Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/533940
l lOgiSTiCS 34 JUNE/JULY 2015 www.vanguardcanada.com ed – and extremely dangerous – warzone is mindboggling to the uninitiated, so Rooke tries make some sense of it. "While you expect to have to do most things yourselves, we would establish local sub- contracts for certain supplies or services wherever possible, and depending on the security situation. As you would expect, you would not set up your own garbage disposal service if one already existed in your deployed area. But it is up to you as the prime contractor to ensure things like environmental considerations are be- ing followed and the local subcontractor isn't just taking the garbage from here and dumping it on somebody's property down the road, because you never know, unless you check and recheck." As a prime contractor, SNC-Lavalin does the research, works with local con- tacts, and hires subcontractors through a strict vetting process. "It is our responsi- bility to make sure that all these things are done properly and to the law," Rooke ex- plains. "Normally Canada will specify that the service delivery standard must comply with Canadian law, or the local laws if they are more stringent." Recruiting a civilian workforce is tricky. Despite doing their best to lean on locals, there are times when, due to the security situation, the Department of National De- fence requires personnel with Canadian se- curity clearances, which pretty much lim- its the hiring to Canadian citizens. Other times, the local hires might not have the requisite skillset or certifiable credentials to perform the required duties demanded under the contract. tradespeople, making it a challenge to fill certain positions. "Normally," he says, "our government authorizes participation in stability/de- ployed operations for only six-months at a time, which is also reflected in the task- ing of CANCAP. As such, we cannot offer longer employment contracts to our work- ers than we are offered by Canada." This limits the company's ability to make long- term employment contracts, which adds to the difficulty of finding skilled workers. But there is a silver lining. Rooke says they have a huge number of loyal employ- ees who enjoy being a part of the CAN- CAP community and the lifestyle associ- ated with such demanding environments. Some of their employees began when SNC Lavalin was hiring for Bosnia, and they continued working six-month contracts right through Kabul and Kandahar, a 10- year period. Now that operations in Afghanistan have drawn to a close, Rooke and his team are in what he calls "the three-point stance." He watches developments around the world with interest, and monitors CAF missions abroad. Smaller engagements, some under the auspices of NATO, usu- ally don't materialize into contracts. "De- pending upon the size of the commitment to a particular operation, there isn't much point if you have 50 soldiers going some- where," he says." They are generally going to fit in with someone else's organization. They will be fed and accommodated off them. When we get a battalion size, or a combat group, then Canada likes to pro- vide its own level of support, whether it's feeding or specialty services." Rooke doesn't speculate much on the future of in-service support and logistics, and how the CAF's relatively new coexis- tence with civilians on deployed missions may evolve during Canada's next major engagement. But one thing is certain: now that companies like SNC-Lavalin have proven the benefits of using civilians to support the fighting element of the Ca- nadian Armed Forces, the model is here to stay. "We had different sources for labour," Rooke says of the company's time in Af- ghanistan. "Sometimes we were permitted to use local hires; at other times we were permitted to provide support through Third Country Nationals (TCNs), as we did in Kabul." Countries like Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India have huge workforc- es deployed around the world, and SNC Lavalin works with employment agencies located in those countries to source their labour. In Kabul, Rooke and his team em- ployed a large number of TCNs from Ne- pal, who worked alongside other Canadian employees to deliver services to the Cana- dian battle group stationed there. Employing TCNs is beneficial to both the client and to the contractor: they save labour costs and they tend to remain with the program for a longer time, contribut- ing to the stability and consistency of ser- vice delivery. "Remember that when Can- ada deploys troops to support operations abroad, the normal tour of duty for the servicemen and women is six-months," Rooke explains. "The contractor, on the other hand, is there for the duration – consistency and reliability are critical." While the security situation ultimately is the determining factor in a contrac- tor's ability to employ local employees or TCNs, another is the domestic work environment in Canada. If the economy is booming, it is more difficult to attract and retain Canadian workers. Rooke saw this a great deal over the last 10 years; Canadian resource industries were at- tracting large numbers of highly skilled Commanding officer of the National Support Element addressing medal recipients from CANCAP at the Canadian Cenotaph, Kandahar Airfield, 2009. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K