BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC ANNIVERSARY
We should swell with pride over Canada’s naval prowess
TED KELLY AND HUGH MACPHERSON
The May sun rises early in the northwest Atlantic. On this May 10 morning 70 years ago, the crew of the Royal Canadian Air Force Liberator, patrolling 250 miles southwest of the Flemish Cap, were glad to see it.
Missions had become routine in the past months and certainly since six days ago, when Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz had ordered the German submarines to cease fire, action was unexpected.
So the growing light would help as they approached the small surface radar contact a few miles ahead. The captain of U-boat 889 had, at last, decided to obey his orders and surface his boat in surrender to Allied forces.
The Liberator crew, unable to accept a surrendered U-boat, called for assistance and quickly HMC Ships Oshawa and Rockcliffe were on the scene. U-889 was escorted into Shelburne.
More than all the parades, all the cheering crowds and all the official proclamations, the surrender of this small black-hulled vessel exclaimed that the most vital struggle of the war was over and that, in triumph, Canada had achieved something remarkable.
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest of the war. Ships were sunk on the first day of the war and, over six harrowing years later, ships were sunk on the last day.
It was the most critical struggle. Winston Churchill claimed that it was the only battle that kept him awake at night. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel avowed in his diary that North Africa had not been lost on the barren sands of Cyrenacia, but rather on the punishing waves of the Atlantic. Soviet Marshal Georgy Zukhov stated that without Allied control of the Atlantic, there would have been no victory at Stalingrad, nor an invasion of Normandy. Canada’s contribution had been the decisive factor in the outcome.
How extraordinary was the Canadian achievement? The facts certainly give compelling testament. Britain turned to Canada in 1939 as the only source of help in maintaining Atlantic supply routes to Europe, but engaging an enemy at sea was a daunting prospect.
How could a country with few seafarers and only a handful of ships, naval or merchant, hope to form the means of keeping Britain supplied with the food and materials necessary to survive?
How could an agrarian nation with little industry of any kind, that had not launched a single steel-hulled ocean-going vessel in 20 years, hope to build the merchant and naval ships that would be needed? It must have seemed an impossible task.
Yet Canadians rose to the challenge in a magnificent manner. In a few short years, there were 15 shipyards across the country employing 85,000 men and women, who by war’s end had turned out nearly 1,200 large merchant and naval ships and 8,000 auxiliary and small craft.
By late 1942, Royal Canadian Air Force Maritime aircraft were ranging far and wide from bases in the Maritimes and Newfoundland and the Canadian merchant navy had grown from nothing to over 100 ships.
From a standing start, our contribution to victory in the Atlantic rose to the point where the majority of Allied forces in the campaign were Canadian. Rear Admiral Leonard Murray of the Royal Canadian Navy became responsible for the entire western North Atlantic, from Long Island to Iceland. Never before or since has the United States navy entrusted defence of its ocean approaches to another nation.
The only part of the Second World War that was fought on Canadian territory was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the Cabot Strait and off our coasts.
The war at sea had been an enormous challenge. More than any other, it transformed the country economically and s ocially. Just as Vimy Ridge gave birth to our nation, the Battle of the Atlantic marked the coming of age of Canada, giving us a strong, independent voice in the post-war world.
A century and a half ago, Joseph Howe remarked that “it is a wise nation that celebrates its glorious deeds." One only has to look at how the Australian and New Zealand actions at Gallipoli in the First World War became the “Anzac Legend" to see the wisdom in that assertion. Today, it remains an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the way they view their past and their future.
The magnificent achievement by Canadians in the Atlantic deserves to be remembered and celebrated across our nation. The deeds of our forefathers are important for our future. Ted Kelly and Hugh MacPherson are members of the Battle of the Atlantic Place project team in Halifax.
A sentry and honour guard hold their positions as HMCS Halifax watches offshore during a ceremony to commemorate the Battle of the Atlantic in Halifax on Sunday. DARREN PITTMAN • CP
---------------------
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE-
READER’S CORNER
Canadian liberators brought joy, food
On May 5, we commemorate 70 years since Holland was liberated from Nazi occupation during the Second World War. I want to thank my fellow Canadians and this country for the sacrifices that made the liberation possible.
The Nazi occupation of the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945 resulted in five years of terror and hardship. Over 100,000 Dutch citizens died in the concentration camps and another 100,000 lost their lives in the “Hunger Winter" of 1945.
When the war started, I was 10 years old and I have vivid memories of the bombings of the nearby submarine port, and raids on the steel plant near our home. I remember the struggle for survival. In the Hunger Winter, we had no power, fuel and very little food. People were desperate and we were constantly worried about security.
Then, in the spring of 1945, we heard rumours of Canadian soldiers crossing the Rhine River, and that they were on their way to liberate us. We were overjoyed. Could it be that all the hardship would end?
On the morning of May 5, I saw a plane fly over — no more than 300 metres above me. The bay doors opened and, instead of bombs, packages fell to the ground. The packages fell everywhere — in ditches, muddy fields, and on roofs of houses and barns. When we rushed to open them, they contained tea, crackers and canned goods. What feasts we had. After five long years, we had reason to party.
Celebrations broke out. We had a contest in our neighbourhood to decorate houses to show the liberators our appreciation. There were prizes of bread and cake. I was tasked with making a sign for our house with the words “Welcome to You, Liberators." I had no knowledge of English, but finally got the meaning, after a while.
One day later, the Canadians arrived in their jeeps, filling the streets of our town. I cannot describe the pure joy we felt at seeing them and knowing we were free. As we crowded around the soldiers, they gave us chocolate bars, sugar and cigarettes — items more valuable than money. They could be bartered for so much that was scarce in our home.
A large tent was set up for music and dancing. We had a lot of fun, although we were slightly jealous of the handsome, uniformed Canadians flirting with our girls. Older people danced, too, something we’d never seen them do before.
The Canadians loved their tea and I remember asking for their used tea leaves, which they happily gave us. My mother was pleased with the gift. During the war, she had been making tea from flower buds. Liberation was wonderful. The jubilation we felt on that day is as vivid to me now as if it were yesterday.
So, my fellow Canadians, on May 5, we remember that day long ago. From Dutch Canadians and the people of the Netherlands, we say, “Thank you Canada."
John S. Eyking, Millville, Dutch immigrant to Cape Breton
--------------
LIBERATION OF HOLLAND
Canadians mark 70-year milestone
WWII veterans travel to event in Netherlands
MURRAY BREWSTER THE CANADIAN PRESS
WAGENINGEN, NETHERLANDS — It was 70 years ago Tuesday that the guns fell nearly silent along the Canadian and British lines in Holland.
The war in northwestern Europe was almost over and Pte. Frank Graham, who’d fought with the Canadian 1st Division all through Sicily, Italy and Holland, found himself thunderstruck.
“When I heard they’d given up, I thought, no they don’t," said Graham, 92. “I didn’t believe it to start with."
The BBC had announced the ceasefire the night before, on May 4, 1945, yet Graham said he’d been disappointed by rumours before.
Seven decades on, Graham was part of a sentimental parade of veterans who rolled past a reviewing stand in vintage army vehicles outside of the hotel where the capitulation was made official.
As was evident on their faces, it was a bittersweet moment for the old soldiers in this tranquil, leafy town as they mingled with actors dressed in the uniforms they used to wear and rode in trucks and jeeps they had once driven.
“Brings back a lot of memories," said former corporal Al Stapleton, looking at an armoured reconnaissance car. He also served with the 1st Division, but as a signaller.
Scattered, heavy thunder showers threatened Tuesday’s parade and even cancelled a photo opportunity Prime Minister Stephen Harper had planned with the veterans, who had to scramble for cover.
It was a far cry from the breezy, cold day in 1945 when Col.-Gen. Johannes Blaskowitz, the commander of all German forces in the Netherlands and Denmark, showed up at the wrecked Hotel de Wereld.
Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charles Foulkes accepted the surrender in a simple signing ceremony, which was to be followed two days later by the more formal unconditional surrender of all German forces accepted by Allied supreme commander U.S. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower at Reims, France.“I watched the tired, old Blaskowitz sitting across the dusty table from Gen. Foulkes and blinking like an owl as he agreed to every surrender term," Canadian Press war correspondent Ross Munro wrote in his post-war book, Gauntlet to Overlord.
Despite the general ceasefire on May 5, 1945, in the Canadian sector, troops continued to die for at least three more days and at least eight casualties were recorded, said Canadian War Museum historian Jeff Noakes.
Unlike the First World War, where the last direct fire casualty was recorded just before 11 o’clock on Nov. 11, it is tough to determine who — precisely — was the last soldier to die in Europe when the shooting stopped.
The last Canadian to die in the Second World War was killed in the Pacific some months later.
Don Somerville, 92, a former sapper who served as a combat engineer, said everyone in his unit had an inkling the war was drawing to a close and nobody wanted to be the last to die.
After German dictator Adolf Hitler’s suicide, he says “everybody started shutting down then, hoping they could make it. You know?"
Somerville recalled, in vivid detail, the 9th Canadian Brigade assault across the Ems River to capture the town of Leer, Germany, just a few days before the official surrender.The brigade started on D-Day and survivors claimed Leer “was the worst assault they’d ever had," said Somerville. “We knew there was inklings that the war might be over, but the infantry lost an awful lot of men in there. We lost eight or nine (combat engineers)."
The campaign in northwest Europe cost 79,774 Canadian casualties, of whom 21,478 were killed.
“Freedom would not be as we know it today without you," Gen. Tom Middendorp, the Dutch chief of defence, said at the beginning of the parade. “We can’t repay you."
The sentiment was echoed among the thousands who lined the street, some four deep along the sidewalks, waving small Canadian flags to cheer on the veterans.
One young couple in their 20s with a six-month-old baby surprised veteran Bert Reynolds by asking to have their picture taken with him.
Harper responded to the warm welcome.
“I know I speak for all the Canadians here — our esteemed veterans in particular — when I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the kindness you show us," Harper said to his Dutch hosts at the parade.
“It is so incredibly moving to visit the Netherlands and to see your tributes to our lost soldiers: a familiar Canadian name on a street here, on a bridge there, to see the love and care paid to their final resting places, to see the candles at Christmas at Holten, but, most of all, to see the honour and love you shower upon our veterans, in particular the veterans who have travelled so far to be with us today."
Second World War veterans take part in a parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands in Wageningen, Netherlands, on Tuesday. SEAN KILPATRICK •CP
-------------------------------
OUR TROOPS IN NEPAL- Royal
Canadian Airforce
Video (b-roll) from Nepal by CF Combat Camera / Caméra de
combat des FC #Nepal #Nepalquake #Teamwork
A Canadian Armed Forces Light Urban Search And Rescue (LUSAR) team, an initial element of the Disaster Assistance Response Team, work alongside members of the Burnaby Fire Department in the village of Lamosengu, 70 km North East of Kathmandu, on May 1st, 2015.
Background, from 26 April 2015:
Firefighters depart 19 Wing Comox as part of Canada's assistance to Nepal
Seven Canadian Armed Forces firefighters from 19 Wing Comox's Light Urban Search and Rescue team left as part of The Humanitarian Assistance Reconnaissance Team (HART), a component of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).
The HART consists of approximately seven to fifteen members, depending on the situation.
The HART will also evaluate the suitability of deploying additional CAF elements, make recommendations on the composition of a potential Humanitarian Operations Task Force and prepare the ground for its deployment.
For more info on the DART: http://bit.ly/1zf5HIr
Canadian Armed Forces Canadian Army Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada - DFATD Canada is Dedicated to International Development - DFATD Canada's Foreign Policy - DFATD
-----------------
AFGHANISTAN- The incredible brave
Afghans who sacrificed their very lives 2 vote on April 5, 2015 changed the
world of freedom and democracy and the valiant efforts of our troops..... free
at last free at last.... GOOD MORNING FREEDOM....
this is outstanding and rare.... and blessed.
Our troops did not die in vain..
Afghan judge sentences four to death for mob killing of woman Add to ...
Lynne O’Donnell and Amir Shah KABUL — The
Associated Press
Last updated Wednesday, May. 06 2015, 11:40 AM EDT Four Afghan men were sentenced Wednesday to death by hanging over the filmed mob killing in downtown Kabul of a young woman falsely accused of burning the Qur’an, a case that horrified the country and showed the dangers women face in the conservative society.
But the family of the 27-year-old woman, a religious scholar named Farkhuna, immediately denounced the verdict as unfair as the judge dropped charges against 18 men for a lack of evidence. Judge Safiullah Mojadedi sentenced eight others to 16 years in prison. Nineteen police officers accused in the case will be sentenced Saturday, their verdicts publicly announced the next day.
A motorcycle-riding suicide bomber attacked a bank branch
Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 33 people in a deadly attack
the country's president said was claimed by the Islamic State group. (April 18)
AP Video
Video
Raw Video: Dozens killed in Afghanistan blast
One of Farkhunda’s brothers, Mujibullah, told The Associated Press that his family was angered by the court’s leniency toward the majority of the defendants.“The outcome of the trial is not fair and we do not accept it — you saw just four people sentenced to death but everybody knows that more than 40 people were involved in martyring and burning and beating my sister,” said Mujibullah, who like many Afghans, including his sister, uses only one name.
“The whole world has seen the crime that was committed against my sister,” he added. “I am not a cleric, but the Qur’an says that if anyone kills another human being, then they should themselves be put to death.”
On March 19, a mob attacked Farkhunda after an amulet peddler accused her of burning a Qur’an after she challenged him over selling his wares to women desperate to have children. Chilling mobile phone videos recorded the horror of the last moments of Farkhunda’s life, as she was punched, kicked, beaten with wooden planks, thrown off a roof, run over by a car and ultimately set afire on the banks of Kabul River.
An outrage followed her death, as protesters marched in Kabul, some wearing masks bearing the image of her bloodied face. Mourners held candlelight vigils in her memory, even in Washington as President Ashraf Ghani visited the U.S.
