Canada’s Army Reservists have served alongside our regular full-time forces in Afghanistan and the Balkans, and at home during natural and man-made disasters including fires, floods, and ice storms.
Tens of thousands of young Canadians have served and continue to serve today in over 100 part-time Army Reserve units in cities and towns from sea to sea.
Yet Canada’s defence policies have rarely taken into account what the Army Reserve needs in order to survive and thrive — to recruit, train, sustain, and retain enough soldiers and leaders to be viable and effective in its military as well as civic and social roles.
Using an extraordinary array of research materials and interviews at all levels, author and editor of The Dorchester Review, C.P. Champion, tells the story of a well organized citizen-led campaign, from 1995 to the present day, aimed at protecting and strengthening Canada’s Army Reserve in the face of budget cuts, arbitrary restructuring, reinventing the wheel and recurring neglect.
Early comments on Relentless Struggle:
‘Canada’s military has been under-resourced for the last half-century, and the struggle for funding has embittered relations between the Army’s regulars and reservists. Champion recounts Reservists’ long battle to preserve their place and the creation of Reserves 2000 as their weapon. This is an essential book for everyone interested in Canada’s military history, present, and future.’ — J.L. Granatstein, Author of Who Killed the Canadian Military?
‘Required reading not only for students of Canadian military history, but for all those who have or will have a role in influencing the direction that the Army Reserve will take in the future.’ — LGen Paul F. Wynnyk, former Vice Chief of the Defence Staff
‘An excellent balance of both perspectives.’ — Col Howard G. Coombs, Royal Military College, Kingston
Don’t miss this terrific event and your chance to meet the author in person.
Please join us at 10:00am on Thursday, September 19, 2019 at the Royal Canadian Military Institute, 426 University Ave in Toronto for the release of this just-completed history of the effort to maintain our Army Reserve over the past 25 years.
There is no charge to attend. Coffee and light refreshments will be available.
RSVP John Selkirk (LCol ret’d) contact@reserves2000.ca or 416.868.1186.
