The commander of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt lauded the military's contributions to the south Island economy during a meeting with the Greater Victoria business community.
"I don't mean to say that there was ever a negative opinion of what we do, but I think that there was a bit of lack of understanding of what's behind the walls here at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt," said Capt. Kevin Whiteside at the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce event on March 13.
The base employs about 6,500 people, both Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and civilians, and owns 23 properties and 1,500 buildings across the province. Directly and indirectly, the base contributes about $500 million to the B.C. economy every year, said Whiteside.
"I'm a ship driver, not a business [owner]. I think it's pretty good," he joked.
He did, however, admit the base has been facing its own challenges recently, like a housing shortage, and problems around recruitment and retention.
"It is difficult. And unless we are stepping out of our comfort zone, taking advantage of the amazing resources that we have in our communities and talking about what we do, we will never rebuild the personnel issues, we'll never get to where we need to go, we will never be an employer of choice, or remain an employer of choice. And, we'll never get the resources that we need from the government of Canada to build the infrastructure that we need," he said.
Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Williams asked Whiteside how he and his team deal with rising political tensions globally. In response, Whiteside told the story of when he asked his basic training instructor how the rest of the world sees Canada and its military.
"He said, 'Well, we're known as being small, but the best trained in the world,' and that stuck with me," said Whiteside. "Every time I was on a ship and we were working on a domestic operation or training for international operations or transiting through the Spratly Islands or the Straits of Taiwan, I thought about that comment. We do a lot to ensure that our small force is trained for any eventuality."
Though political tensions are running high and expressions of patriotism seem to be a growing trend in Canada, Whiteside said the CAF has always been patriotic for their country as members wear the country's name and flag on their uniforms every day.
"What's most important to me, and I think to many of my colleagues and superiors, is that we are an employer of choice. So whatever may lead to that choice, that's what's most important to us. I think that a safe, inclusive, welcoming environment, workplace, is what we endeavour to have," he said.