An Afghan presidential investigation later found that she had not damaged a copy of the Muslim holy book, but nevertheless, some public and religious figures said the attack would have been justified if she had in fact damaged a Qur’an.
The trial over her killing, which began Saturday at Afghanistan’s Primary Court, was broadcast live across the country with just two full days of hearings. On Wednesday, Farkhunda’s parents and sister looked on ashen-faced at the defendants, who included a man who threw two large rocks at her, the driver of the car that ran over her and the man who set her body alight.
Farkhunda’s parents addressed the court before the judge handed down his rulings, asking that the accused be dealt with according to the law.
“Everybody saw what happened and I insist on justice,” her mother, Bibi Hajira, said. “That’s all I want.”
The defendants can appeal their sentences. The charges against them included assault, murder and encouraging others to participate in the attack. The police officers face charges of neglecting their duties and failing to prevent the attack.
Afghanistan’s judicial system long has faced criticism over its inability to provide the majority of Afghans access to justice. Women especially are sidelined, despite constitutional guarantees of equality and protection from violence, a recent report by the United Nations concluded. The attack on Farkhunda was widely seen as symptomatic of the country’s problems, where violence against women often goes unpunished.
Some conservative lawmakers in recent years have tried to dilute a law that seeks to protect women from violence. That’s sparked fears of a rollback in legislative gains that have been made for women since the extremist Taliban were overthrown by the 2001 U.S.-led invasion following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Activist Barry Salaam, who organized mass demonstrations in the days after Farkhunda’s slaying, said Wednesday’s verdicts validated laws aimed at protecting women.
“The trial was far from perfect but it was held in open court, which definitely contributes to the strengthening of rule of law and gives the Afghan people the feeling that at the end of the day, the law does prevail,” Salaam said.
But lawmaker Farkhunda Zahra Naderi criticized the judge’s decision to separately hand down verdicts against the police officers in the case, saying such a move could foment more mistrust of the police.
“I believe that a political game is afoot and there has been political interference,” she said. “Why else would the court postpone the decisions in the case of the police?”
Meanwhile, Afghanistan still struggles with insurgent violence from the Taliban and others as the U.S. and NATO ended their combat mission in the country at the end of last year.
On Wednesday, a bus hit a roadside bomb, killing two people and wounding three in eastern Ghazni province, said Asadullah Ensafi, the province’s deputy police chief. He blamed the attack on the Taliban, who have a significant presence in the region.
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But who knows that a handful of
Sikhs also fought in WWI as part of the Canadian Army? At a time when Sikhs
were actively prevented from immigrating to Canada and were denied Canadian
citizenship, these men joined with other Canadians to fight in Europe. Of the
ten Canadian soldier Sikhs so far identified, eight served in Canada, England,
and France. Three were wounded in action and three died as a result of their
wartime service.
Canadian Soldier Sikhs tells the fascinating and unknown story of
this handful of Sikh immigrants to Canada who enlisted in the Canadian Army in
World War I. They were volunteers who fought, and some died, for a country
which denied them even the basic rights of citizenship.
----------------
Republic of Congo bans full-face veils in attempt to prevent
religious extremist attacks http://ind.pn/1JJyDCR
----
Canadian
soldiers unprepared for the reality of killing, retired officer warns
National Post, Tom
Blackwell
Thursday, Apr. 30, 2015
Thursday, Apr. 30, 2015
A Canadian Forces soldier on a reconnaissance patrol looks
through his scope to check for insurgent activity in the village of Regay,
Afghanistan on April 30, 2010. Ethan Baron/Postmedia News/Files
The aftermath of his troops’ first firefight in Afghanistan was a
rude awakening for Dave Quick.
Clearly, the soldiers were superbly equipped for the physical
demands of their combat “christening,” but when the Canadians approached the
insurgents they had just killed, that level-headed confidence seemed to
crumble.
Some giggled nervously, gagged or trembled at the sight.
“In those instances around the dead, they looked like insecure
little kids,” says Quick, who commanded a Royal Canadian Regiment company that
would see numerous firefights over the next six months. “Their voices changed,
their hands were — some of them — shaking.”
It was a harbinger of the emotional fallout — including deep
unease over experiencing actual sexual arousal during combat — that many of
Quick’s soldiers would feel around their core business: killing the enemy.
Canadian soldiers respond to incoming insurgent fire in Helmand
Province, Afghanistan in July 2006. Ethan Baron/Postmedia News/Files
Intense training made them effective at taking Taliban lives, but
never prepared them for the psychological aftereffects, the now-retired officer
details in a surprising, unpublished master’s thesis for the National Defence
Department’s staff college.
As hundreds of Afghanistan veterans grapple with mental-health
troubles, and Canadian troops are again seeing action in a far-off land, Quick
says training needs to ready infantry troops for what they may feel after they
kill — as well teaching them how to do it efficiently.
“Armies succeed in tricking soldiers into killing with modern
training methods,” he wrote in his thesis. “[But] I realized that I had failed
to prepare my soldiers properly when I watched them react to the realization
that they had killed a man for the very first time.”
David Quick: “Modern warfare is not about being a Neanderthal.”
Laura Pedersen/NP
Quick,
41, has since retired as an army lieutenant colonel and is starting a new
career in the somewhat tamer world of investment banking. He and his troops had
lots of experience with inflicting death, however.
During
a six-month stint in 2007 — assigned to ferret Taliban out of Zhari District
west of Kandahar city — they had 24 planned operations and many other impromptu
ones with “lethal effect.”
I
briefly met Quick, then a major, when I joined India Company on one of its
operations in the district’s atypically muggy and jungle-like farmland. Padding
around in sandals and T-shirt between missions, the engaging, boyish-looking
native of Trenton, Ont., seemed almost as much surfer dude as crack combat
leader.
Remarkably,
all 400 of his soldiers went home alive, a feat that helped earn him the Star
of Military Valour, second only to the Victoria Cross in Canadian military
honours.
But
he clearly remains disturbed that a quarter were injured both psychologically
and physically.
Across
the army, it is estimated that hundreds of Afghan veterans are suffering some
kind of “operational stress injury,” the blame often attributed to the trauma
of being severely injured or seeing friends hurt.
The
impact of having to kill others has received relatively little attention.
A Canadian soldier takes up a firing position in a
Taliban-ridden area outside the Canadian base at Sperwan Gahr, Afghanistan on
Mar. 23, 2010. Ethan Baron/Postmedia News/Files
That
impact was hard to avoid during the in-your-face combat Quick and his troops
fought in Zhari. Their opponents set off bombs that killed and maimed
indiscriminately, terrorized civilians and pushed an uncompromising, harsh
brand of Islam. Yet the fighters themselves were often no more than 17,
frequently jacked up on stimulants and, dead on the battlefield, seemed less
than fearsome.
“They’re
not like our kids. They’re not strong, well-nourished people … They’re teeny,”
says Quick. “When you see them laying there, it’s surreal. They’re little,
frail drug addicts.”
After
that first firefight, he made sure that the soldiers who did the kills would
not have to “process” the same bodies — remove material that could offer up
intelligence and place them in body bags.
Yet
even when there was no direct link between killing and the resultant corpse,
the act resonated.
Fighting
was so close, one of Quick’s captains dropped a grenade over a wall and
virtually on top of a Talib. A Canadian sniper had to shoot an insurgent high
on drugs repeatedly from close range to bring him down.
“The
intimacy was always there,” Quick says. “There was very much a connection,
listening to them change magazines, listening to them talk while you’re
sneaking up on them. Listening to the prayers. It’s not a target at that point,
it’s not a paper target.”
One
time, they discovered a slain Taliban commander had been recording his own
voice as the Canadians converged on his position. “He was speaking as a
commander and at the same time giving thanks to Allah and finding peace. Until
there was no more talking.”
Quick
says some soldiers were “very freaked out” after experiencing a bizarre side
effect of combat: sexual arousal during firefights that can include erections.
Others,
including a devout Christian who seemed to be questioning his faith, just
“really wrestled” with having to kill.
One
of Quick’s platoon commanders, Eddie Jun, now a major, agrees that the killing
could be difficult, though he says negative thoughts tended to form after the
fact.
“It
was very chaotic, especially when there’s bullets flying at you. You’re almost
numb,” he says. “An act of killing while you’re doing that, you don’t really
think about it until you come back and wind down.”
Still,
he questions whether instruction about the possible emotional reverberations of
killing — only one part of combat’s sensory “overload” — would be valuable. To
stave off operational-stress injuries, he favours inoculating soldiers to the
“battlefield effect” by having more realistic live-fire training exercises.
It
appears the military is addressing some of Quick’s concerns in its
mental-readiness training — to a point. The 30-minute “psychological
preparation” module includes “understanding the complications of combat and
killing,” and “common reactions to killing and adverse situations” — as well as
eight other topics.
The
ramifications of taking adversaries’ lives may still be something of a taboo
among Canada’s professional warriors, but Quick believes there is no downside
to airing the issue.
“I
don’t think you can make someone soft,” he says. “Who you are, you bring to the
battlefield. Modern warfare is not about being a Neanderthal. Modern warfare is
being smarter than the enemy.”
National
Post
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2Fcanadian-soldiers-unprepared-for-the-reality-of-killing-retired-officer-says&pubdate=2015-04-30
More on this Story
Military's ‘stiff upper
lip’ attitude over PTSD needs to stop, Governor-General David Johnston says
Jason Fekete, Postmedia
News
Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013
Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013
Governor-General David Johnston: "There must be a great
sense of responsibility to our men and women in uniform, while in uniform, and
when they become civilians again.” James Park for Postmedia News
OTTAWA — The commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces says the
military and country must do more to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and
prevent suicides among soldiers, explaining a “stiff upper lip” attitude needs
to be overcome to help treat soldiers and veterans with mental illness.
In an exclusive interview with Postmedia News, Gov. Gen. David
Johnston says the country has “paid a considerable price” for the Afghanistan
war, including losing 158 soldiers, with many other troops coming home with
lost limbs and mental scars.
After four Canadian military suicides were reported in the span of
a week, Gov. Gen. Johnston said he regularly discusses with military brass
concerns over PTSD and mental illness among soldiers, and insists that “one
suicide is one too many.”
Chief of the Defence Staff General Tom Lawson was at Rideau Hall
this week and said he is “very concerned” about PTSD and suicides in the
military, Gov. Gen. Johnston said.
“We have a unique situation where people in uniform often feel
that it’s kind of stiff upper lip and you suck it up. And we have to overcome
that notion, so that they, like anyone else, recognizes that mental illness is
an illness like a physical illness, and you identify it, you deal with it,
bring it out in the open, and you get at it to attempt to cure it, as we can in
the overwhelming majority of cases,” Gov. Gen. Johnston said in a wide-ranging
interview at Rideau Hall, in which he also discussed subjects from diplomacy to
education.
“There must be a great sense of responsibility to our men and
women in uniform, while in uniform, and when they become civilians again, right
down to their base — the people that are with them on a daily basis. And I
think we have a ways to go in that.”
A newly released publication from the Library of Parliament on
mental health in the Canadian Forces — citing data from a large 2011 Statistics
Canada study on the causes of death of former Canadian Forces members over 35
years — shows nearly 27% of deaths of men formerly in the Forces were from
suicide (696 of 2,620 deaths).
For women, approximately 14% of deaths of former Canadian Forces
members were from suicide (29 of 204 deaths).
Among veterans, the percentage of deaths attributable to suicide
is 45% higher than for the general population and currently serving members,
according to the Statistics Canada study.
Approximately 30,000 Canadian military personnel served in
Afghanistan during nearly a decade of combat operations, making the deployment
the largest Canadian military operation since the Second World War.
Governor General David Johnston gives royal assent to government
legislation in the Senate on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. Patrick Doyle/The
Canadian Press
The last Canadian troops (who are providing training for Afghan
security forces) are set to leave Afghanistan when Canada’s military mission
ends in March.
The Governor General said he hopes the wartorn country will be
much better off in the decades to come on education, particularly for women, a
semblance of order in community government, and some degree of prosperity
across the country.
“There have been achievements but it has been a difficult war, and
we have paid a considerable price,” he said.
Along with serving as commander-in-chief, Gov. Gen. Johnston has
also proved to be an effective diplomat for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
‘There must be a great
sense of responsibility to our men and women in uniform, while in uniform, and
when they become civilians again’
According to recently tabled federal public accounts, the Governor
General conducted 12 international missions in the 2012-13 fiscal year — the
same number as Mr. Harper. He recently completed an elaborate week-long
official state visit to China at the request of the prime minister.
It was during that October visit to China that Gov. Gen. Johnston
met with new Chinese President Xi Jinping, meaning the Governor General held a
bilateral meeting with Mr. Xi before Mr. Harper.
Gov. Gen. Johnston said the visit — his 11th or 12th trip to a
country he has been studying for 33 years — was important for diplomatic and
cultural relations between Canada and China.
“I’m a great believer in personal diplomacy. I think face-to-face
meetings at all levels are very important, and particularly important if you
have new players, new regimes to establish that relationship as early as you
can and as well as you can. China was of special interest to me,” he said.
“I was especially pleased, honoured, that I could meet with the
new president and the new premier. The conversations were, for me, very
helpful. The president, in particular, outlined what the new Politburo, the new
administration would do,” he added.
Education is another area of special interest for the former
principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University and president of the
University of Waterloo.
Canada’s education system at every level is quite good, he said.
But newly released OECD rankings of 15-year-old students worldwide, showing
Canada has slipped in its math skills over the last decade, “is a matter of
great concern.”
“We should be doing better in math,” he said.
Canadian provinces and territories each have their own somewhat
different education systems, he said, and they should learn to use best
practices (Quebec students, for example, performed best among Canadian
provinces in the OECD rankings).
He worries some provinces may have abandoned certain math
fundamentals such as learning a timestable during their transition to so-called
“discovery learning” in recent years.
