'Royal' returns for Canada's armed forces

In Between Man

The Biblical Position
Sep 11, 2008
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49° 19' N, 123° 4' W
After 43 years, the Canadian Forces are regaining their "royal" moniker. Canada's navy and air force are to be restored to their pre-1968 titles of Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force.

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damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
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kelowna bc
They are going to spend money on a new letter head? figures, they need all kinds of things and
we need to invest in our upkeep of the military so they take some money and add Royal to everything
not to bright in my estimation
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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About friggin time. It should never have been changed in the first place.
 

coldstream

on dbl secret probation
Oct 19, 2005
5,160
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Chillliwack, BC
Good move... obvious Hellyer's 'unification' of the Armed Forces was a major failure.. sapping the 'esprit' and a vital identity of Forces..
 

Corduroy

Senate Member
Feb 9, 2011
6,670
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Vancouver, BC
Now that's just silly. If we're going to be a monarchy we might as well have "royal" in front of military names.

They are going to spend money on a new letter head? figures, they need all kinds of things and
we need to invest in our upkeep of the military so they take some money and add Royal to everything
not to bright in my estimation

Ah, when I argue against the monarchy people make similar arguments: "you know how much it'll cost to remove all the references to the monarchy?" It's a bit silly, no? I hope you were being facetious. ;)
 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
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Vancouver Island
What an embarrassment. There is something wrong with people that still want to be a colony with a non elected foreign leader.
Calling it the Canadian Navy and Canadian Air Force would be fine.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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...yet the same people gripe about Canadians having no culture. Isn't tradition part of it?

I spent five years in the RCAF. The RCAF had a proud history and a tradition of excellence that seemed to be lost when Hellyer
put all the services in those crappy bus driver's uniforms. I am glad to see this move to separate the three big services. A move that will
bring back the old espirit de corp that we once had. This is a good idea.
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
21
38
kelowna bc
Lets talk about changing the letterhead and the logo and determine just how much it does cost.
First using a very small example, in Kelowna a couple of years ago it cost over 80 thousand
dollars, just to do the prep work. Then all the stationary left over had to be replaced and the cost
was not included. the shipment of all those documents and the official stamps to document them
is very expensive. This little change will cost millions possibly and I think we could spend that
money on real needs of the military instead of changing the paper work. We are again moving
the chairs on the Titanic.
Oh well, we can yell about government waste when we disagree with a course of government action
but it becomes justifiable when we agree with the governments position. Waste must be in the eye
of the beholder.
 

barney

Electoral Member
Aug 1, 2007
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WTF is Barney? Rubble or a purple dinosaur?

I assume this is a reaction to the negative vote? I must've got my thumbs mixed up. ;) (And there I thought it was an anonymous vote...whatever happened to that icon of democracy, the secret ballot? :D )

As for my reason:

When people gripe about Canadians having no culture that's exactly what they're talking about: a mediocre population that clings to archaic symbols rather than fostering a culture of independence and strength. Note that "tradition" is often used as a cover for unadaptability, closed-mindedness and fanaticism.

The forces were unified, in part, because they suffered from inefficiencies like triplication of services. It created a force ready for information age warfare where the various specializations--and yes, the branches are specializations of a country's armed capability--could cooperate closely and share personnel, thus creating unity in the forces. Canada was one of the few developed countries to do this. It didn't live up to its potential but that was in great part because of extensive opposition that had little to do with practical military reality.

When I think of this country's military past, I think of the revolutions that took place in the way war was fought during the First World War, brought about in great part by Canadians--a welcome change from the backward, elitist and often barbaric methods used by armies of the time. You don't honour that by reverting to monarchist titles. You honour it by continuing that tradition of military innovation, which is under threat as we move ever closer to integration into the US defence system.

The name change is symbolic of this country's ever dissolving sovereignty.


(It's Rubble btw.)
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
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Gee.... Here all this time it was to appease the unappeaseable. Unified service sure made it hard to get up a flyboy vs salt hockey game....


It also made it pretty damn hard to actually join the branch of the services that you wanted to.
 

Colpy

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 5, 2005
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Saint John, N.B.
Why not bring back the flag that all those brave souls fought and died under ?

I assume you are kidding....

But I like the Red Ensign.....a hell of a lot better than a dead maple leaf.

oh well.

 

relic

Council Member
Nov 29, 2009
1,408
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Nova Scotia
No ! not kidding. When they changed the flag,my father put up a plain white flag.People would ask,what's with the white flag Charlie,and he would reply."I'm waiting for a duck to put a footprint on it" Struck me funny at the time.
If we'er going to going to do one do it all,I want the old anthem back.the one we sang in school.