Captain Paul MacDonald

51B Bonnetplume
Inuvik, NT X0E 0T0
(867) 678-0765
25 Oct 2013
Lieutenant-Colonel R.W. Kamphuis
Regional Cadet Support Unit (Northwest)
PO Box 17000 Stn Forces
Winnipeg MB, R3J 3Y5
Dear LCol. Kamphuis,
Please accept this letter as my official resignation as the Commanding Officer of 2749 RCACC
Inuvik effective 01 January 2014.
I would like to highlight my time as a Commanding Officer and our accomplishments in point
form.
- Brought the dying unit from 3 cadets to 30 at its peak
- Renewed the relationship between the school and cadets
- Received full support from the community with our volunteer efforts
- Arranged and executed an educational Trip to Ontario/ Ottawa
- Fundraised $110,000+ over the past 8 years
- Rebuilt our cadet cabin on Airport Lake which taught cadets about construction
- Was there for 3 cadets who lost their mother unexpectedly- of which the entire corps supported
and attended the funeral (in uniform)
- Certified several cadets at the NSCE level
- Took 1st Place in our Northern Cadet Skill Competition 3 years in a row
- Fixed the relationship with our sponsor (The Legion)
- Became the number 1 youth group in town known to make a difference
- Saved over 15 cadets from a life of possible crime, and homelessness based on family members
and past history.
- Arranged for our affiliated unit to visit, which has become an annual event
- Arranged for 6 cadets to participate with our affiliated unit at CFB Edmonton to experience a
day and life of a Regular Force Soldier.
- I been and will continue to be a Big Brother to several cadets who had absolutely no one to
turn to.
- Arranged a free building to act as our LHQ for cadet stores and an alternate training site.
- Also arranged for the Legion to cover our utility expenses
- Had 3 cadets become enlisted- 1 as an officer currently at RMC, and 2 as NCMs.
With all these accomplishments over the past 8 years, fire, floods and natural disasters cant kill
our unit but the bureaucracy from RCSU NW certainly has.
I would like you to be aware I am not leaving town, I simply have had enough of the bureaucracy
and lack of understanding from Winnipeg (RCSU NW), and the required involvement to be a
Commanding Officer due to these and the following reasons. I will cooperate in every way
possible to facilitate a change of command if possible, and failing that the transfer of the stores
currently assigned to me back to RCSU NW.

Here are the reasons for my resignation so there are no misunderstandings.

1) CUTP (Computer Program)- I have sent you personally, emails regarding this and received a
lengthy email from your DCO about the cadet education program, which did not address the
electronic program that does not work in the north. His response completely ignored my
problems and suggestions, which further increased my frustration level. Our ACO used his time
to create us an electronic CUTP (Trg Plan) that from day 1 doesnt work. The moment I
attempted to use it there were conflicts, which are difficult to change. However the frustration not
only lies with the program itself but the fact that you want blind buy in with the program so you
can take it to other regions as a success. Well SIR, it is not a success its a pit where time and
money disappear.
The Trg. Section wont accept a paper copy of our training plan that we actually follow and
unlike every other region; your region demands the use of this computer program. The computer
program is very time consuming and is not user friendly. I have taken many workshops on the
program and still it does not work! FYI: you are on your 8th or 9th edition due to faults with this
program and over 1.5 million dollars have been spent to get it to work. This is not including
training costs for corps.
Lets put that in comparison, Apple has had 10 different operating systems since they started
releasing to the public as upgrades in 2001. Now these are upgrades, they are not bug fixes they
are upgrades. You have been attempting to fix your program with each upgrade excluding the
training plan uploads for the past 8 years. Its still not working!
By now you must be aware that there are COs in the south that make a training plan to appease
the bureaucrats, and then use a paper copy to train as they have great difficultly using the
electronic one. It consumes our valuable time, which would be much better spent teaching the
program to our youth. FYI one of the corps I have spoken to is in Manitoba and the CO was/is an
employee of RCSU and admitted as much to me.
2) CODE of CONDUCT Letter- This letter was almost insulting, not thought out and more or
less would destroy our local programing if it were to be followed to the letter. The north as you
are clearly not aware is a very tightly knit community, where our cadets are involved in our lives
in a variety of ways. We are coaches, parents, employers, mentors, teachers, a shoulder to cry on,
a guide, a sounding board, and more than that a professional friend to whom many dont have a
father figure or mother as they come from broken or violent homes. If we were to only be in
contact with these cadets during cadet hours and not as we have been doing for years it would
create an atmosphere of distrust and the cadets would not understand why we couldnt help them
individually. This letter also has not taken into account our other occupations where it may
overlap and contact is necessary with cadets. Furthermore across Canada a major source of CIC
officers are the parents who join because their children are in cadets. This ill-conceived policy
just destroyed CIC recruiting and if followed through will cause an exodus of Officers and
Cadets. I am sure you will advise that we could ask for an exemption, but why do I have to beg
based upon ill-conceived policy. Perhaps in a large city center with 1 million people this would
be appropriate but in a town of 2500 it is not possible to follow the majority of the points. How
do I not employ a cadet at my business? If I were to say sorry youre a cadet and therefore cant
work for me, it would be discrimination. I thought about writing a letter to you to explain this
but quite frankly why bother? Nothing I have sent to you in the past has been resolved; I merely
get a call or an email from your minions to smooth it over. Its not working.

