News Article
Afghan Vet's New Job Just the Ticket
Uses overseas skills in parking enforcement
Doug Schmidt, The Windsor Star
November 3, 2010
When Ian Carey returned to Windsor a year ago after serving in Afghanistan with the Canadian military, he, like so many others in Canada's unemployment capital, couldn't find a job.
A master corporal reservist with the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment, whose commanding officer praised his work on his first overseas deployment, Carey, 26, was left wondering what to do.
His well-paid, 18-month Canadian Forces immersion included six months in a war zone helping train Afghan military police. Carey's big dream was to become a police officer at home, but "there's a long wait in the recruiting process," he said.
Luckily for him, his EKS commander, Lt.-Col. Morris Brouse, is also the chief executive officer of the Windsor division of the Commissionaires, a private, not-for-profit corporation established 85 years ago to provide employment opportunities for veterans of the military and police.
"He put the bug in my ear if I had any difficulties to come and see the Commissionaires," said Carey.
Earlier this year, after city council voted to outsource its bylaw enforcement unit, the Commissionaires won the contract to provide the service. The switchover occurred Oct. 4 with 14 contracted staff, including Carey.
"Look at the type of people we have in the military, the extraordinary skills they bring in to the commissionaires," said Brause.
One of the things Carey said his military training -- eight years in the reserves -- and his experience overseas helped teach him is patience and control in the face of on-the-job challenges. Using people skills and not losing his cool with parents zipping in and out of restricted and crowded school areas as they drop off and pick up their children, for example, mirrors the kinds of situations he faced in Afghanistan.
"You take a negative and you direct it into a positive," he said, adding part of his job has been to simply educate people about what he does and why there might be a ticket involved.
On Monday, in a ceremony at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, the Commissionaires, the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence signed a memorandum of understanding to provide employment to veterans injured in the line of duty. Carey wasn't injured during his overseas stint, but Brause said the idea behind Monday's ceremony, as well as the very existence of his corporation, is to show returning vets they have a place to go.
"We felt it was very timely to re-emphasize our mandate. We were watching our new veterans coming out of Bosnia and Afghanistan," said Brause.
It might be a "return to work" memorandum, but Brause operates on a "right to work" principle when it comes to veterans returning from service and looking to break into the civilian workforce.
In less than a year at the helm, Brause said the local Commissionaires have gone from just over 50 full-time employees in February to 110 now.
"We're growing by leaps and bounds," he said. The Commissionaires are Canada's largest security providers, employing 20,000 in a federation of independent companies such as the one headed by Brause and a board of governors.
While he sees the potential for a career with the Commissionaires, Carey still dreams of becoming a police officer. One thing he likes about his current employer is that he's fully supported in continuing to pursue his work as a reservist.
After pulling a full shift Tuesday as a city bylaw officer, Carey exchanged uniforms for an evening of training fellow army reservists in military patrolling techniques and weapon handling.
"He inspires others," said Brause, Carey's boss and commander.
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