Military isolation pay should increase; Canadian Veterans Advocacy
Posted Jan 12, 2014 2:23 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A soldier isn’t just a soldier.
Many find work elsewhere while serving, according to the President of Canadian Veterans Advocacy.
Mike Blais is reacting to a recent Calgary Sun article, which highlighted the financial struggle of a soldier in Cold Lake, Alberta, who resorted to busking on the street for extra money.
Blais would like the federal government to review how soldiers are compensated in small communities.
“There’s not very many opportunities, for example, for the spouse to work, compared to being posted to a city,” he said. “What a salary in Trenton or a place where there’s facilities and reasonable housing availalbe are not the same when you’re in an isolated community.”
Blais added this issue goes back many years, and remembers his peers struggling when he was serving in the military.
“I can remember when I served, young men who were married, living in the married quarters, paying the price to stay there, many of them were delivering pizza at night, or had secondary jobs,” said Blais.
Private Shawn Crabtree-Megahy, who is serving at CFB Edmonton, admits it may just be a problem for soldiers outside the major centres.
“The military takes pretty good care of me,” said Crabtree-Megahy, who isn’t aware of any of his colleagues struggling financially.
