A Comox teacher and military wife is embarking on a petition demanding the B.C. Teachers’ Federation stop demonizing the Canadian Armed Forces.
Zoe Baker, 39, recently discovered anti-military posters from the social justice committee on her union’s website. The posters warn that Canadian military recruiters might come to schools and target “children” and say teachers should be on guard to counter their “propaganda.”
“It did a real disservice to the culture of the Canadian Forces,” said Baker, who has two children ages five and seven.
“It makes them seem very predatory, and that’s just not accurate.”
Union president Glen Hansman said in an email that the poster was not meant to attack the Canadian military or dishonour Canadian veterans.
The BCTF said the poster was put online in 2010 and has since been removed. It was prompted by concerns raised over a Canada-wide, movie-style recruitment ad glamourizing combat.
Maj. Adam Thomson, commanding officer, recruitment for B.C. and the Yukon, said Canadian Forces recruiters regularly attend hundreds of high schools a year without trouble.
He said the postings concern him because they portray military recruiters as aggressive in their tactics — something he said is not the case. In fact, the Canadian Armed Forces is quite selective about new members. Last year, for example, 40,000 people applied in Canada and only 10,000 were accepted.
Recruiters are senior Forces members who work hard to present a balanced perspective, Thomson said, adding that it’s not worth their while to attract anyone who is not a serious recruit.
“Recruiters do talk about the positives because we want to attract people who are interested in a military career,” he said.
“But our recruiters are also well-experienced individuals and offer a pretty balanced description of life in the military.”
Back in Comox, Baker has launched an online petition on change.org, collecting more than 700 signatures.
In reaching out to other teachers, she has found many were not aware the union had a social justice committee or that it had targeted the Canadian Armed Forces.
“I wonder if that is not overstepping the bounds of a labour union,” she said.
“I’m really not happy that my union put this out.”
Baker, who has taught history and English, has lived in Comox for about a year and has yet to land a teaching job there.
“My husband is deployed, I’m on my own, I’m exhausted and I miss him so much it physically hurts,” Baker said. “So to see his profession maligned in this way, I just can’t accept that.
“And it’s not about championing the military,” she added.
“I just think as teachers we need to be responsible with information.”