“If that’s the case, lets identify the problem, develop the
solutions and remedy, and get us back on that upper trajectory, rather than
downward trajectory.”
Postmedia News
Posted
in: News Tags: Canadian Politics, Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, David Johnston, Governor General, PTSD
More on this Story
----------------
-----
Dear guide dog fraudsters.
I know you think you’ve been getting away with
buying a fake guide-dog coat and parading into cafés and hotels, even onto
planes, with your pet pooch Princess. I know, those jackets are as cheap and
easy to buy online as, well, anything else.
Disability advocates like Bill Thornton, CEO of
BC & Alberta Guide Dogs, has had his phone ringing off the hook with
complaints about fake guide dogs, he told me, like the restaurateur who wanted
to know if it was normal for a guide dog to come into a restaurant, take a seat
at a table, and eat a meal.
Fake guide dogs, and their lying, entitled,
arrogant owners
http://metronews.ca/voices/opinion/1345935/fake-guide-dogs-and-their-lying-entitled-arrogant-owners/
-------------
We have more suicides and stress related deaths
of troops in Canada THAN ALL 158 KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN... USAs is doubled....
UKs is doubled as is Australia and many Nato Nations... this is just so
wrong.... the evil no-rules war of Muslim on Muslim hatred 4 each other and
their delight in destroying their own Islamic mothers and fathers and
children... and culture and history is being comprehension by civilized
democratic nations... it just is... so do we draw a line and let them kill
themselves in2 extinction taking each mother and child with them... or do we
continue with the useless 'wiping their arses' rules of the Geneva Convention. It's time our North of our Canada got special
care.... instead of a couple $$$BILLION going 2 despots and thieves of hunger
nations...imho... tired of this sheeet... and all our Military warriors matter
dammit.... as do our children.-imho
49 Canadian Rangers have died since January 2011
Documents raise concern about stresses on Rangers
and soldiers in the North
By Kristen Everson, CBC News Posted: Apr 20, 2015
8:38 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 21, 2015 7:11 AM ET
COMMENT:
We need more Canadian Arctic Rangers.
They Are Our Eyes and Ears of Canada's North.
They are responsible for reporting unusual
activities, collecting data to support military operations and conducting
surveillance when required.
We need more of them to watch out for Mr. Putin.
He will try and sneak across and claim parts of
our North's natural resources.
Let Ukraine be our lesson
COMMENT:
I agree that our Northern Defences are a joke but
your preaching to the wrong crowd on this site, most commenter's on here seem
to live in this fairy tale world were people fart rainbows and people only kill
each other with kindness and they would sooner protest at a soldiers funeral
then give our forces the tool's they need to function safely and efficiently.
comment:
Often, articles regarding First Nations are full
of terrible racist comments.
I'm happy to see that the regular bigots don't
have the temerity to post their old ugly stereotype comments in the face of
5,000 First Nations volunteers working to protect 40% of Canada's land mass,
for free.
------------------
Feds urged to include military families in probes
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — The country’s military watchdog says the
families of soldiers who die in the line of duty remain on the outside looking
in when it comes to Defence Department investigations.
In a new report, Canadian Forces ombudsman Gary
Walbourne recommends a family co-ordinator position be established to work with
relatives and figure out how best to involve them in the complex board of
inquiry process.
“The death or serious injury of a Canadian Armed
Forces member is always a difficult event and none is more profoundly affected
by it than the member’s family," Walbourne said in a statement.
“These families need and deserve information,
support and assistance to help them come to terms with the loss or
injury."
The inquiries are technical investigations that
look at the circumstances surrounding deaths, and whether military procedures
or practices contributed to the tragedy.
But they are often a source of frustration and
confusion for families, who complain about being kept in the dark and even
accuse the military of using the inquiries as a way to cover up misdeeds.
The most high-profile example involves the
recently concluded public inquiry into the 2 008 suicide of Cpl. Stuart
Langridge, during which his parents were long denied a copy of the
investigation report.
“We believe that families should be given the
option of engagement throughout the board of inquiry process via a method of
their choosing," said Walbourne.
He noted the military has instituted a series of
organizational improvements and ended a backlog of dozens of investigations.
Walbourne’s predecessors wrote extensively about
the frustrations of families and their isolation from investigations.
A 2005 military ombudsman investigation prompted
retired general Rick Hillier to order a comprehensive review of the system.
That investigation produced a number of changes,
including a directive to future inquiry chairs that they leave home life out of
the mix when they look at suicides.
AND LETTER 2 EDITOR VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
READER’S CORNER
Dunne right about Forces problems
Regarding Tim Dunne’s April 15 opinion piece,
“Suicide probe further proof military police not up to task," as the
parents of Cpl. Stuart Langridge we read this with great interest and were
touched and moved to comment.
First, our appreciation for another voice calling
for our Canadian military to be the very best at what they are so good at. They
are well respected worldwide and their sacrifice and efforts in Afghanistan and
in other operations are a source of pride.
Our son was proud to serve and did so with
documented high performance. Then he admitted to suffering from chest pain and
was placed under the care of the Base Medical Unit for anxiety. Over the next
12 months, he attempted suicide five times before finally taking his own life
at CFB Edmonton. His medical files had psychometric testing and recurring
references to post traumatic stress disorder but that was apparently lost in a
muddle of different diagnostic labels.
He was being prescribed multiple medications and
then self-medicating, too. At the time of his death, he left a note saying that
he could not take the pain anymore.
We concur with Mr. Dunne’s assessment of the
problems in our military. In our son’s case, we were deeply disturbed by what
we deem to be self-exculpation by both the National Investigation Service and a
board of inquiry. Somewhere it was lost that Stuart was ordered out of a
psychiatric hospital where he had sought help. Instead of receiving
“treatment," he was ordered to live in Defaulters and placed under
restrictions, but we are assured that it was not as informal discipline but
rather as structure. Humiliated and depressed, he died on their watch.
Since more veterans of Afghanistan have already
died back home than were lost in combat, it is a moral imperative that their
care and support become an actual priority of our government. As for the
policing functions within the military, the recent Military Police Complaints
Commission report laid bare their shortcomings. The lack of adequate
investigation of suicide deaths, in our opinion, only continues and exacerbates
the problem.
The RCMP has a long relationship and shared
history with the military, so it would not be inconceivable to have military
police perform specialized military duties and have the RCMP investigate, with
the benefit of their additional training, experience and, more importantly,
independence.
Those in the military deserve nothing less than
the best policing available to ensure that they are treated fairly and that all
their rights are protected. After his death, our son’s vehicle was damaged in
safekeeping and an heirloom Samurai sword was stolen from his personal effects.
Neither incident was investigated by the military. That his suicide note was
seized without warrant and simply held and then forgotten about for a year
after their NIS file was closed also proves the need for change.
Shaun and Sheila Fynes, Victoria, B.C.
-------------------
--------
THIS HAS BEEN GOING 4 FOR OVER 50 YEARS... in civilized nations who should be totally up 2 scratch on fully disabled workplaces... 4 God’s sake..
How Wheelchair Accessible is
the NYC subway system?
MTA
Questioned Over Accessibility For Disabled Riders
June 12, 2007
The City Council heard from the MTA and disabled riders Tuesday regarding handicapped access underground.
“New York City Transit Authority proudly touts operating the largest and best subway system. That may be true for most riders, but for disabled riders it’s one of worst," said advocate Michael Harris.
Highlighting the point, Harris said he encountered three broken elevators just trying to get to City Hall for the hearing.
"The MTA has consistently ignored the needs of riders with disabilities and treated us like second-class citizens,” said Harris.
Citing elevator outages and a lack of support and information, advocates for the handicapped spoke before the City Council to demand equal access to the city's subways.
At the hearing, City Councilman John Liu said the fact that transit officials were unable to give him a rough estimate of elevator outages in the subway system is unacceptable.
"What level of outage was being experienced by the system and suffered by the people with disabilities who were relying on those elevators?” asked Liu. “Any competent manager would have that basic measure available at the top of their heads if they were truly serious about decreasing that."
"There's machinery, there's a whole bunch of factors that you can't just specifically call out a number,” responded NYC Transit American Disability Act Compliance Officer John Gaito.
"This is not an esoteric statistic we're asking for here,” continued Liu. “I mean, you should have an idea roughly how many of the elevators are out."
NYC Transit does release quarterly data on elevator reliability.
For the first quarter of this year, it reported elevator reliability was almost 98 percent; escalator reliability was reportedly up 97 percent.
But that figure does not count all the time an elevator is out of service, only the time it's actually out of service for repairs.
Even the agency's new president told NY1 in an interview last month he has a problem with the way the statistics are calculated.
"It doesn't matter whether the motor is burned out, or somebody hit the emergency button,” said NYC Transit President Howard Roberts. “When you walk up to it, it's not working."
The MTA says the number of elevator outages is no secret. They even maintain a hotline riders can call to find out which elevators are down at any given time. Furthermore, MTA officials told the City Council Tuesday that they are also planning to put that information on the MTA website, which would allow for up-to-the-minute updates."
"We're trying to improve so that everyone will know just how many are out at a given time," said Gaito.
The MTA is also working to alleviate another issue: the platform gap that makes getting on the subway difficult for those in wheelchairs. At some stations, the agency's replacing wood rubbing boards with boards made of flexible synthetic material that is more durable, and can therefore be made wider, making the gap narrower.
-Bobby Cuza
June 12, 2007
The City Council heard from the MTA and disabled riders Tuesday regarding handicapped access underground.
“New York City Transit Authority proudly touts operating the largest and best subway system. That may be true for most riders, but for disabled riders it’s one of worst," said advocate Michael Harris.
Highlighting the point, Harris said he encountered three broken elevators just trying to get to City Hall for the hearing.
"The MTA has consistently ignored the needs of riders with disabilities and treated us like second-class citizens,” said Harris.
Citing elevator outages and a lack of support and information, advocates for the handicapped spoke before the City Council to demand equal access to the city's subways.
At the hearing, City Councilman John Liu said the fact that transit officials were unable to give him a rough estimate of elevator outages in the subway system is unacceptable.
"What level of outage was being experienced by the system and suffered by the people with disabilities who were relying on those elevators?” asked Liu. “Any competent manager would have that basic measure available at the top of their heads if they were truly serious about decreasing that."
"There's machinery, there's a whole bunch of factors that you can't just specifically call out a number,” responded NYC Transit American Disability Act Compliance Officer John Gaito.
"This is not an esoteric statistic we're asking for here,” continued Liu. “I mean, you should have an idea roughly how many of the elevators are out."
NYC Transit does release quarterly data on elevator reliability.
For the first quarter of this year, it reported elevator reliability was almost 98 percent; escalator reliability was reportedly up 97 percent.
But that figure does not count all the time an elevator is out of service, only the time it's actually out of service for repairs.
Even the agency's new president told NY1 in an interview last month he has a problem with the way the statistics are calculated.
"It doesn't matter whether the motor is burned out, or somebody hit the emergency button,” said NYC Transit President Howard Roberts. “When you walk up to it, it's not working."
The MTA says the number of elevator outages is no secret. They even maintain a hotline riders can call to find out which elevators are down at any given time. Furthermore, MTA officials told the City Council Tuesday that they are also planning to put that information on the MTA website, which would allow for up-to-the-minute updates."
"We're trying to improve so that everyone will know just how many are out at a given time," said Gaito.
The MTA is also working to alleviate another issue: the platform gap that makes getting on the subway difficult for those in wheelchairs. At some stations, the agency's replacing wood rubbing boards with boards made of flexible synthetic material that is more durable, and can therefore be made wider, making the gap narrower.
-Bobby Cuza
AND...
Bring on the Big Apple! An essential guide to getting around New York
in a wheelchair
Published: 16:12 GMT, 3 September
2013 | Updated: 15:32 GMT, 4 September 2013
AND..
O Canada - in
the year 2015 accessibility should be the norm... especially in schools... come
on... disabilities are abilities in disguise... and Canada must ensure that we
have provided equality 4 disabilities... or how can u practice any other eq uality?
Put
accessibility on the agenda for new transit in Ottawa
---
O Canada - in the year 2015 accessibility should
be the norm... especially in schools... come on... disabilities are abilities
in disguise... and Canada must ensure that we have provided equality 4
disabilities... or how can u practice any other eq uality?
Put accessibility on the agenda for new transit
in Ottawa
-----------
----------------
Fake guide dogs, and their lying, entitled,
arrogant owners
http://metronews.ca/voices/opinion/1345935/fake-guide-dogs-and-their-lying-entitled-arrogant-owners/
---------
O Canada - in the year 2015 accessibility should
be the norm... especially in schools... come on... disabilities are abilities
in disguise... and Canada must ensure that we have provided equality 4
disabilities... or how can u practice any other eq uality?
Put accessibility on the agenda for new transit
in Ottawa
-----------
These Little Veggie puppy sheeeets...LOL
Three Shiba Inu puppies, one head of Chinese
cabbage, tons of smiles 【Video】
----------
'Significant number' of Canadian Ranger deaths flagged by military chaplain
Documents raise concern about stresses on Rangers and soldiers in the North
By Kristen Everson, CBC News Posted: Apr 20, 2015 5:00 AM ET http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/significant-number-of-canadian-ranger-deaths-flagged-by-military-chaplain-1.3035683
A "significant number" of Canadian Rangers in the Arctic have
died in recent years, a trend that is causing concern about the strains on
those tasked with being Canada's "eyes and ears" in the North,
according to documents obtained by CBC News.
The concern about the Canadian Rangers and Junior Rangers was raised by
the military chaplain responsible for the North and is found in a report
prepared for the chief of defence staff and chief of military personnel by the
chaplain general's office.
The report, obtained through the Access to Information Act, contains an
overview of issues deemed significant by military chaplains across the Canadian
Forces and covers the period November 2013 to January 2014.
