National Defence/Canadian Forces ombudsman?
For you kingstonlad, it’s time to stop blaming the Liberals for the failings of the Conservatives. The Conservatives have turned the Canadian Military into a charitable organisation.
In every conflict, citizens support the soldiers who are fighting for them. My grandmas knit socks, sweaters and mitts for the soldiers from our family fighting in WWI – she also sent them food, razor blades, soap etc and wrote many letters. In WWII they did the same thing. Men sent whatever they knew the soldiers needed – families of fallen and wounded soldiers were helped by the communities in which they lived. The crops were harvested, wood was cut for winter, visitors with food and help dropped by often.
Helping soldiers and their families is not a new thing. It shows that we care and that we appreciate what the soldiers are doing for all of us.
There’s an expression: In for a penny, in for a pound.
That’s what the military should be doing for the soldiers’ families–100% and no questions asked.
Special need? you’ve got it? Temporary financial hardship? how much do you need?
It looks as though the Department of Defence is being frustrated for funds. Yet we have a surplus. This anomaly does not make sense and must come to an end immediately.
NCC and citizens at large shouldn’t have to do what the tax dollars were meant to do in the first place.
There’s an expression: In for a penny, in for a pound.
That’s what the military should be doing for the soldiers’ families–100% and no questions asked.
Special need? you’ve got it? Temporary financial hardship? how much do you need?
It looks as though the Department of Defence is being frustrated for funds. Yet we have a surplus. This anomaly does not make sense and must come to an end immediately.
NCC and citizens at large shouldn’t have to do what the tax dollars were meant to do in the first place.
Hey Albatross – I know EXACTLY what the MFRC is – they PHONED us a total of 2x while the stepson was deployed – WE WERE THE PRIMARY CONTACT. 2 phone calls and a package in the mail. Yippe, that really helped with the homefires.
As if we are not paying enough taxes, huh?
There are clearly a number of people that have no idea what the Military Family Resource Centres are for. I have been in the military for going on 25 years now and I can assure you that this is NOT a government program.
The MFRC concept began in the early 1990s (when Mulroney was PM). It was originally formed from local volunteers to provide support for Military Families whose serving spouse were deployed. My wife at that time volunteered when my unit was sent to the Balkans in 1992. At that time the military did not do a very good job of looking after soldier’s families, so these centres were started to address that issue. While they did receive some funding from local base commanders, this did not come from public funds (read tax dollars), but rather from non-public funds derived from CANEX outlets and messes (not tax dollars).
While they may presently received funding from DND, it is likely in the form of salaries for professionals such as social workers. It still has nothing to do with a conscious decision by any government and the bulk of funding for MFRC programs still comes from non-public funds.
For those of you who wish to read more follow this link http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=MFRC&meta= Each MFRC basically runs independantly.
“Hey Albatross – I know EXACTLY what the MFRC is – they PHONED us a total of 2x while the stepson was deployed – WE WERE THE PRIMARY CONTACT. 2 phone calls and a package in the mail. Yippe, that really helped with the homefires.
Posted by: the bear at September 18, 2007 8:25 AM”
They contacted you twice, about you’re stepson, good for them. So he wasn’t your husband who had left his wife and kids at home to run a household without him. What were you expecting from them? Whatever it was, this charity of Hillier’s isn’t intended to fix the problems of contacting parents, he tells us it’s intended to “respond quickly to the extraordinary stresses faced by military families.” In reality it’s intended to garner sympathy for the Canadian forces, it’s a PR move designed to get governments to open up the purse strings a bit wider.
Did you express a need to the MFRC? Would you have been happier if they had phoned you every day about your stepson to make sure all was well? There is a service available to members and their families, but you have to ask for the help.
wow – albatross you really are a POS!
the bear at September 18, 2007 12:54 PM
What’s the matter, that’s the way things are. There are services already available to members and their families. All they have to do is ask for them. Any shortfalls in this service should be made up by the government’s surplus, not but turning the families of Canadian Forces members into Jerry’s kids.
David E Toronto was correct in stating-
“There’s an expression: In for a penny, in for a pound.
That’s what the military should be doing for the soldiers’ families–100% and no questions asked.
Special need? you’ve got it? Temporary financial hardship? how much do you need?”
(low cost loans are available to service members)
Face facts, this charity is nothing but an attempt at embarrassing the government to give more money. It’s been tried before in the early 80’s when some generals advised troops to seek welfare, a story that was well played out in the press. This was a good one because Trudeau ended up giving the military raises in the neighbourhood of 10-12% for three consecutive years, the likes that have not been seen since. Again a few short years ago the military tried to embarrass the government when the CDS declared he had to shut down the Snowbirds due to a lack of money, Chretien said no and Snowbirds flew on. Then again last year when the press was told the Navy couldn’t join a NATO exercise in Canadian waters for the same reason, the purse strings were opened the ships sailed on.
So rather than ask for charity, perhaps the government should be giving the MFRC more cash to do the job. Something the Conservative government has had plenty or time to do and hasn’t done.
“Face facts, this charity is nothing but an attempt at embarrassing the government to give more money. It’s been tried before in the early 80’s when some generals advised troops to seek welfare, a story that was well played out in the press.”
I don’t think that this was an attempt tp embarass the government. If it was, the MSM would have obliged and run with this story. Anything to beat Harper over the head with. It wasn’t the 80’s that troops were forced to go to welfare, it was the mid 90’s when all pay incentives were frozen (to slay the deficit), while the cost of living increased. It wasn’t until late 2000 that this was rectified.
“So rather than ask for charity, perhaps the government should be giving the MFRC more cash to do the job. Something the Conservative government has had plenty or time to do and hasn’t done”
Again this is NOT a government plan, but DND does provide some funding through Qualitity of Life programs.
I think this (along with most of these comments) is another example of the way Canadians are changing their attitudes towards the Canadian Forces. I can remember a time that we couldn’t walk down the street in uniform without someone yelling “baby killer” or something similar. It is ironic that at that time, the only overseas mission was Cyprus, a bonified “peacekeeping” mission. The 1990’s was indeed “the decade of darkness”, not only for cutbacks on top of increased deployments, but also the whole Somalia fiasco. Today it seems at least once a week that someone comes up to me and shakes my hand and thanks me for what “we do”. I’ve even had people offer to buy me a cup of coffee. Frankly, it is nice to see and even more, nice to be appreciated. Although I can only speak for myself, I certainly appreciate the support.
As a soldier your main purpose is to kill. When I see kids crying carrying a friends coffin it hurts me. I wanna cry out “get the hell out of Afghanistan” It will only get worse. I feel for our soldiers but sympathy is not what you need. I support the peace keeping not the war which I truely believe is a waste of lives.