On recruitment tactics

So that's the Cons' long-term economic action plan...

A Conservative MP recently nominated by the federal government to sit on a secretive Canada-U.S. committee on continental defence told U.S. officials he was hoping a downturn in the economy would lead to increased recruitment for the Canadian army, according to a “confidential” U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks to APTN National News.

Edmonton Centre Conservative MP Laurie Hawn said he saw “hope” that the rising numbers of unemployed would lead to an increased in army recruits, according to the diplomatic cable from March 12, 2009.
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“He expressed the hope that rising unemployment rates at home on one hand, and the welcome new deployment of U.S. troops in Kandahar on the other, would help the Canadian Forces to recruit and retain troops, at least in 2009 and 2010,” the cable said, which was based on a March 4, 2009 conversation.

Needless to say, many of the Cons' economic choices make a lot more sense if their goal is to drive unemployed Canadians into the military. But it still leaves a few open questions about their other priorities: after all, what happens when potential military recruits instead find plenty of jobs waiting in the Cons' new prisons?