First, we must recognize that the Canadian Forces have shown good will by going beyond the requirements of the act. This universal approach, the goal of which was to ensure that everyone would speak both official languages, was admirable, but to some extent it was done without specific targets. This meant that, often, officers took the mandatory training and then spent their careers in a unit where there were very few francophones, in an anglophone region.
Let's take the example of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Alberta. This is not really an area where officers can maintain what they've previously learned. Also, under section 91 of the act, a language requirement cannot be applied unless required. To some extent, the fact that the Canadian Forces have developed a more targeted plan, which is trying to suit capacities to needs, is not contrary to the legislation. My fear is that this is almost a parallel system to the one that already exists in the public service, where there are unilingual francophone regions, bilingual regions and unilingual anglophone regions.
Imagine there is a tank repairman working at Valcartier and suddenly we need one in Edmonton. It's not like in the public service, where a competition is held and the applicant agrees to live in an anglophone environment. In reality, the repairman must go to the Edmonton base within a week at most. That is how the Canadian Forces operate. In principle, on paper, it could work, but I fear in the long run for individuals and their families.