STRATEGIC PLAN
THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE ARMY CADET LEAGUE OF CANADA (ACLC)
REFERENCES:
A. Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Cadet Organizations (QRCadets) (pend replacement by Ministerial Directives)
B. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated 01 Dec 2005
C. VCDS Initiating Directive on Command/Control & Governance of Cadet Program (1000-3 (DCdts & JCR 13 Jun 2013)
D. Chief of Review Services (CRS) Report on the Canadian Cadet Organizations 2013 (pending release)
E. Renewal of the Cadet and Junior Canadian Rangers Programs (Mapping the Future)
F. VCDS Guidance for Renewal of the CF Funded Youth Program (1000-3 DCdts & JCR 15 Mar 2013)
G. Report of the ACLC 2014-18 Strategic Plan Working Group / Board minutes of 25 Apr 2014 refer
PREAMBLE
1. Following release of the “Renewal” document (Ref E), there was an obvious requirement to update the Strategic Plan (SP 2012-15). Four Working Groups (WG) with membership from across Canada and across disciplines reviewed Cadet Program Renewal and developed SP 2014-18 to enable the ACLC to work in step with Director Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers (DCdts & JCR) implementing Renewal of the Army Cadet Program over the 5 year period 2014-18.
2. Renewal provides for 5 Program Principles more fully described in Ref E, page 6:
- Invite All Canadian Youth;
- Instill Canadian Military Values;
- Develop Citizenship, Leadership and Fitness;
- Balance Safety and Challenge, and
- Leave a Positive Lifelong Impact.
3. Further, page 9 of the Renewal document lists 6 Renewal Goals and describes 10 expected “Desired End States” for the Cadet Program. This Strategic Plan supports these initiatives.
4. The Reports of the 4 WGs identified three main challenges that affect any success the League may have at the local community level and which form the core of this Strategic Plan:
- That a fundamental re-engineering of the Cadet Program is required to set the local Cadet Corps level as the centre of gravity of the Program;
- That overall management and bureaucracy needs to be rationalized, and
- Cadet Instructors require better training and experienced mentoring in order to deliver the Program to the Cadets.
5. To support all of these foregoing initiatives, there was an obvious need to focus on achievable objectives. The following were selected:
- Revenue and Finances;
- Support to Army Cadet Advanced Training;
- Succession Planning / Volunteer Recruiting and Training;
- Army Cadet Recruiting and Retention.
6. The following pages will describe implementation of each Objective. This includes an opening Overview summarizing conclusions reached by each WG, the Objectives as defined by the WG, identity of the lead enabler and proposing the desired End State for each Objective. Timeframes and deadlines will be determined by the Lead, and/or any future WGs and Standing Committees and outcomes should be in place by March 2018 or earlier. This document is not a Strategic Plan in the classic sense as much as it is a guideline developed by broad input from across Canada to address current relevant practical challenges and to seize opportunities that present themselves.
7. The WGs also produced governance recommendations that were common in each WG Report:
- There is a need for more open and efficient communication with the Branches and by extension to the Local Sponsoring Committees.
- There is a need for better orientation and training of volunteers.
- There is a need to establish Standing Committees to share the workload of implementing the Strategic Plan.
- There is a need to establish a more robust Nominating Committee to receive and review Board and National Council nominees in election years or to fill vacant positions.
- There was a strong recommendation to study the internal acceptability and ability of Branches and local Sponsoring Committees to financially support the National Office. This should be explored by a Working Group or a Committee and a decision made on this continuing matter.