ichannel, a national television information service dedicated to exploring political and social issues, applauds Minister of National Defence Peter Mackay’s announcement monday of a new Civil Military Leadership Pilot Initiative (CMLPI).
The CMLPI, a partnership between the University of Alberta and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), aims to provide a practical framework in which to develop the leadership skills of tomorrow’s leaders and to strengthen the connections between Canada’s military, civil and academic communities.
Student participants in the CMLPI will enrol in a four-year undergraduate program of their choice, and will also enrol in the Canadian Army; during the academic year, they will train with an Army Reserve unit.
The CMLPI revives a tradition of leadership training on campus that was embodied for more than 50 years by the Canadian Officer Training Corps (COTC), until its termination in 1968. The Toronto-basedBreakout Educational Network has been one of Canada’s leading advocates for reintroducing this tradition at Canadian universities and colleges.
ichannel actively supports the efforts of the Breakout Educational Network. In April 2013, the network broadcast the four-part documentary series Recovering Our Honour: Building The Bond Between Citizens And Soldiers. Produced by Breakout Educational Network in association with Stornoway Productions, this provocative series examined the growing divide between the military and civilian worlds, and made a persuasive case for resurrecting university-based officer training programs as a means of bridging this gap.
“We are proud to have shared the Recovering Our Honour series with Canadians, and to have helped shine a light on an important aspect of Canadian civil-military relations,” says Don Gaudet, Vice President, Programming and Production for ichannel’s parent company, Toronto-based Stornoway Communications. “ichannel is committed to delivering bold, thought-provoking television, and we are pleased to have had this opportunity to work with Breakout Educational Network in its efforts to help shape public policy.”
CLICK HERE for more information on the Recovering Our Honour series.
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