Monday, June 6, 2011

Should Military Be Used For Clean-up?

With Jack Layton demanding that the Canadian military be used to clean up flood damage, today's poll question is should soldiers be used to clean up the mess after natural disasters? The military was sent into flood zones to help build barricades while also protecting and evacuating citizens at risk of harm. Now should they stay to clean up? Personally I hold our armed forces in higher regard than providing janitorial services, but when I supported inmates being used as street cleaners some of you became angry (90% of poll respondents supported putting prisoners to work).

I worry that if we order our troops to start cleaning up, trading guns for brooms, we are setting a precedence. In the future all municipalities will start demanding troops for clean up duty any time they experience a natural disaster. Is that a good thing?

13 comments:

  1. I would say that inmate should be used for cleanups like this. But I would endorse using the military as guards with strict orders to take down anyone that tried to run (or swim) away.

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  2. There's a long list of government departments that warrant janitorial duty before soldiers.

    And barely related ... can we please dispense with the "men and women in uniform" phraseology already? How about just "soldiers" or "members" or even "people"? Must we shoehorn PC drivel into every single military related speech? Gawd..

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  3. Soldiers should definitely not be cleaning up!

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  4. Being ex military no. But then look at the dickhead mayor of TO with snow clearing

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  5. Quebecers remind me of those citizens of N.O after Katrina. Sitting and waiting for someone else to clean up after them. Sorry Que, clean up your own mess. You do not need to be protected from used sandbags.

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  6. People wanted them there to help prevent damage to their property but don't want to take responsibility for cleaning up...I don't hear Manitobans whining about cleaning up the flood mess year after year. The military is for prevention not to placate a flood victim because they now have a mess to clean up

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  7. Just Like socialist other peoples money or labor not their owm........

    JoeFrmEdm

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  8. there are the environmentalists like May, suzuki, etc who are always raging at every mother nature, as environment, to do some heavy work. I thought that these people would be the first ones out there to clean up.

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  9. I would imagine that there would be times that the armed forces should be called on to do cleanup if the disaster is so huge as to be overwhelming or if failure to clean up presented a clear danger to humanity but under 'normal' circumstances the armed forces have more important things to do with their time.

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  10. Using the CF for cleanup is essentially trying to get cheap labour paid for by other people's tax dollars. Sorry folks, but these are highly trained and motivated people who's strength lies in the ability to move and set up at short notice, not extended "clean up" operations requiring little skill.

    If you are looking for cheap taxpayer funded labour, try the local welfare office, enlist students paying off student loans or use non violent offenders from local jails (AKA Chain Gangs). Or, you know, get outside and clean up around your own property and help your neighbours.

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  11. Perhaps we should have a 'labour corp' much like they had during the dirty thirties that employed men, many of whom had no skills or were unemployed long term, to work on civic projects.

    This is a reasonable solution and one where the unemployed could work for a wage and their meals.

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  12. Btw, with 1/3 of our 16,000 member armed forces either out on training or in the field, who would be minding the store if the rest were cleaning out water logged couches from basements?..and of those 16,000, how many are actually the sharp end of the stick, when it takes a logistics ratio of roughly 4 men to keep 1 man in the field?

    We need a bigger armed forces, folks. It is to our shame that it stretches Canada's resources to maintain just over 2000+ soldiers in the field..

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  13. How about using the druggies to do the cleaning up.To get their free needles,they need to help with the clean up in Quebec.Most of them would probably go straight off the drugs.

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