Photo
A Ranger scout looks for an easier route through rough sea ice between
Canadian Forces Station Alert and the Eureka Weather Station. (Bob
Weber/Canadian Press)
In the report, the chaplain for Joint Task Force North notes there has
been "a significant number of deaths of Rangers and Junior Rangers over
the past three years. These deaths have affected both the Ranger community and
1 CRPG (Canadian Ranger Patrol Group)."
The report does not indicate how many Rangers and Junior Rangers have
died, or the circumstances of their deaths.
The chaplain also identified problems with military
personnel at 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group.
"Due to accumulation of stress and other health issues, nine of 19
instructors of 1 CRPG are unable to go on patrol," the chaplain
writes, noting this means that other instructors are left to pick up the slack,
which could lead to "potential burnout and frustration."
The report goes on to note that it has been identified that the
"pyscho-screening process for isolated posting[s] like JTF-N, needs to be
enhanced to meet the needs of this posting."
Eyes and ears of Canada's North
The Rangers are part of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve, but are
not considered reservists. Generally they are part-time volunteers from the
remote community where they serve. Often called the "eyes and ears of
Canada's North" they are responsible for reporting unusual
activities, collecting data to support military operations and conducting
surveillance when required.
There are approximately 5,000 current Rangers. The 1 Canadian Ranger
Patrol Group is the largest Ranger group. It covers Nunavut, Yukon,
Northwest Territories and the community of Atlin, B.C., which together accounts
for about 40 per cent of Canada's land mass.
During his annual trips to the North, Prime Minister Stephen Harper
generally observes and sometimes even participates in exercises with the
Rangers. During a trip to the North in 2013, Harper said in a
statement the Rangers "serve a critical role in safeguarding Canadian
sovereignty."
Photo
Prime Minister Stephen Harper shoots a rifle while taking part in a
demonstration by the Canadian Rangers at a camp near the Arctic community of
Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, in August 2013. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
Many of Canada's Rangers are aboriginal. They do not have the same
access to services, including medical services, as regular forces members
and reservists — unless they are injured on active duty, in which case they
would have access to benefits provided by the Canadian Forces.
The Rangers are critical to Arctic security and are
an "invaluable source of information for being able to allow southern
military forces to actually be deployed northward," according
to Rob Huebert, senior research fellow at the Centre for Military and
Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
"When the Canadian Forces, southern forces, resumed activities in
the Canadian North in 2002, without the type of knowledge that they [the
Rangers] are able to provide us with, there would have been fatalities,"
Huebert said.
Military silent on deaths
CBC News requested an interview with the commanding officer of the 1
Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, but after weeks of deliberation that request was
denied.
Photo:
A Canadian Ranger navigates rough ice in Nunavut on April 7, 2014. An
alarm has been raised about the number of Rangers who have died in recent
years. (Master Seaman Peter Reed/CFB Shearwater, N.S.)
The military also blocked CBC from speaking to historian Whitney Lackenbauer,
who has written a book on the Rangers. Lackenbauer is also the honorary
lieutenant colonel of 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group. In an email, the military
said Lackenbauer was "not familiar with the whole story."
CBC also requested information from the military regarding deaths of
Canadian Rangers, but after more than a week the military still had not sent a
response.
In a statement, Associate Minister of National Defence Julian
Fantino said "our government is extremely proud of the Canadian
Rangers, and understands how critically important they are to our Arctic
sovereignty."
He said the government has increased the number of Rangers, adding that
as interest and activity in the North has increased "we have come to rely
on them even more to provide key insight as we monitor the region and respond
to any threats."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/significant-number-of-canadian-ranger-deaths-flagged-by-military-chaplain-1.3035683
------
#BravoZulu The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise’s) celebrated several accomplishments during an honours and awards parade yesterday in Hamilton, Ontario.
To commemorate the centenary of the regiment’s entry in the First World War, a plaque was dedicated and will be laid in France in May 2015. The regiment also proudly received the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce’s “Citizen of the Year” award. #StrongProudReady
More info: bit.ly/1IZuXfI
---
#Video: Her Majesty’s Canadian
Ship Fredericton disembarks the port at Piraeus, Greece on it’s way to conduct
naval exercises in the Black Sea as part of Operation REASSURANCE, March 1,
2015.For more information on #OpREASSURANCE, Maritime Task Force visit: http://bit.ly/opreassurance-fb-gp-e
#ReadyAyeReady
----
#service #personnel #24_7Global
Read the complete story at: http://bit.ly/1JHrqAc
Whether they’re providing air traffic control connectivity from an airfield or setting up communication systems after a natural disaster, aerospace telecommunications and information systems (ATIS) technicians are at the forefront of Canadian Armed Forces operations.
ATIS technicians maintain and operate radar, computer and satellite systems, to name a few. They are responsible for all telecommunications and information systems, which is done on any Canadian Armed Forces base in Canada or during foreign operations. (Keep reading...http://bit.ly/1JHrqAc)
Canadian Armed Forces Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics Keflavik Air Station
Photo: Members of Task Force Iceland, Corporal Steve Pollard (left), force protection, and Master Corporal Jeremie Doucet, an aerospace telecommunication and information systems technician, secure the satellite disk of the perimeter surveillance radar system to a mast on the airfield at Keflavik Air Base, Iceland, in April 2011. PHOTO: Sergeant Dwayne Janes
-------------
#Download the guide for
connecting military families to mental health and social wellness programs: http://bit.ly/1NyIRbX
----------
That's our Canada;
just like us kids growing up in the world of John George Diefenbaker
who's picture hung just above our prayer table... and us youngbloods wearing
red roses batik 4 Pierre Elliot Trudeau.... only one Auntie was pure liberal
and in Lunenburg County in the 60s and 70s . that was something... and some
family didn't vote or care... but each Saturday night was card night right up 2
midnight (church and Sunday)... and family is family... so is military...
that's our Canada.
Military camaraderie cuts across political lines for two B.C. candidates
B.C. veterans running for MP under different banners have no interest in dissing each other
By Peter O'Neil, Vancouver Sun
Harjit Sajjan, now a candidate for the Liberals in Vancouver South, show during one of his tours in Afghanistan.
Photograph by: Handout
OTTAWA — The fall federal election campaign is expected to be one of the nastiest in modern history, but don’t expect two Lower Mainland candidates to cross partisan swords in anger.Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau have veterans from Canada’s 2001-2014 Afghanistan military intervention, Tim Laidler and Harjit S. Sajjan, running under their respective banners in the scheduled October contest.
And that may prove handy for both leaders since, while Canadians typically don’t consider foreign affairs and defence issues when voting, this election could be different.
A confluence of events — domestic terrorism, the Conservative government’s military interventions in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, the federal government’s treatment of Afghanistan veterans, and Harper’s aggressive use of Canadian foreign policy to woo key diaspora communities — could put those matters front-and-centre.
And while politicians are often mistrusted by many Canadians, the standing ovations that always greet soldiers introduced at hockey games suggests these two candidates may get a more positive reception from the public.
Advertisement
Both are ex-reservists facing formidable challenges to get to the House of
Commons. Sajjan is running for the Liberals against Conservative incumbent Wai
Young in Vancouver South, while Laidler is seeking to oust New Democrat MP Fin
Donnelly in Port Moody-Coquitlam.While they couldn’t be more different — in age, military rank, ethnic background and political orientation — they are similar in rejecting the notion that political differences should make bitter enemies out of two ex-soldiers who, in their previous lives, considered each other a brother-in-arms.
“I know Tim well,” said Sajjan, 44, a lieutenant-colonel (on leave of abesence) and a former Vancouver police gang squad detective who has numerous decorations after serving in senior roles as a Canadian reserve officer during three tours of Afghanistan and one in Bosnia. “We never trained together because of our rank difference, but he had a reputation as a very good soldier.”
Laidler, who served in 2008 as a corporal during an eight-month tour escorting convoys to forward operating bases in Kandahar, seemed surprised at the suggestion that he might some day find himself hurl a nasty barb across the aisle if both enter the House of Commons next autumn.
“It is like a family,” the 29-year-old said of the respect, camaraderie and fraternal spirit that is instilled in the military to ensure solidarity on the battlefield.
Asked if he’d continue to view his political adversary as a brother, he replied: “Yes, absolutely,” and quickly added that he felt badly that another Afghanistan vet, Bruce Moncur, failed to win the NDP nomination in a southwestern Ontario riding.
“I think it’s great that people with military service want to run for politics, and having people who served in the military in all three parties would be a real asset for Canada.”
The positive spirit doesn’t mean they don’t share their parties’ conflicting views on key issues.
Laidler naturally backs Harper’s decision to bomb Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, while Sajjan questions the government’s lack of a broader strategy to deal with the threat.
They also differ on veterans’ issues.
Sajjan, who obtained disability benefits to deal with back problems caused by an injury during a 2006 battle, is critical of the government’s treatment of returning soldiers.
“It’s shocking. Having gone through process myself after 2006, I was really surprised over the treatment of veterans, the scrutiny you have to go through just to show you were injured, and the lack of service that was provided.”
A former Vancouver police detective, Sajjan instinctively took notes to document his injury and therefore had an advantage over many claimants. Still, he said the coverage he now receives only covers a portion of his physiotherapy costs to deal with back pain.
“It really hurts to discover that people can serve their country and then all of a sudden you’re not taken care of afterwards. It’s one of the reasons I entered politics.”
Laidler, a University of B.C. political science student when he did a tour to Afghanistan in 2008, returned to UBC to complete his education. While at UBC, he participated in the Veterans Transition Program, a research and clinician training program set up in 1997 by two members of the education faculty, Marv Westwood and David Kuhl.
The program offers a 100-hour, 10-day group-based program that involves counselling sessions aimed at helping veterans deal with issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder and operational stress injury, as they transition back to family life and new careers.
Laidler ended up getting his master’s degree in that area, and then led an effort to turn the Westwood-Kuhl creation into a national service.
He created the non-profit Veterans Transition Network, convinced federal MPs and several non-government organizations to fund it, and is now its executive director.
Westwood, in an interview Friday, used the term “amazing” to describe Laidler’s efforts in making the service available to all veterans across Canada.
“It opened my eyes how you can advocate and actually make real change and get buy-in from politicians,” Laidler said.
Laidler said the perception that Ottawa doesn’t care about vets has a lot to do with lack of awareness about government benefits and options like his program.
Sajjan, who too a leave from his post as commander of the reserve B.C. Regiment (Duke of Connaught’s Own) when he entered politics in 2014, had nothing but praise for the transition network.
But he said the very fact it had to be created underscores the government’s shortcomings.
“The organization has done great work, some of my soldiers have directly benefited from that,” he said.
“But here was an organization that was created because there was a gap that needed to be filled. Here’s a private organization that’s done better than Veterans Affairs.”
One of Canada’s top veterans’ advocates, former air force intelligence officer Sean Bruyea didn’t express much brotherly affection when asked about the veterans-turned-politicians.
Bruyea said it “burns my ass” that Laidler is continuing his work with the transition network, including speaking to MPs last month studying veterans issues, while seeking political office.
It’s wrong to “pass himself off as an outside voice when he’s an inside voice who’s been co-opted,” he said.
As for Sajjan, the aspiring MP should urge fellow Liberals to join the NDP in taking a clearer stand on reforming the 2005 veterans charter, passed by Paul Martin’s Liberal government in 2005 with all-party support.
The charter’s provisions included replacing a lifetime disability pension with a lump-sum payment, which critics like Bruyea say is inadequate.
Sajjan should try to convince the Liberals accept that the 2005 charter is flawed and “stand up to and not be afraid of Harper,” Bruyea said.
poneil@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/poneilinottawa
---------------
Canada Army
News Releases
- National
Sentry Program launches 2015 season at the National War Memorial -
Canadian Armed Forces posts first sentries at the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier
Link to External Site / April 9, 2015 - Commander
of the Canadian Army meets with Chilean and Brazilian counterparts
Link to External Site / March 27, 2015 - Soldiers
Move out for NOREX 15, Learn to Live, Move, and Function in the High
Arctic
Link to External Site / March 26, 2015
------------
Ottawa, ON — An overview of the training, working conditions and benefits of
becoming an imagery technician in the Canadian Armed Forces.
-------------
The Canadian Army Surgeon: That’s Army-speak for doctor in charge
Image Gallery
Article / April
15, 2015 / Project number: 15-0068
Ottawa, Ontario — Balancing the roles of the Canadian Army Surgeon is ‘an
art as much as it is a science,’ according to Colonel Jim Kile, the Army’s
current top medical advisor.As the Canadian Army (CA) Surgeon, Col Kile is the senior clinical advisor for the Canadian Army. His work is important for the entire Army, and ranges from advising the Army Commander to supporting base surgeons and patients across the country.
Although the term “surgeon” makes most Canadians think of a doctor with a scalpel in hand, it has a different meaning within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), according to Col Kile. In the CAF and CA context, “surgeon” refers to any military physician in a command or leadership position.
“It’s confusing because on the civilian side, when people hear the word ‘surgeon’ they think I am, in fact, a surgeon,” Col Kile said. “But in the CAF, the majority of physicians in leadership roles are medical doctors who have various levels of specialized training.”
Col Kile attended the University of Waterloo where he completed both a Bachelor and a Master of Science specializing in muscle fatigue and exercise physiology. In 1989, he enrolled in the CAF through the Medical Officer Training Program and later graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School.
After returning from Operation MANDARIN as the Battalion Medical Officer for the Canadian Logistics Battalion in the Balkans, Col Kile was posted to the Canadian Forces Medical School as an instructor. In 1996, he graduated top candidate in the CAF flight surgeons’ course and was promoted and posted to 4th Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa as Base Surgeon. Col Kile has completed several deployments including a stint in Afghanistan, where he was the Commanding Officer and Task Force Surgeon of the field hospital during Operation ATHENA.
“At the strategic level, I have to balance being an Army physician and a patient advocate, which is an art as much as it is a science,” said Col Kile, who works closely with Lieutenant-General Marquis Hainse, Commander of the Canadian Army, to address mental health initiatives, emergency medicine and issues surrounding patient care.
