"Rebalancing" the Afghan mission

This should help any efforts a bit:

The Harper government is offering up to $10,015 in danger pay to help recruit federal public servants to work in war-torn Afghanistan.

Military personnel in Afghan-istan get danger pay and generous tax exemptions, but this is the first time a special "high risk" premium is being paid to bureaucrats working in war zones.

"It is difficult to recruit public servants for this kind of dangerous work and for understandable reasons, so this is an extra incentive to recognize their courageous sacrifice that might help recruit more," said Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, parliamentary secretary to Treasury Board President Vic Toews.

The new annual premium will pay bureaucrats serving in Kabul $8,585 and those based in Kandahar $10,015. It is effective immediately, will be paid monthly as long as the "security situation warrants" and will be reviewed every quarter, said Yves Brodeur, an assistant deputy minister on the Afghanistan Task Force, in a memo to Department of Foreign Affairs employees.

The government has between 50 and 60 public servants in Afghanistan, including 34 in Kabul. Public servants working there are diplomats from DFAIT, as well the RCMP, Canadian International Development Agency and National Defence civilian employees.

Ron Cochrane, executive director of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers has been pressing for "high risk" hardship pay since diplomat Glyn Berry was killed in early 2006 while on duty in Afghanistan. Mr. Berry was travelling in a military convoy when a suicide bomber drove alongside the armoured vehicle he was riding in. Three Canadian soldiers were also wounded. He said the association wanted similar tax relief, "high risk" premiums and life insurance benefits as the military.

He said foreign service officers working on Provincial Reconstruction Teams travel with the military and are often exposed to the same dangers, so they should receive the same benefits.

In the past year, the government introduced a "special risk" accident insurance [very important - MC] and increased the number of leave days. Treasury Board approved the "high risk" pay last month, but not a tax exemption...

Mr. Poilievre said new premiums are also an incentive to try and attract and keep recruits to dangerous postings, especially if Canada focuses more of its efforts on training and reconstruction.

"It's possible we'll see more public servants in Afghanistan, especially in Kandahar, as the mission focuses more on training to help the Afghanistan government take care of themselves. Our public service has world-class expertise in governance, judicial matters and public administration that is valuable to their Afghan counterparts."