3) GOLD STAR ADVENTURE TRG- Although this is mandated from DCadets it is greatly
flawed. It costs on average $2500 per cadet for airfare alone, from Inuvik to attend a 1.5 day
course, but they miss 2 days of school, for what? To take a hike in Alberta or BC for a day or
take mountain bike tour for day? What are they learning? By the cadets own comments on
what actually is taught it has been compared to our training and is less than what we do with the
Green Stars on a winter FTX that is 2.5 days at a fraction of the cost. It is a financial waste of
taxpayers dollars to send cadets on a vacation. As this is mandated and once again if I do not
send a cadet for medical or other reasons the cadet is penalized. Based upon the time spent,
financial resources consumed and for what is presented the Adventure Training should be called
Employment by Extortion. I have also been advised by my ACO that next year they plan on
conducting the Adventure training in the North. It still isnt necessary and a waste of funds since
what they learn in the 1-2 days pales in comparison to what they learn locally.
4) Routine Orders and Paper work- Quite frankly if RCSU NW disappeared tomorrow we
wouldnt notice other than the harassment in the form of emails demanding and quoting
regulations and orders to get it done would stop. RCSU NW forgets we are part time. We hold
other positions within our community, and this month alone to save the cadet corps locally, I
have personally spent over 50hours conservatively with meetings, preparation work, and follow
up to ensure we are able to have a place to parade. Last month I spent an equal amount of time
ensuring we have a place to store our kit and was successful at convincing Town Council to
donate a building in town to us. I ask where were you on 07 Sept 2013 on a Saturday Morning?
Myself and Les were up on the roof of our new LHQ nailing shingles in the snow and rain to stop
a leak and ensure a safe environment for our kit and cadets. I make this point because your full
time CIC officers often enjoy their weekends off, of which they are paid for.
4.a) Paperwork continued- The CI paperwork that I have spoken with Jacqueline Dalke about is
ridiculous. My CI, the RCMP officer who wants to stay on for the remainder of the year is now
required to fill out the same multipage documents he has previously filed to re-enroll as a CI.
Aside from the mandatory police record check there is nothing that has changed, why all this
work to re-enroll? Jacqueline was polite and explained, it was because thats the way it works and
her hands are tied. I guess it is another great way to keep the Bureaucrats employed.
5) Lack of trust- Several times this has come up since the take over from RCSU NW. I have seen
this many times through emails most recent of which was the very inappropriate and
condescending email from Richard Novak (ACO). He more or less submitted his resume to prove
his worth and that he is capable of doing his job and quite frankly I dont care. This email was in
response to an email I sent directly to the COs of the North about your Code of Conduct letter
after an angry CO contacted me. This email from Richard more or less told us to spend our time
working on past due paperwork and stop worrying about the more mature RCSU NW when
compared to the immature RCSU N. Well Im 30 years old, I hold very trusted and sensitive
positions within Inuvik and do not need a 42year old cadet officer telling me what I should and
shouldnt do on my own time.
An example; I am trusted to take $100,000.00 vessel owned by the RCMP, am the Captain (in
command and responsible) of the vessel and conduct search and rescues efforts for lost and
injured victims over the largest search area in Canada, all the while coordinating with 3 other
agencies, (RCMP, Medical, and CASARA) but I cant decide what is important for my cadet
program or who and what I should or shouldnt discuss with my peers. ???

6) Fortress- Fortress is not an easy program to learn but now that I have it is usable. However
there are many faults within the program such as promotions. I use the tried and true merit based
approach to promotions, which is; they are earned not handed out because a computer tells me
they have reached that level. I have a Sgt. who has been a Sgt. for 3 years who is not capable of
being a WO. However to appease the program he was promoted to stop the messages and
warnings from RCSU NW. He is now 18 years old and happy as a Sgt. Clearly this isnt a
problem, as he didnt quit. Why, because we run a fun, dynamic challenging program and he
knows his limitations. My solution; Allow the corps to make the decisions. They are the troops
on the ground. I am sure that your advisors will speak about self esteem and how only they
understand how lack of promotion or failure will affect the cadets. Turn this around and I ask
you if you would fly as a passenger with an unqualified pilot who is in command, or would you
see a surgeon that was socially passed?
7) Lack of real military involvement. Living in an isolated part of the country we appreciate
having military involvement. When I say real, I mean Regular force personnel who have chosen a
life in the military and not career cadets who think they know what the military is about. My
cadets learn from them and I learn from them along with my staff. In case you dont know what
Im talking about, take a look at your 3 Regular Force Warrant Officers sitting at RCSU NW.
Why are they not traveling to corps to assist with training instead of doing paperwork? They are
the wealth of knowledge our cadet instructors, and cadets need. They are why some cadets are
here in the first place.
As you can tell Im extremely frustrated, and the only solution to this is to walk away from 8
years of hard work. It will be detrimental to the cadets, which I have always placed 1st in my
priorities, but now its time to look after myself. The stress of dealing with RCSU NWs nonsense
and bureaucracy is no longer worth the effort. As I said in the beginning I will work with you to
ensure a smooth transition of my resignation.






Regards,




Paul MacDonald
Captain,
Commanding Officer,
2749 RCACC Inuvik,
867-678-0765