Letter to Base Commander: Visit to CFB Wainwright
6 April 2022
Colonel R.W. McBride
Commanding Officer
3rd Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton (Wainwright)
PO Box 10500 Station Forces
Edmonton, AB T5J 4J5
Dear Colonel McBride:
I wanted to convey my personal appreciation to you, Lieutenant Colonel Ugo Leblond-Fortin, and Major Dustin MacLeod for the warm welcome and kind coordination of our virtual visit 31 January through 4 February 2022. Members of my staff and I were grateful for the opportunity to share information about our office, our services, and for the opportunity to hear directly from some of your members and civilian employees as well as their families.
Further to our out-brief discussion on 4 February 2022, I sincerely appreciated the comments from a cross-section of your community and a glimpse into the challenges of living, serving, and working in Wainwright. The purpose of this letter is to highlight some of the concerns and positive feedback that we heard during our visit. I recognize that you and your staff may be aware of these issues, but I thought it would be helpful to outline them nonetheless and to offer you our assistance should you wish to follow-up on any of these matters. I am a firm believer that collaboration can lead to long-lasting, positive change for the Defence community.
The shared insights echo those from other remote and rural bases i.e., outdated Post-living differential rates, higher reliance/importance regarding base services and amenities, fewer services for members with families, less social opportunities especially for single members, and, of course, frustrated access to family health care and specialist services which remain a challenge for relocating military families.
Childcare access remains a major stressor for families of young children. The limited availability of childcare presents further challenge for spousal employment. Our office is attentive to these concerns. This is a key topic within the Seamless Canada initiative, in which we have a seat and are raising these important issues.
I am also mindful that national policies may not always scale well to smaller, remote, or rural bases. In our discussions with various policy authorities, I will continue to make the case that simply transferring some polices for implementation in more remote areas without due consideration for their unique challenges may not appropriate.
I would be remiss were I not to highlight some of the local observations shared with us.
SISIP Services
It was noted that SISIP services are provided from Edmonton. It was shared that requests for SISIP services from Wainwright comprise the vast majority of the demand for their services and the question was posed if more Wainwright SISIP Services days could be scheduled for Wainwright.
Second Language Training
The unavailability of Second Language Training (SLT) for dependent children was also highlighted. In response to this discussion, Military Family Resource Center staff indicated national funding only provides SLT services to spouses but emphasized that alternative and creative collaborations can be found if they are engaged for services.
In closing, I would like to say that many of these concerns echo what we have heard across the Defence community. Some of these issues will feed into our systemic reviews and are part of my engagement with the senior cadre within the DND/CAF.
I recognize that some of the issues and challenges you are confronted with are outside of your control. I encourage you to continue pushing as hard as you have been to address the local concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact me or our office should you require assistance.
Sincerely,
Gregory A. Lick
Ombudsman