In his advisory role, Col Kile is the main communications link between the award-winning Canadian Forces Health Services (CFHS) and the CA on domestic and international health-related issues affecting Army troops. As such, some of his key roles include patient advocacy, crisis prevention and the Army’s contribution and support to international crises.
“Routinely and during a crisis, the operations cell at CFHS puts together a roster of health-care professionals and equipment for deployment, and when the Commander has concerns about the safety of his deployed troops, I can answer to those concerns immediately,” said Col Kile, noting the fight against Ebola as a prime example. “I often act as an interpreter for the most up-to-date research information.”
At the base level, the Canadian Army Surgeon interacts with key medical personnel when required to evaluate complex patient issues, particularly when the chain of command requires up-to-date information on mental health initiatives, injury prevention or combat fatigue. Discussions with base physicians and patients provide Col Kile insight into regional patient care issues and treatment. These communication efforts are essential components of an efficient health-care system in the Army.
Another aspect of Col Kile’s role is to provide advice to the medical officer occupation from an attraction and retention perspective. Col Kile says the CA is currently working with other CAF entities to plan strategies to attract and retain medical professionals. Incentives include competitive salaries, mentoring partnerships, health benefits and more.
In fact, an upcoming conference – the first of its kind – will highlight the ways in which senior medical leadership can help increase the number of uniformed clinicians and create a culture of retention among staff. Col Kile says a more defined mentorship program between senior medical officers and aspiring medical students may help current members with medical school applications and admittance.
As CFHS moves forward with these initiatives, the CAF continues to provide a world-class example for emergency services and medical personnel, according to Col Kile. Canada’s acceptance of the Dominique-Jean Larrey Award from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2012 is one tangible acknowledgement of this. The award reflects CAF leadership in the establishment and command of the Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. It was the first-ever NATO multi-national field hospital involved in combat operations.
But that’s not all. In 2013, CFHS also received the “Accredited with Commendation” award from Accreditation Canada, an independent, not-for-profit organization that recognizes excellence and competency among national health-care bodies. The award is granted to organizations that go above and beyond their commitment to quality and improvement.
“Our Canadian Health Services personnel play a vital role in the physical and psychological well-being of our troops,” said LGen Hainse. “Their continued commitment and comprehensive approach to recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration helps to provide the best possible support for our men and women in uniform, both at home and abroad.”
When summing up his role, the Canadian Army Surgeon highlights how his various functions depend on the collaboration of all CFHS team members. “I had the chance to work on the United States Ship (USS) Enterprise, a large-scale aircraft carrier, as a flight surgeon (a physician specializing in aviation medicine). As I watched the jets taking off and landing, I realized it was a finely choreographed dance to maximize safety and success,” Col Kile recalls, noting the importance of a common and synchronized strategy.
“When I look at the Canadian Armed Forces Health Services, we’re the same way: All working together for one goal and that is to look after our patients, while at the same time supporting each other and the chain of command.”
By Meagan Sylvester, Army Public Affairs, with files from Gerry Weaver
http://www.army-armee.forces.gc.ca/en/news-publications/national-news-details-no-menu.page?doc=the-canadian-army-surgeon-that-s-army-speak-for-doctor-in-charge%2Fi89a3ien
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Canada and British Wounded Warriors
Eric Bunnell's People
Tribute to British invasion of a musical variety
April 10, 2015
DAVE LEBERT smiles over the phone as he looks at the road ahead.“I'm a recreational rider – it's going to be a challenge,” the 58-year-old St. Thomas resident admits.
“They say it's a tour of France, not a Tour de France,” he also says. Hopefully.
In a few weeks, Dave and son Stewart will be among 100 participants in Battlefield Bike Ride 2015, a 555-km bicycle ride June 12-20 from Vimy to Holland in commemoration of the 70th anniversary this year of the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian soldiers.
The ride takes up from where an inaugural ride ended last year as a funder for an organization which supports wounded soldiers on their own long journeys back.
Wounded Warriors of Canada is the outgrowth of a fund established after MP Dan McTeague's son, Mike, was greviously injured in 2006 in Afghanistan in a suicide attack.
National patron is Romeo Dallaire, senator and a distinguished soldier who, like many of the soldiers who Wounded Warriors assists, suffered PTSD as a result of his service. He is joining the ride.
Dave's son, Andrew, has recovered from physical injury he suffered during military training, and has returned to full civilian life.
But Dave knows of work that Wounded Warriors does, supporting Andrew's comrades after they were attacked in Afghanistan.
This year's ride will stop at three Canadian war cemeteries, in Adegem, Bergen-Op-Zoom and Groesbeek, and Dave plans to pay tribute to local soldiers buried there – members of the Elgin Regiment and the 25th Armoured Delivery Regiment they became, and the 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Regiment, the Kangaroos, a Second World War unit whose guidon and battle honours were retired in 2011 to St. Thomas and the Wilson Ave. Armoury.
Elgin Military Museum's Jeff Booth has been “awesome” in his help with research.
And Dave and Stewart, who are partners in a London business which trains salespersons and managers for success, are committed to raising $10,000. The company, Southwest Professional Development Inc., also is sponsoring the ride's final dinner.
“It's an honour,” Dave says.
Information on Wounded Warriors and the ride, and a link to support riders, is at woundedwarriors.ca
The Leberts' personal donation page is bit.ly/donatetoBBR15
* * *
NEW YORK, New York.
What a wonderful town!
I (heart) the Big Apple. I really do.
It's a 12-hour, overnight bus ride from Toronto to Manhattan. Same returning, funny thing that. But something everyone should experience at least once in life. Even at 60.
The objective is Broadway. Six shows in four days. Hunchback of Notre Dame. Finding Neverland w. Matthew Morrison and Kelsey Grammer. On the 20th Century w. Kristin Chenoweth (but not Peter Gallagher, who is out). The King and I. Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe. Fun Home. Something Rotten! w. Brian d'Arcy James (the original Shrek).
It doesn't get much better. It takes this column's bucket list well into the next life.
And sight-seeing.
Funny. Though this is a first trip to New York, the city is not unfamiliar. First thing you recognize on the horizon, the Empire State Building looks just like the Empire State Building. Turn the corner on a walk from the hotel and the Brooklyn Bridge looks just like the Brooklyn Bridge. Etc. And etc.
What surprised you about New York, a pal asks over lunch.
Hmmm.
If anything, that everything seems smaller than you think it should be. Even the new, 104-storey-plus-mast 1 World Trade Centre, reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet.
Look at the Statue of Liberty on a nighttime ride by on the Staten Island Ferry. She's a Size 00.
Other pals agree. I think it must be because New York is so much bigger in our imaginations. That's a city talking itself up.
But I can tell you one thing. Leaving the theatre after a show, it definitely is brighter. At least, near Times Square. 10:30 at night and it's still light out? Your eyes just want to pop out of their sockets and go home to bed.
Surprises? New York is surprisingly friendly. A woman at the theatre offers to trade seats. A counterman hands back a $5 that I mistook for a $1 because their money all looks alike. (He's intrigued by our $5s. As is another customer who starts chatting.)
And, surprisingly, in spite the horrendous traffic and the old infrastructure – they still write paper tickets on board the commuter train to Jersey! – the city works.
The hotel is a pleasant discovery in the financial district. Modest. But just around the corner from the New York Stock Exchange. And just along Wall St. from Trinity Church, where the historic churchyard is final resting place of William Bradshaw, founder of the first New York newspaper. Should be a shrine, I tell you.
Trinity is mother church of St. Paul's Chapel a couple blocks north on Broadway and just over from the site of the World Trade Centre attacks.
Though the original Trinity didn't make it through the flames, St. Paul's survived the Great Fire of New York in 1776 and is the oldest public building in continuous use in NYC. Geo. Washington worshipped here the day of his inauguration. There's his box pew.
The lovely chapel also survived the terror attacks when sycamore tree in the churchyard shielded the 1766 church from falling debris. St. Paul's became a refuge for recovery workers. The tree's roots are enshrined at Trinity.
The memorial to the 3,000 killed on Sept. 11, 2001 is stunning in its simplicity. Two square waterfalls where the towers once stood are surrounded by bronze panels bearing the names of the dead. Nearby, a computer terminal prints a ticket with directions to any particular name. I find Mark Bingham. He's a hero of Flight 93. They fought back.
The place is solemn. Faces of many spectators remind so. As do signs. And as does the friend of a man who forgetfully leans against the memorial and lights up a smoke. He smiles and moves off.
A last shrine after John Lennon's Imagine in Central Park, is the Carlyle Hotel and Bemelmans Bar, which artist Ludwig Bemelmans decorated in the '40s with scenes of Madeline in Central Park.
Here, a martini in memory of the grandparents, who used to high off to New York for R and R after the bank's annual meeting in Montreal.
But just one. Even with the dividend from the shaker which fills a large glass a second time, it's still $25 incl tip. Like everything seems in NYC, it seems what you might pay in Canada. But it's in USD at $1.28, don't you forget.
Nonetheless, as one weaves along Park Ave. at 3:30 in the afternoon – on holiday, remember! – and the sun sets gently in the west, another fine memory.
Did I tell you I (heart) New York?
* * *
And I gotta go back. Completely forgot to look for spray cheese.
* * *
Throw some wood in the stove and put the kettle on.
Here's a save-the-date from St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre, where guitarist/vocalist Larry Smith returns May 2 for a Kitchen Party encore.
Joining the London based musician: fiddler John Allen (Juno-winning Prairie Oyster), bassist Larry Ernewein (After Four) and drummer Sandy MacKay, a 2011 Jack Richardson Music Awards winner for jazz instrumental.
Tix thru the art centre. Click to stepac.ca.
(The gallery also is sending a save-the-date – and an advice to buy limited tickets now – for its annual Redtail Silent Auction and Cocktail Party, May 30. The afternoon at the oh-so-poosh golf course is a major funder for the gallery and its education programming.)
* * *
Seems save-the-dates abound!
It's deja-yeah-yeah-yeah! when popular Bill Culp productions presents Beatlemania Revisited, April 18 at Port Stanley Festival Theatre.
The really big show – 30 songs performed note-for-note – begins with the Fab Four's famous 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and follows thru their entire career from moptops to Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. Two performances, 3 p.m., and 8 p.m.
And the psychics materialize April 25 in Port Stanley for a third annual fun funder for the theatre. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at PSFT.
Who knew? They did!
The day includes private readings for ticketholders (time assigned when you reserve), speakers, draws, complimentary coffee, tea and sweets . . . and new this year, a vendors market.
Tickets for both outings through the theatre. Click to portstanleytheatre.ca
* * *
One last thing.
For those who really, really like to plan ahead, the 50-artist Port Stanley Artists' Guild plans its 25th anniversary show and sale the weekend of June 5-7 at the Port Legion, with an opening 7-10 p.m. June 5. And the words we all love to hear, free admission.
The guild has a website. Click to portstanleyartguild.com
* * *
No shortage of well-wishers Saturday at the Masonic Centre on Sunset south for DON COSENS.
And not just because he's active in freemasonry – a past district deputy grand master for St. Thomas district's 10 lodges and, currently, the district's local historian, don't you know.
He's also active in the community – don't bother asking to how many organizations and groups he's a member -- and it was the occasion of his 80th birthday.
There was cake and there was refreshment. The parking lot was packed.
But no long-winded advice after he thanked all for their presence, and for their food bank donations.
“Just get this far,” the newly minted octogenarian smiled to a column.
* * *
And what a difference two weeks makes.
Since we last caught up, the snow is gone. Finally. The grass is greening. Finally. The snowdrops and crocus are open. The honeybees are back. The first daffodils are on the verge.
Finally. Finally. And etc.
And Beaver Creek Animal Hospital advertises on its Sunset signboard to watch your step:
“Spring has sprung, the grass is riz . . . Now you know where the dog poop is.”
Eww. Who writes their stuff?!?
http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/2015/04/10/tribute-to-british-invasion-of-a-musical-variety
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CANADA: Raising awareness and funds for women in Afghanistan
April 10,
2015
Events –It’s no secret that living
conditions in Afghanistan are rough, especially for women, but a group in
Kingston is working to change that; Canadians for Women in Afghanistan (C4WA)
is a volunteer-based, non-religious organization and registered charity
whose mission is to support women, girls and families in Afghanistan.
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BLOGSPOT:
CANADA MILITARY NEWS- Remembering Afghanistan- We Remember 158 PHOTOS/Military news
http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2015/04/canada-military-news-remembering.html
CANADA MILITARY NEWS- Remembering Afghanistan- We Remember 158 PHOTOS/Military news
http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2015/04/canada-military-news-remembering.html
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BLOGSPOT:
CANADA MILITARY NEWS- Remembering Afghanistan-April 2015 Canada Politicians snub Afghanistan Leaders Visit because of Iraq?/ honour, respect- September 11, 2001- thank u / Canadians Remember 158 PHOTOS/Other Canada Military news -April 2015
A
BEAUTIFUL TEACHER’S REPLY- 4 Doreen
Young and all moms and dads and families and Canadians mourning our 158 sons
and daughters who were killed trying 2 bring basic freedom and basic human
rights 2 Afghanistan after September 11, 2001-
My name
is Brian Long, and I am a public school teacher, teaching near Belleville,
Ontario. I am also a former journalist, having worked as an anchor and reporter
at radio stations in Ottawa, and the Belleville area.
Throughout
my teaching career, I have noticed, that as each Remembrance Day passes, the
idea of ‘remembering’ drifts further and further away from children. They are
quickly becoming disengaged. I believe this is because they are so far removed
from the world wars, and fail to see the relevance to their own lives.
You would
be shocked and saddened at the number of students in my classroom that planned
to attend our town’s Remembrance Ceremony.
The war
in Afghanistan has brought more clarity for students because it has happened
during their lifetimes…an unfortunate opportunity to re-energize and
re-emphasize the importance of carrying on the traditions of Remembering and
demonstrating to young people the important role they have in carrying this on.
