Royal Road’s demise would be

Gary
Bannerman

ees
OPEN LINES

THE GREY gnomes of
federal bureaucracy appear
to be honing in on yet
another West Coast institu-
tion, founded as the Royal
Canadian Naval College in
1942.

Former Jieutenant- governor
and retired forest industry execu-
tive Robert G. Rogers warned
recently that Royal Roads may
soon face execution. It has been
determined that the modern,
downsized military can no longer
support three military colleges.

The military colleges are Le
College Militaire Royale de Saint
Jean (CMR), an hour’s drive
south of Moatreal; the venerable
Roya! Military College (RMC) in
Kingston, Ont., and Royal Roads.
CMR and Royal Roads are junior
colleges. Students spend their last
two years at Kingston, where they
acquire their degress.

They are the most important
addresses in Canada’s Regular
Officer Training Plan. Although
ROTP cadets are enrolled at
universities from cozst to coast,
the military college cadets start
their careers with a far superior
credential.

The preponderance of top of-
ficers in Canadian military history
have had RMC in their pedigree.

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These are uncertain times for
the defence establishment. Despite
gteat recognition recently for the
peacekeeping legacy, universal ac-
colades for the performance at
Oka, and many feats in search
and rescue endeavors, the struggie
for budget is a depressing
business.

As we observed yet another
Remembrance Day this past week,
the undercurrent was less than
positive for the military.

Fewer and fewer war veterans
survive. The traditions of military
service and a respect for its value
face a constantly eroding base of
public support. There are no
direct threats to the security of
Western democracies.

All of the expensive treaty
obligations are under review:
NATO, the Strategic Air Com-
mand, NORAD and many others.

Beleaguered budget planners in
government capitals are cheering
what they call the “‘Peace Divi-
dend.”’

The inteliectuals among the mil-
itary managers search desperately
for historic parallels. George San-
tayana’s warning that the
unknowledgcable are condemned
to repeat history may be the most
quoted phrase, but Chinese

46 Yet another West Coast sacrifice at the
hands of a government obsessed with Ontario
and Quebec. 99

navigational education.

Attendance is usually man-
datory, if higher levels of cer-
tification are to be sought.

Marine architects, engineers and
business managers acquire creden-
tials through appropriate universi-
ty channels.

The shipping industry is simply
in step with the rest of the world
as it demands ever-increasing
levels of education.

Royal Roads could develop its
marine specialties in partnership
with the Navy, the Pacific Marine
Training Institute in North Van-
couver and the Coast Guard. It
could develop its academic pro-
grams in association with the
University of Victoria.

Modern initiatives in British

warlord and philosopher Sun
Tzu’s words (circa 500 BC) may
best argue their case: ‘‘In peace
prepare for war, in war prepare
for peace.’’

Unprecedented emphasis is be-
ing placed upon the reserves. The
part-time soldiers played a major
roje at Oka and they are currently
plentiful among the peacekeepers
in Yugoslavia. Naval reserve per-
sonnel are aboard most ships and
on the bases.

The need for officers can aptly
be filled by in-service training,
ROTP at civilian campuses and
RMC. The Quebec equivalent of
Royal Roads, CMR, is a totally
bilingual environment. As long as
Quebec is a partner in Canada,
its’ future is secure.

But Royal Roads is expendable.

Can you imagine the eruption
of political hostility that would
greet such a decision? Yet another
West Coast sacrifice at the hands
of a government obsessed with
Ontario and Quebec.

How about this headline:
“ROYAL ROADS AXED,
QUEBEC COLLEGE SUR-
VIVES.”

That wouldn’t surprise anyone
in B.C. This would come from the
same defence department that
pumps billions into Quebec ship-
building and aviation, and which
is also building a major new mili-
tary base in Montreal, while
threatening to close CFB
Chilliwack in B.C.

eeo

There is an aspect of this that
has been perfectly predictable for
years. It begs the question: why is
federal government planning so
inept? Why was Royal Roads not
prepared for and shaped into a
useful future role?

Why not develop a maritime
college of international distine-
tion? For the military, it could
continue to develop western un-
dergraduates for RMC comple-

;tion. But for non-military seafar-

SSGCESE
GARPEY

GLEAMING 1976

We're almost there.
telephones, size markers,

kitchen,.

roadway.

Since

Sunday, Nov. 15, 1992 — North Shore News - 9

Columbia have established finan-
cial shelters for offshore finance
and shipping concerns. It is
thought that billions of dollars of
corporate activity will go through
Vancouver, exempted from Cana-
dian tax, but generating in its
wake thousands of local jobs.

An internationally respected
university, dedicated to seafaring
industries, could also develop into
an important tool.

Foreign students would pay fees
set at a high and profitable level,
but these would be the graduates
that would ultimately establish a
reputation for the school.

Those cursed with membership
in the Progressive Conservative
party might take another view of
this issue; they should question
the ineptness of the political strat-
egists.

Instead of letting it leak that
Royal Roads, celebrating its 50th
anniversary this year, may be
closed, why not announce instead
that its future is being studied?

The appropriate government

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minister could have delivered a
speech outlining a number of
possibilities for the future of
Royal Roads. This potential could
have been made to sound exciting.

The benefit of this approach is
that the politician sounds positive
rather than negative; a builder and
not a destroyer; a visionary and
not an undertaker.

Conservative party strategy
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ane Melton, Linda Hudson and Arlene Hudson are transferring over from
They're looking forward to working close to home.

ing purposes, why not develop a
degree-granting university?

It would cater to future cap-
tains, ship’s engineers, naval ar-
chitects and assorted other ca-
reer-oriented specialists in marine
fields. All the complexities of the
modern world are present on to-
day’s ships. Increasingly, shipping
lines are looking for officers with
superior genera! education.

Historically, ship’s officers have
apprenticed in-service, The
equipment and managerial
responsibilities have become so
sophisticated in modern times that
most nations have comprehensive
technical schools devoted to

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