A retired major-general says the CFB Wainwright training accident highlights pay and benefits disparities faced by reservists.
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A retired major-general says the training accident at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright is drawing attention to how reservists are paid and supported compared with the regular force.
John Milne, a former director general for the Canadian military’s reserves and cadets, told reporters that reservists on short-term contracts receive less compensation than the regular force members they train with. He said the risks faced by short-term reservists are the same as those faced by their regular-force colleagues.
Four soldiers died and 39 others were injured when a fire overtook a training area at CFB Wainwright last month, with several of the injured being reservists.
Milne said military pay is calculated using a range of factors, and that unlike regular-force members, reservists typically study or work full time in civilian life while serving under different military service classes. He said those service classes affect how benefits are determined.
Milne, who has written academic papers on military pay structure, said the federal government’s formula for daily reservist pay has created an earnings penalty of roughly 32 per cent for part-time reservists compared to the regular force. He called it “a matter of equity,” arguing that the daily rate for reservists should match what regular-force members get.
He also said policy governing reservist benefits should be rewritten to be more fair. Milne said the case for equal daily rates grows as the government increases its military commitments and plans to use reservists in “more dangerous and more complex environments.”
Milne said reservists who are injured in training also normally receive lower-tier compensation and benefits during their recovery.
He added that he believes the military has reclassified Wainwright reservists’ contracts from short to long-term service classes to improve their access to benefits, and said the Department of National Defence did not respond to questions about the reclassification by deadline.
Milne said that official information about the Wainwright tragedy has been limited and that three separate investigations are taking place.
Milne said he sent a submission to the House of Commons national defence committee seeking Parliament’s attention on the pay and benefits issue. He said the submission argues there is “no justification” for the earnings penalty, which he said also affects other benefits, including disability payment amounts.
Milne also said he wrote to Defence Minister David McGuinty. He said a response letter from the minister’s office described the military’s pay structure as complex and involving “specific military considerations” different from civilian pay, and denied that Milne had identified pay inequities.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a military pay increase last year that included a 13 per cent boost for some reservist ranks, but Milne said it did not address how pay is structured.
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