I had the
privilege of producing the Remembrance Service at my school this year. Using
children’s voices, I combined images, sound and voice to create a multi-media
presentation…and saw a glimmer of hope. The service hooked and engaged
students. They sat up and took notice, some with tears in their eyes. But I
think there is more that can be done.
I, along
with a teaching partner, would like to shoot, edit and produce a
documentary-style film that is geared towards young people; one that moves and
motivates, and touches their souls, demonstrating why we all must never forget.
As a
teacher, I work to engage children all day, every day; as a journalist I can
tell a story.
Here’s
why I write this. We need help with the project we have dubbed ‘They Too Shall
Remember’. We would like to get in touch with Canadian veterans from the
conflict in Afghanistan. We would like to speak with those who have returned
with the physical and mental scars of war, and the families of some we lost. We
understand the subject matter is very sensitive, and you can trust that our
approach to this is one of extreme sensitivity and respect. We are hoping to
create a product that could be used as an educational tool in schools across
the country.
I fear if
we don’t act soon, there will come a day when society stops Remembering. We
simply cannot let that happen.
We would
appreciate any help that you can provide.
Thanks so
much for your consideration.
Brian
Long
facebook
page: https://www.facebook.com/TheyTooShallRemember
AFGHANISTAN-
A CANADIAN STORY
Canadian Afghan Mission: 2001 – 2014
Casualties
Casualties
Sadly
the CTV source for the photos and associated links used for this page has been
removed. An unfortuante indication of fading public interest in the Afghan
Mission even though we still have troops serving there. As time permits, this
page will be rebuilt to once again include the photos of the fallen. In the
meantime, the text has been retained and a pdf of the original table saved. In
the line of duty – Canadian Casualties Afghanistan
2002
April
18, 2002: Four Canadian Soldiers Die in “Friendly Fire” Incident
Four
Canadian soldiers are killed and eight others wounded after an American F-16
fighter aircraft attacks their position with a 500-pound bomb, mistaking them
for Taliban militants. The soldiers were taking part in a nighttime, live-fire
training exercise 14 kilometres from Kandahar airbase. The U.S. pilot, Maj.
Harry Schmidt, was later disciplined. He apologized for his mistake.
Cpl.
Ainsworth Dyer, 24
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, AB
Hometown:
Montreal, QC
Known
for astonishing endurance, Dyer once finished a military triathlon with a
broken foot. He is survived by father Paul, sister Carolyn and fiance? Jocelyn
Van Sloten.
Pte.
Richard Green, 21
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, AB Hometown:
Mill Cove, N.S.
His
intense work ethic earned him parachute jump wings before he headed to
Afghanistan. Known as Ricky, Green kept quiet about his achievements. Green had
a girlfriend whom he had wanted to marry. A friend made sure the engagement
ring Green had purchased for Miranda Boutilier, Green’s high-school sweetheart,
made it back to her from Afghanistan.
Sgt.
Marc Leger, 29
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, AB Hometown:
Lancaster, ON
Leger
had also served in Bosnia and dedicated himself there to rebuilding a shattered
village in the Livno Valley. He is survived by his wife and parents.
Pte.
Nathan Smith, 26
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, AB Hometown:
Tatamagouche, N.S.
Optimistic
and good natured, friends say Smith faced all situations with a lovable, goofy
smile.
2003
Oct.
2, 2003: Bomb blast kills two on patrol
Two
Canadian soldiers are killed and three injured when a jeep strikes an explosive
device while patrolling the Afghan capital of Kabul. They were travelling in an
Iltis jeep, which is unarmoured, but military officials said a better vehicle
wouldn’t have saved them.
Cpl.
Robbie Beerenfenger, 29
3rd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Ottawa, Ont.
Described as always ready to take charge and give his all in battle,
Beerenfenger is survived by wife Tina, baby daughter Madison and mother.
Sgt.
Robert Short, 42
3rd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Fredericton, N.B.
Short
was an ardent Toronto Maple Leafs fan who believed Stanley Cup glory was just
around the corner. Friends described him as a practical, optimistic man who,
through devotion and determination, accomplished extraordinary things on a
regular basis. He is survived by
2004
Jan.
27, 2004: Suicide bomber kills Canadian soldier
A
routine patrol on the streets of Kabul turned deadly when a suicide bomber
leaped onto the hood of an Iltis jeep, detonating a bomb apparently strapped to
his chest. One soldier died in the blast and three others were injured. The
incident happened relatively close to Camp Julien, the compound housing
Canadian soldiers.
Cpl.
Jamie Murphy, 26
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, ON Hometown: Conception Harbour,
N.L.
A
practical joker whose smile and winning nature kept him out of trouble, Murphy
had planned to propose to his girlfriend upon return. He had been only days
from returning to Canada. He is survived by his parents and three siblings.
2005
Nov.
24, 2005: Soldier dies in armoured vehicle rollover
One
Canadian soldier was killed and four others injured in Afghanistan when a light
armoured vehicle rolled over near Kandahar. The driver reportedly swerved to
avoid an oncoming car that was driving without its headlights on.
Pte.
Braun Woodfield, 24
2nd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Oromocto, N.B. Hometown: Eastern Passage,
N.S.
Woodfield’s
family had a history of military service. Woodfield had also served as a
2006
Jan.
15, 2006: Canadian diplomat killed in suicide bomb attack
Glyn
Berry, political director of Canada’s provincial reconstruction team, dies when
a suicide bomber attacks a Canadian convoy about one kilometre southeast of
Kandahar City. Three soldiers with Berry suffer severe injuries.
Glyn
Berry, 59
Director,
Foreign Affairs Canada
The
veteran Canadian diplomat had volunteered for Afghanistan. ‘He was a guy made
for difficult assignments,’ former Canadian UN ambassador Paul Heinbecker told
The Globe and Mail.
Berry
was the first Canadian foreign service officer in more than 40 years to die in
the line of duty. He is survived by his wife, Valerie, and two sons, Rhys and
Gareth.
Hometown:
Barry, South Wales
March
2, 2006: Armoured vehicle crash kills two Canadian soldiers
A
LAV III armoured vehicle crashed into a taxi on the outskirts of Kandahar City.
The LAV rolled. One soldier died at the scene, and another would die later.
Five other Canadian soldiers would suffer injuries, as would an Afghan
interpreter.
Cpl.
Paul Davis, 28
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man. Hometown:
Bridgewater, N.S.
Dedicated
soldier remembered for his bravery and camaraderie with fellow soldiers. His
father Jim Davis recalled that his son loved playing hockey and had been
nicknamed ‘Smiley’ by his young teammates. Davis is survived by wife Melanie,
young daughters, mother Connie Davis, father Jim, and stepmother Sharon Davis.
Master
Cpl. Timothy Wilson, 30
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man.
Hometown:
Grand Prairie, Alta.
Wilson
died in a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany about three days after
the crash. His wife Daphne and mother Jane were at his side. His organs were
donated. ‘Tim’s selflessness earned him the respect and admiration of all who
knew him, we have always supported Tim’s military career,’ said Jane. ‘He died
doing something he both loved and believed in, in both life and in death.’
March
29, 2006: Canadian dies in ‘friendly fire’ incident
A
Canadian soldier dies during a vicious firefight with Taliban forces at Forward
Operating Base Robinson in Helmand province, about 110 kilometres northwest of
Kandahar City. It would later be determined that Pte. Robert Costall died as a
result of fire coming from U.S. special forces. A U.S. soldier and eight Afghan
National Army soldiers would also die from friendly fire that day.
Pte.
Robert Costall, 22
1st
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown:
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Costall,
a machine-gunner, is remembered as a dedicated soldier who loved his wife and
newborn son. ‘What I can remember, a bright blue-eyed child always smiling,
always happy,’ Pte. Robert Costall’s older brother Buddy said at the April 6,
2006 funeral service in Gibsons, B.C.
Costall
is survived by wife Chrissy, son Colin, who was one when his father died and
parents.
April
22, 2006: Roadside bomb kills four soldiers
Four
Canadian soldiers travelling in a Mercedes G-Wagon in the Gumbad region about
75 kilometres north of Kandahar City died when a roadside bomb destroyed their
vehicle. Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada’s top soldier, said the explosive power of
the bomb would have killed the quartet no matter what vehicle they had been in.
Cpl.
Matthew Dinning, 23
2nd
Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Richmond Hill, Ont.
‘I
distinctly remember him saying: ‘If I’m going to be killed, it will be by a
roadside bomb and I’ll die instantly.’ How right he was,’ father Lincoln
Dinning said at the April 29, 2006 funeral service.
Matthew
loved hockey and hoped to become an Ontario Provincial Police officer like his
father some day. He is survived by his parents and brother Matt.
Bombardier
Myles Mansell, 25
5th
Field Artillery Regiment, Victoria, B.C. Hometown: Victoria, B.C.
Mansell
loved being a soldier. He sent flowers and a teddy bear to fiancee Lindsay
Sullivan just three weeks before his death.
‘Myles
died a hero in my books. He paid the supreme sacrifice to help others,’ his
uncle Michael Mansell said at the May 3, 2006 funeral service in Victoria, B.C.
Myles is survived by Lindsay and his parents.
Cpl.
Randy Payne, 32
CFB/ASU
Wainwright Military Police Platoon, Wainwright, Alta.
Born:
Lahr, West Germany, Hometown: Gananoque, Ont.
Born
into a military family, Payne was a military police officer. ‘Randy took
extreme pride in being a military police officer. He was not only a friend to
myself, but to all my police colleagues,’ Cpl. Cory Gaffey said at the May 3,
2006 funeral service in Wainwright. Payne is survived by his wife, two young
children, parents and a brother in the Canadian Forces.
Lieut.
William Turner, 45
Land
Force Western Area Headquarters Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown:
Toronto, Ont.
Turner
was a reservist who worked as a liaison officer in Afghanistan, meeting with
local elders. He left a bottle of whisky with a friend to be opened upon his
safe return. A competitive cyclist celebrated for his team spirit, Turner was
described as a courageous and hard-working soldier.
May
17: Canadian woman the 16th soldier killed in Afghanistan
A
Taliban ambush during a firefight in the Panjwaii region of Afghanistan leaves
a Canadian soldier dead. Capt. Nichola Goddard, an artillery forward observation
officer, had her head outside the hatch of her vehicle when a rocket-propelled
grenade struck.
Capt.
Nichola Goddard, 26
1st
Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Shilo, Man.
Born:
Papua, New Guinea. Hometown: Calgary, Alta.
Goddard
was the first Canadian woman to die in a combat role. A dog-lover and active
volunteer for the Calgary girl guides, Goddard loved being in the thick of the
action. Her nickname was ‘Care Bear.’
She
is survived by her husband Jason Beam, himself a soldier, parents and sisters.
Her father Tim told her May 27, 2006 funeral in Calgary that his daughter was
‘a good soldier who died a soldier’s death.’
July
9, 2006 : Firefight leaves soldier dead
A
Canadian soldier died and two injured in a firefight with Taliban insurgents, in
Pashmul, a village west of Kandahar City that has historically been a Taliban
stronghold.
Cpl.
Anthony Boneca, 21
Lake
Superior Scottish Regiment, Thunder Bay, Ont. Hometown: Thunder Bay, Ont.
Fellow
soldiers described Boneca, nicknamed ‘T-bone,’ as a courageous man. He was
three weeks away from returning home when he died. The fun-loving Boneca played
football in his high school days.
His
girlfriend Megan DeCorte claimed Boneca had been unhappy in Afghanistan, but
the soldier’s father rejected that claim. Boneca is survived by his parents.
July
22, 2006 : Suicide bomber kills two soldiers
Two
Canadian soldiers died and eight others were wounded when a suicide bomber
rammed into a Bison armoured vehicle, the last vehicle in a massive coalition
convoy near Kandahar City, before blowing himself up. The convoy had been
returning from a 12-day mission that saw heavy combat but no Canadian deaths.
The nickname for the stretch of highway where the attack occurred is “IED
Alley.”
Cpl.
Francisco Gomez, 44
1st
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Born:
Trinidad and Tobago. Hometown: Edmonton, Alta.
Gomez
was a career officer who served in the Canadian army for 23. ‘It’s a dangerous
job,’ father George Gomez told CTV Edmonton. ‘It’s a job you choose to do, so
you have to take the consequences, too. But I think if they’re successful, the
people in Afghanistan will appreciate it.’
He
is survived by his father, mother Joan and brother Richard, who also serves in
the military.
Cpl.
Jason Warren, 29
The
Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, Montreal, QC
Hometown:
Quebec City, QC
Army
service was a long-time tradition in Warren’s family; his sister is a corporal
and his grandfather is a retired brigadier-general. He was the first member of
the Black Watch to die in combat since the Second World War.
Warren,
who also served in Bosnia, was described as a natural leader keen to make a
difference in the lives of those hurt by the Taliban.
August
3, 2006: Four soldiers die in series of attacks
Four
Canadian soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in a combination of Taliban
attacks and roadside bombings. Three died in a rocket-propelled grenade attack
near a burned-out school and one in a roadside bombing that hit a LAV III
armoured vehicle.
Pte.
Kevin Dallaire, 22
1st
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown:
Calgary, Alta.
‘It’s
not one of those things I thought would ever happen to my son, even though I
knew and I realized that he was in a war environment,’ father Gaetan Dallaire
told CTV News.
In
the wake of their son’s death, Gaetan and wife Diane began a network for those
parents who have lost children in Afghanistan.
Sgt.
Vaughan Ingram, 35
1st
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown:
Burgeo, N.L.
Described
as a fearless soldier and completely dedicated to his mission. He is survived
by wife, two young daughters, and mother.
At
his funeral in Burgeo, his daughters released white balloons. As they drifted
skyward, his youngest daughter said, ‘There’s my daddy going to heaven.’
Cpl.
