Full-time summer jobs offered to Army reservists
Defence minister visits Kelowna to announce national program
Army Reserve members in the Okanagan and across Canada will have the opportunity for full-time summer employment through the Canadian Armed Forces, starting this summer.
National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was in Kelowna Tuesday to announce the national program.
Canadian Army reservists in their first four years of service will qualify for the program, which runs from May 1 to Aug. 31.
Prior to this program, reserves such as Kelowna’s B.C. Dragoons were able to offer reservists only sporadic employment every summer, said Lt.-Col. Mike McGinty, commanding officer of the B.C. Dragoons.
“In the past, we offered them two weeks here and two weeks there, and that wasn’t fully enough to allow people to commit,” he said. “Now we’re offering them a very clear start-to-end period, when they can know they will be employed, and we can know that we can employ them and train them.”
McGinty said he currently has nine soldiers signed up for fulltime summer employment.
They will complete six weeks of basic training, along with other military training and leadership training.
In between those times, the reservists may also instruct others on courses and help with the maintenance of military vehicles, said McGinty.
Last spring, reserve soldiers assisted during the flooding season.
“Because full-time summer employment wasn’t in place, all the reserve soldiers that went on the operation were volunteered specially for that operation,” said McGinty. “It takes a bit of time and effort for us to do that. If we have a summer employment program, and we’re already training these people, we’re increasing our base numbers so we have a bigger pool to fish from when we need those things.”
Sajjan said the program “demonstrates another investment not only in Canadian youth, but also in the Canadian Army Reserves.”
“Units like the Dragoons can directly impact communities in times of need,” he said to a group of reservists at the B.C. Dragoons. “We talk about filling sandbags, but it’s not just filling sandbags. You are saving people’s homes.”