The UK Tories appear to be cruising toward an epic loss in the country’s July 4 election. A recent poll put the governing party 26 points behind Labour, and poised to fall to a humiliating third place.
Yet, at least one of the party’s election promises has merit. It will hopefully inspire political leaders in other countries to follow suit, even if the Tory government doesn’t live to implement it.
We’re referring to the party’s pledge to bring back mandatory military service for 18-year-olds. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said young men and women could choose to either join the military full-time for 12 months or spend one weekend each month over a year volunteering in their community.
“This new, mandatory national service will provide life-changing opportunities for our young people, offering them the chance to learn real world skills, do new things and contribute to their community and our country,” Sunak said.
We couldn’t agree more. There are many reasons to recommend this idea. Here are a few key ones:
Dangerous times call for serious measures: Countries across the Western world have been beefing up their security in response to the wars in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza and other foreign conflicts and threats.
Much has been said about how Canada’s military — and place in the world — are in a lamentable state of decline. While responsibility for this decline rests in part with our elected leaders, it also rests with the voting public. Elected leaders respond to constituents’ demands, and Canadians have not demanded better.
We would argue this is partly due to the fact that most Canadians have no idea what the military does. A year of mandatory military service would help young people gain a better appreciation of the military’s work, as well as the security needs of this country and the world.
If young peoples’ perspectives on the military changed, we expect politicians’ views on its importance would also start to shift.
Community service is a value that must be cultivated: The thrust of many of Canada’s current laws and programs is to create entitlements. Entitlements to pharmacare or dental care or child care or Old Age Security, to name some recent examples. There are far fewer programs that encourage individuals to appreciate or act on their obligations as citizens.
We cannot expect young individuals to develop an understanding of the rights and obligations of citizenship on their own. We need social programs that cultivate a mentality of other-centeredness, community and contribution. We are hard-pressed to think of a program that could better achieve this than a year of mandatory military or community service.
A year in the military could be good for many young people’s mental and physical health: Many young people today are mentally or physically unwell.
More than one-quarter of Canadians reported having a disability in 2022, up five per cent from 2017, Canadian Affairs reported last week. The rate of disability for youth aged 15 to 24 increased by seven per cent in this period, with mental illness being a key driver of this change. Nineteen per cent of young women and nine per cent of young men reported having a mental health disability.
Mental health problems are of course complex and multi-causal. But as we have also reported, certain societal trends — such as prolonged time on social media and associated feelings of social isolation and loneliness — are known to be key drivers of mental illness.
Physical health is also a concern. In 2022, a full 30 per cent of Canadians aged 12 to 17 were overweight or obese, according to Statistics Canada.
We expect a year in the military could do wonders for many young individuals’ mental and physical health. It would force them to get off their phones, become more fit and focus on the needs of others.
Military service would be valuable — and fun: It is often life-changing to live in other parts of the country or world. It’s one reason school and university exchange programs are so popular.
In an advanced economy like Canada’s, our higher education programs prioritize teaching young people conceptual and critical thinking skills. This is necessary and valuable. But it can also be valuable to learn what Sunak called “real world skills.” These skills include knowing how to form relationships with people from different cultural, political and socio-economic backgrounds, how to lead and how to use your hands.
We anticipate that the skills and relationships young people developed during a year of military or community service would be ones that many carried with them through the rest of their lives.
In sum, mandatory military service would be an investment that paid many dividends. It would be an investment in Canada’s security and place in the world. As importantly, it would be an investment in the values, health and skills of Canada’s greatest asset — its people.
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