Bryce Keller, 27
1st
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton,
Alta.Hometown: Regina, Sask.Keller devoted six years of his life to the military.
He was also an avid animal lover who dedicated time to the humane
society.Keller is survived by his parents, two brothers and his wife, Sarah,
whom he met on a military training course in 1998.
Cpl.
Christopher Reid, 34
1st
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, AB
Hometown:
Truro, N.S.
Dedicated
to the vocation of soldiering, Reid was described as a man with an adventurous
spirit who loved camping with friends or driving fast in his four-by-four
truck.
He
is survived by parents Tom and Angela.
August
5, 2006: Collision leaves Canadian soldier dead
A
Canadian soldier was killed and three others injured when a G-Wagon armoured
jeep, in the lead of a convoy, collided with a civilian in a vehicle about 35
kilometres southeast of Kandahar city.
Master
Cpl. Raymond Arndt, 31
The
Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Edmonton, Alta. Hometown: Edson, Alta.
‘He
was a very good soldier, very dedicated, very hard-working. He loved to smile,
loved to tell jokes,’ Lt.-Col. Hans Brink said at Arndt’s funeral, held in
Edson on Aug. 15, 2006. Arndt had been days away from returning home. He is
survived by Darcia, his wife of nine months.
August
9, 2006: Accidental firearm discharge kills soldier
A
Canadian soldier died after by being shot by the accidental discharge of a
comrade-in-arms’ rifle. The shooting occurred inside a G-Wagon on patrol in the
Kandahar City area. The military laid charges against Cpl. Robbie Fraser in
connection with the incident.
Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, 33
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man.
Hometown:
Regina, Sask.
Walsh
was a police officer’s son. Friend Norman Yeo told Walsh’s Aug. 17, 2006
funeral in Regina that a sense of adventure and a desire to serve led Jeffrey
to join the army.
Walsh
is survived by wife, Julie Mason, and their three children, and parents Ben and
Margie.
August
11, 2006: Suicide bombing leaves soldier dead
A
Canadian soldier was killed after a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden
vehicle into a military convoy in southern Afghanistan.
Cpl.
Andrew Eykelenboom, 23
1st
Field Ambulance, Edmonton, Alta. Hometown: Comox, B.C.
A
medic, known as Boomer and affectionately described by colleagues as brave and
goofy. ‘Even with a self-directed mission as great as helping others he found
time to enjoy the life he was given, hanging out with friends, camping,
fishing, snowboarding or surfing. All of which still involved his unspoken
drive to educate everyone he could touch with his passion for the Lord and the
ideals of care and good deeds,’ the family said in a statement.
He
is survived by father Hans, mother Maureen and brothers. They set up a fund,
Boomer’s Legacy, to help Afghan women and children.
August
22, 2006: Soldier killed in attack on supply convoy
A
Canadian soldier was killed and three others were wounded when a suicide bomber
drove an explosives-packed vehicle into a resupply convoy near a Canadian
compound in Kandahar City.
Cpl.
David Braun, 27
2nd
Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, MB Hometown:
Raymore, Sask.
Braun
dreamed of a military career from the age of 12. His comrades remember him as a
brave and supportive soldier. He is survived by his mother Patty and three
siblings.
Sept.
3, 2006: Four Canadians die during Operation Medusa
Four
Canadian soldiers died and six wounded during a major NATO offensive called
Operation Medusa in the volatile Panjwaii district of southern Afghanistan.
British, U.S. and Afghan forces were all involved in the effort to push the
Taliban out of the area. Military analysts would call this period some of the
fiercest combat Canadian troops had seen since the Korean War.
Private
William Jonathan James Cushley, 21
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Port Lambton, Ont.
His friends and comrades said he exhibited strong leadership qualities, a
fierce love of family and a sense of fun. He is survived by parents Errol and
Elaine and three sisters.
Warrant
Officer Frank Robert Mellish, 38
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Truro, N.S. A
long-time auto racing fan and dedicated soldier, Mellish is survived by his
parents, wife Kendra — who still serves in the Canadian air force — and two
young boys. He was buried in Summerside, P.E.I.
Warrant
Officer Richard Francis Nolan, 39
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Mount Pearl, N.L.
Nolan was described as an adventurous soul who enjoyed riding bulls. He had a
strong belief in family values and loved playing with his children and
stepchildren. Friends said he would help anyone in need. He is survived by
partner Kelly, three sons, a stepdaughter and mother.
Sgt.
Shane Stachnik, 30
2nd
Combat Engineer Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Waskatenau, Alta. Former
high-school buddy Randy Trenchuk remembered playing hockey with Stachnik, a
combat engineer, and the frustrations with Shakespeare that they shared in
English class. Stachnik, described as being dedicated and fun-loving, was to be
married next summer. He is survived by parents Hank and Avril.
Sept.
4, 2006: U.S. warplane accidentally strafes Canadian soldiers
One
Canadian soldier is killed and 36 others are wounded when a U.S. warplane
accidentally strafed their position in southern Afghanistan. The Warthog A-10
aircraft, which specializes in low-level attacks and had been following up on a
bombing run, honed in on a small fire the soldiers had lit. A U.S. Air Force
report would later say the pilot “lost his situational awareness.” The soldiers
were taking part in Operation Medusa in the Panjwaii district.
Pte.
Mark Anthony Graham, 33
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Hamilton, Ont.
Graham
was a member of Canada’s Olympic 4×400 metre relay team in 1992. Comrades
talked about his imposing physical size, warm smile and great singing voice. He
had three brothers, one of whom also joined the military, and a young daughter.
He wasn?t married.
Sept.
18, 2006: Suicide bomber kills four soldiers
Four
Canadian soldiers were killed and 10 injured while on foot patrol in the
Panjwaii district after a man on a bicycle rode detonated a suicide bomb packed
with ball bearings. The attack came after an end was declared to Operation
Medusa, a major effort to push the Taliban out of Panjwaii.
Cpl.
Glen Arnold, 32
2
Field Ambulance, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: McKerrow, Ont.
Arnold
was a medic who had served in Bosnia-Herzogovina and the Disaster Assistance
Relief Team in Sri Lanka following the 2004 tsunami. He loved playing hockey
and was a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife Kerry, four children,
parents, three brothers and a sister. ‘ ‘We miss you so much… and we can’t wait
to see (you) home for Christmas,” Kerry Arnold wrote Sept. 6, 2006 on a
Department of National Defence website that relays messages to Canada’s
soldiers.
Pte.
David Byers, 22
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man. Hometown:
Espanola, Ont.
A
friendly man and video game enthusiast in his high school days, Byers was
killed before his fiance? Chantelle Roy was to give birth to their child. He is
survived by Roy, his parents and a brother. Espanola is quite close to
McKerrow, the home town of Cpl. Glen Arnold.
Cpl.
Shane Keating, 30
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man. Hometown:
Dalmeny, Sask.
Keating
was described by his comrades as good-humoured and hard-working. He is survived
by his mother, Judith Budd. ‘Nothing is worth losing a son but everything –
everything – is worth a man willing to take that risk and to die for what he
believes in,’ she told reporters in Saskatoon three days after her son’s death.
Cpl.
Keith Morley, 30
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man. Hometown:
Winnipeg, Man.
An
animal lover and proud owner of a dog, Lokie. He is survived by sister Shannon
and his mother Della.
‘Keith
served two tours of Bosnia in 2001 and 2003. He served his country with pride
and certainty that missions there and in Afghanistan would better the lives of
the people in those troubled nations,’ Della Morley told reporters before her
son’s Sept. 29, 2006 funeral in Winnipeg.
Sept.
29, 2006: Soldier killed on patrol by booby trap
A
Canadian soldier out on a routine foot patrol along a Canadian-built road in
the Panjwaii district died after stepping on a booby trap and triggering an
explosion. Another soldier was injured.
Pte.
Josh Klukie, 23
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Shuniah, Ont.
Charming
and charismatic with a passion for sports, Klukie was an enthusiastic member of
his high school basketball team. Klukie is survived by his mother and brother.
Oct.
3, 2006: Taliban attack kills two soldiers
Two
Canadian soldiers were killed and five injured after coming under attack in the
Panjwaii district of Kandahar province. The Taliban were armed with mortars and
possibly rocket-propelled grenades. The soldiers were working on clearing a
route for a future road construction project.
Sgt.
Craig Gillam, 40
Royal
Canadian Dragoons, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: South Branch, N.L.
A
man who led his troops by example and whose bravery saved many lives on the day
he died. He participated in sports such as hockey and taekwondo with his
children. ‘Craig was a loving father and husband, a dedicated soldier and a proud
Newfoundlander,’ Gillam’s wife Maureen said in a statement before his Oct. 14,
2006 funeral. Gillam is survived by Maureen, two teenage children and his
parents.
Cpl.
Robert Mitchell, 32
Royal
Canadian Dragoons, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Owen Sound, Ont.
Known
to his friends as Jim, Mitchell strived to be the best. He is survived by wife
Leanne, two sons and a daughter, and his parents.
Oct.
7: Roadside bomb kills soldier
Canada’s
death toll in Afghanistan reaches 40 when a soldier is killed after a Nyala
RG-31 armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside explosion in the Panjwaii
district.
Trooper
Mark Wilson, 39
Royal
Canadian Dragoons, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: London, Ont.
Mourning
for Wilson was marked by a campaign to deck London with yellow ribbons. He is
survived by wife Dawn, sons Josh and Benjamin and parents Carl and Carolyn.
Oct.
14, 2006: Ambush leaves two soldiers dead
Two
Canadians were killed and two injured as they patrolled a road construction
project in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar City. Insurgents attacked
with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.
Sgt.
Darcy Tedford, 32
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, ON Hometown: Calgary, AB
Quietly
confident, and trusted for wise advice, Tedford earned respect among peers over
his several tours of duty. He was buried in the national military cemetery in
Ottawa. Tedford is survived by his wife Charmaine, two young daughters and his
parents.
Pte.
Blake Williamson, 23
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Kemptville, Ont.
Described
as a funny guy who made others laugh with his array of Chuck Norris jokes.
Williamson, buried in the national military cemetery in Ottawa, is survived by
his father, mother, stepfather, and siblings.
Nov.
27, 2006: Suicide bomber kills two soldiers
Two
Canadian soldiers died in a suicide bomber’s attack on a military convoy in
southern Afghanistan. The attack occurred about one kilometre outside Kandahar
City. The two were the driver and crew commander of a Bison armoured personnel
vehicle.
Chief
Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Bartouche, N.B.
A
career soldier, CWO Girouard was a father of three. Two of his children are in
the Canadian military. He celebrated an early Christmas with his family just
days before his death. His Dec. 6, 2006 funeral heard: ‘In (wife) Jackie’s own
words: ‘Bobby was what a man should be.”
Cpl.
Albert Storm, 36
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Niagara Falls,
Ont.
Only
three years away from retirement, Cpl. Storm was a decorated soldier who had
been deployed to many parts of the world. He was buried at the foot of his
mother’s grave. At the Dec. 8, 2006 funeral, Col. Peter Scott said Storm was ‘a
model soldier who gave his all in everything he did.”
2007
March
6, 2007: Soldier dies in non-combat shooting
A
Canadian reserve soldier died after being shot in the chest while in his tent
at the Kandahar airfield. Charges against another soldier were eventually laid
in connection with the incident.
Cpl.
Kevin Megeney, 25
1st
Battalion, Nova Scotia Highlanders, Truro, N.S. Hometown: New Glasgow, N.S.
Megeney,
a reservist and the youngest of three siblings, had been in Afghanistan with
the Nova Scotia Highlanders since Dec. 8, 2006. Generations of the Megeney
family have enlisted with that regiment. Megeney had hoped to become a
paramedic one day. ‘Every time he put on the uniform, wearing the Canadian flag
on his shoulders, Kev was proud,’ Cpl. Brent Bowden told Megeny’s March 16,
2007 funeral.
April
8, 2007: Roadside bombing kills six soldiers
Six
Canadian soldiers were killed on an Easter Sunday when a massive roadside bomb
detonated, striking their LAV III armoured vehicle as they guarded a convoy
about 75 kilometres west of Kandahar.
The
event was described as the single largest one-day death toll suffered by
Canadian troops since the Afghanistan campaign began in 2002.
Sgt.
Donald Lucas, 31
2nd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Gagetown, N.B. Hometown: Burton, N.B.
Lucas
was considered a leader by his fellow soldiers, but also something of a
prankster. He spoke often of his love for his wife and children.
Cpl.
Aaron E. Williams, 23
2nd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Gagetown, N.B. Hometown: Lincoln, N.B.
Williams
was a sniper. His comrades considered him to be a quiet, competent soldier.
Pte.
Kevin Vincent Kennedy, 20
2nd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Gagetown, N.B. Hometown: St. John’s, N.L.
He
was good friends with Pte. David Greenslade, who also died that day. Kennedy’s
brother had preceded him into the military.
Pte.
David Robert Greenslade, 20
2nd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Gagetown, N.B. Hometown: Saint John, N.B.
The
youngest soldier to die that day, Greenslade was remembered at his April 19,
2007 funeral as a sweet-tempered young man who loved his family, hockey and
life. He was good friends with Pte. Kevin Kennedy, also killed in the blast.
Cpl.
Christopher Paul Stannix (reservist), 24
Princess
Louise Fusiliers, Halifax, NS Hometown: Dartmouth, N.S.
He
gave up a civilian job to serve in Afghanistan.
Cpl.
Brent Donald Poland, 37
2nd
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Gagetown, N.B. Hometown: Sarnia, Ont.
‘We
lost a man who loved his country, his regiment, his family and his friends, but
we ought not hang our heads and wallow. That is not what Brent would have
wanted,’ Maj. Mark Poland told his brother’s funeral, held April 20, 2007.
April
11, 2007: Roadside bomb kills two soldiers
There
were three attacks on Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan this day. Two
soldiers died in one of the incidents, when a roadside bomb exploded near their
Coyote light reconnaissance vehicle about 38 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
Master
Cpl. Allan Stewart, 31
Royal
Canadian Dragoons, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Trout Brook, N.B.
Stewart
was a husband to Christa, and a father of two girls, ages 9 and 12. He had been
in the military for nine years. He was on his second tour in Afghanistan and on
his third overseas mission, after having been deployed to Bosnia in 2001.
Trooper
Patrick James Pentland, 23
Royal
Canadian Dragoons, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Geary, N.B.
Pentland
had joined the military three years ago and was working as a driver on his
first deployment. His father Jim had been a soldier. Patrick was born on the
Canadian military base at Lahr, Germany, and grew up near CFB Gagetown, N.B.
Patrick had spent some of his recent leave time with his mother, Gabriele, in
Germany. He loved children, and had considered adopting an Afghan orphan.
April
18, 2007: Soldier dies in fall from tower
A
Canadian Special Forces soldier died after falling from a communication tower
while out on a surveillance operation somewhere within Kandahar City.
Master
Cpl. Anthony Klumpenhouwer, 25
Canadian
Special Operations Forces Hometown: Listowel, Ont.
The
second-oldest of 13 siblings, Klumpenhower was remembered by his aunt Judi as
having bright blue eyes and a ‘beautiful smile.’ She also described her nephew
as a natural soldier. She said he originally planned to enlist for a short
term, but found the military to be such a good fit that he decided to stay.
May
25, 2007: IED kills soldier
A
Canadian soldier taking part in Operation Hoover, a large offensive launched
against the Taliban in Zhari district north of the Arghandab River, died after
detonating an improvised explosive device.
Cpl.
Matthew McCully, 25
2
Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, CFB
Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Orangeville, Ont.
McCully,
a signals operator, was a member of the Joint Task Force Afghanistan,
Operational Mentor and Liaison Team. His comrades described the redhead as a
perfectionist with a good sense of humour.
May
30, 2007: Soldier dies in helicopter crash
A
Canadian soldier was one of seven people who died in a helicopter crash near
Kajaki in Helmand province. Helmand adjoins Kandahar province, where Canadian
troops are based.
Master
Cpl. Darrell Jason Priede, 30
Army
News Team, 3 Area Support Group, CFB Gagetown, N.B. Hometown: Burlington, Ont.
Master
Cpl. Darrell Jason Priede a military photographer and had been in Afghanistan
about six weeks when he died. Born in Ontario, he grew up around Grand Forks,
B.C. ‘Our son was exemplary … He didn?t have one black mark in the military …
He enjoyed what he did because he always wanted to capture as much good as
possible,’ his mother Roxanne said.
June
11, 2007: Roadside bomb kills soldier
A
Canadian soldier in the lead vehicle of a “combat logistics patrol” died after
the vehicle struck a roadside bomb. The convoy was bringing supplies to a base
in Khakriz district in the northwestern part of Kandahar province. His family
had expected him to call home that day to wish his brother a happy birthday.
Trooper
Darryl Caswell, 25
Royal
Canadian Dragoons, Petawawa, Ont. Hometown: Bowmanville, Ont.
‘A
mother can never prepare for this,’ Caswell’s mother, Darlene Cushman, told her
son’s funeral on June 20, 2007. Darryl liked tattoos and had planned to get a
small pair of angel’s wings. Darlene said she would get a similar tattoo to
honour him.
June
20, 2007: Roadside blast kills three soldiers
Three
soldiers travelling in an open-topped, unarmoured Gator ATV die when the
vehicle hits an improvised explosive device. The soldiers were shuttling
between two checkpoints less than a kilometre apart on a road that had been
considered secure. The blast occurred near Sperwan Ghar, in the Panjwaii
district southwest of Kandahar City. The military suspended the use of Gators
outside secure compounds.
Cpl.
Stephen Frederick Bouzane, 26
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown: Springdale, NL.
Bouzane
grew up in Scarborough, Ont. He enlisted in 2003 and had a fianc? in Edmonton,
where he was based. He is also survived by his parents and a sister.
Pte.
Joel Vincent Wiebe, 22
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown:
Edmonton, Alta.
‘Every
since he was a little kid, Joel has said ‘I want to be in the army’,’ Anna
Thede, Wiebe’s fiance, told reporters on June 22, 2007. He had proposed to her
four hours before he shipped out to Afghanistan. He was buried in Edmonton.
Sgt.
Christos Karigiannis, 30
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown: Montreal, Que.
‘It
was always Chris’ dream to be part of the Canadian forces, to serve and defend
his country. He has a big Canadian flag covering an entire wall in his room. We
have always encouraged him to follow his ambitions,’ his brother Spiro told
reporters on June 22, 2007. Karigiannis is also survived by his mother Niki and
another brother.
July
4, 2007: Roadside bomb kills six soldiers
A
roadside bomb kills six Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, as well as an Afghan
interpreter, in the Panjwaii district southwest of Kandahar City. The soldiers
were travelling in a RG-31 Nyala armoured vehicle with the interpreter when
they struck the bomb. The total toll exceeded that of an April 8, 2007 blast
that left six dead.
Capt.
Matthew Johnathan Dawe, 27
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown: Kingston, Ont.
Dawe
died on the same day as his son Lucas’s second birthday. He comes from a
military family. His father Peter, a retired lieutenant-colonel, told reporters
that his son had been frustrated by the guerrilla tactics Canadian troops faced
in Kandahar.
Master
Cpl. Colin Bason (reservist), 28
Royal
Westminster Regiment, New Westminster, B.C. Hometown: Burnaby, B.C.
A
seven-year veteran who had served in Bosnia, Bason took a demotion in rank to
serve in Afghanistan. Comrades and friends remembered his frantic energy and
sense of humour. Bason was in a relationship and had an infant daughter with
his girlfriend.
Cpl.
Cole Bartsch, 23
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown: Whitecourt, Alta.
Remembered
by his family as a young man who loved the outdoors. An aunt called him ‘the
reliable one.’
Pte.
Lane Watkins, 20
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown: Clearwater, Man.
At
his July 16, 2007 funeral, one comrade recalled that Watkins loved to hand
candy out to Afghan kids while on patrol. His mother Wanda said the poverty in
which Afghan children lived appalled Lane.
Cpl.
Jordan Anderson, 25
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton, Alta.
Hometown: Iqaluit, Nunavut
Anderson
grew up in Inuvik. He is believed to be the first northerner to die in
Afghanistan. His widow Amanda accepted a posthumous degree in political science
on his behalf from the University of Manitoba. He’d been studying online while
serving overseas.
Capt.
Jefferson Francis, 37
1
Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (1 RCHA), Shilo, Man. Home province: New
Brunswick
Francis
grew up in the Halifax area. Comrades described him as a quiet professional
with a dry sense of humour. He left behind a wife, Sylvie, and a son who was
only eight months old when his father died.
Aug.
19, 2007: Roadside bomb kills soldier
Quebec’s
Royal 22nd Regiment, the Van Doos, suffered its first death in Afghanistan when
a soldier died in a roadside bombing about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
Pte
Simon Longtin, 23
3rd
Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Longueil, Que.
At
his funeral, Longtin was described as a courageous, professional soldier. His
mother Johanne said in a statement that her son really wanted to serve in
Afghanistan.
Aug.
22, 2007: Roadside bomb kills two soldiers
Two
Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter died after a roadside bomb struck
their LAV-III armoured vehicle in Zhari district about 50 kilometres west of
Kandahar City. The blast also injured another soldier, a Radio Canada reporter
and his cameraman.
Master
Warrant Officer Mario Mercier, 43
2nd
Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Weedon, Que.
Mercier
was known as ‘Papa Bear’ to his troops. After his death, some of them strapped
stuffed teddy bears to the front of their LAV armoured personnel carriers to
honour his memory. He had also served in the Balkans and Haiti. His is survived
by his wife Lucie and three children.
Master
Cpl. Christian Duchesne, 34
5th
Field Ambulance, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Montreal
Duschesne,
a medic with 14 years of service in the military, was married and the father of
three young girls.
Aug.
29, 2007: Soldier found dead of gunshot wound
A
Canadian officer was found in his room at International Security Assistance
Force headquarters in Kabul suffering from a gunshot wound. He later died. The
death was later ruled a suicide.
Major
Raymond Ruckpaul, 42
Armoured
Corps, The Royal Canadian Dragoons, serving at the NATO coalition headquarters
in Kabul. Hometown: Hamilton, Ont.
Those
who knew Ruckpaul said suicide would have been completely out of character. He
is the highest-ranking officer to die in Afghanistan. He is survived by his
wife Natasha and two children.
Sept.
24, 2007: Soldier killed in Taliban mortar attack
A
Canadian soldier who had been working to repair the broken tread on a Leopard
tank died during a mortar attack by the Taliban. Another soldier was wounded.
Cpl.
Nathan Hornburg (reservist), 24
King’s
Own Calgary Regiment, Calgary, Alta. Hometown: Calgary
At
his Oct. 4, 2007 funeral, the crowd was told of a young man seen as a humorous,
supportive, solid soldier. Some of his artwork was on display.
Nov.
17, 2007: Roadside blast kills two soldiers
A
roadside bomb killed two Canadian soldiers and their Afghan interpreter. Three
other Canadian soldiers were wounded and taken to hospital with
non-life-threatening injuries. The blast occurred in Zhari district about 40
kilometres west of Kandahar City.
Cpl.
Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp, 28
5th
Field Ambulance, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Lived in Pont-Rouge, Que.
Beauchamp’s
spouse, Cpl. Dolores Crampton is a medical technician who had been based with
Beauchamp’s unit in Kandahar. She accompanied her husband’s body home,
sprinkling flowers on his casket during the repatriation ceremony. She may be
the first Canadian soldier to accompany a spouse’s body home.
Pte.
Michel Levesque, 25
3rd
Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Riviere-Rouge
His
neighbours from his home town recalled Levesque as a ‘very nice little boy.’ He
once took the town’s flag to Afghanistan and promised to fly it on the base.
When he returned home on leave about two weeks before his death, he showed the
mayor photos of the flag flapping in the breeze at Kandahar Airfield.
Dec.
30, 2007: Roadside bomb kills soldier
As
they headed back to base looking forward to a New Year’s Eve celebration, their
T-LAV armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb. One soldier died and four others
were wounded. The blast occurred in Zhari district about 20 kilometres west of
Kandahar City.
Gunner
Jonathan Dion, 27
5th
Regiment d’Artillerie legere du Canada, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Val D’Or,
Que.
After
Dion’s funeral on Jan. 12, 2008, a friend, also a military member, described
him as a quiet, generous guy who excelled at sports in high school. ‘Jonathan
was proud to be a soldier. He loved his work,’ Ronald Marcil, Dion’s uncle,
said after the funeral.
2008
Dec.
27, 2008: Two soldiers killed by bomb blast
Two
Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan after a bomb exploded west of Kandahar
city. An Afghan policeman and interpreter were also killed in the blast. The
violence happened on the same day Defence Minister Peter MacKay wrapped up a
trip to meet Canadians serving in the war-torn country.
Warrant
Officer Gaeten Joseph Roberge
A
member of the Royal 22nd Regiment who was serving with the Irish Regiment of
Canada in Sudbury, Ont. He was stationed in Afghanistan to help train the
country?s national police force.
Roberge’s
commander described him as a man with a good sense of humour who had the
respect and admiration of his colleagues.
“His
men loved him. He loved his men. You could count on him at any point in time to
do anything.”
Sgt.
Greg John Kruse
24
Field Squadron, 2 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont. He was
serving as a member of 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle
group.
Kruse
was known as a quiet, gentle man who loved his family and his job, his
commander said.
“He
absolutely loved this job. This is what he wanted to do.”
Dec.
26, 2008: Soldier killed by roadside bomb
A
soldier was killed and three others were wounded after an improvised explosive
device went off in the Zhari District of Kandahar Province. That same day,
Canadian Forces reported that a Taliban leader behind the planning and planting
of recent IEDs had been killed in a NATO operation.
Private
Michael Bruce Freeman
N
Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment from CFB Petawawa, Ontario.
Freeman,
28, was on his first tour of Afghanistan. He was described as dedicated to the
mission. An avid golfer, he set up a driving range on a forward operating base
and gave candy to children who returned golf balls.
Dec.
12, 2008: 3 soldiers killed on highway outside Kandahar
Three
Canadian soldiers are killed after their armoured vehicle struck an improvised
explosive device. A fourth soldier was injured in the blast.
They
were members of the Quick Reaction Force, or QRF, a team of soldiers that are
usually called out to emergency situations. They were responding to a call that
a bomb was being planted along the highway that runs from Kandahar city to the
border of Helmand province.
Private
John Michael Roy Curwin
2nd
Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment from CFB Gagetown, N.B.
Curwin
was described as a family man, who had three children and considered his wife,
Laura Mae, his best friend.
Corporal
Thomas James Hamilton
2nd
Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment from CFB Gagetown, N.B.
Hamilton,
or ‘Hammy,’ was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan and had a young daughter,
named Annabella. Hamilton had previously served in Haiti.
Private
Justin Peter Jones
2nd
Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment from CFB Gagetown, N.B.
Jones,
or ‘Jonesy’ as he was called, was originally from Newfoundland and was known
for his kindness and his love of the guitar.
Dec.
5, 2008: 3 soldiers killed by an improvised explosive device
Canada’s
death toll in Afghanistan has hit 100 with the deaths of three soldiers who
were killed by an improvised explosive device. They were travelling in a
vehicle in Arghandab district, west of Kandahar city.
Pte.
Demetrios Diplaros
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based out of Petawawa, Ont.
Diplaros,
24, was on his first tour in Afghanistan and was ‘an exceptional driver and
gunner,’ his commander said. He had a longtime girlfriend.
His
father, Jerry Diplaros, also served in the army and said he wanted his son to
follow in the family tradition.
Cpl.
Mark Robert McLaren
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based out of Petawawa, Ont.
McLaren
had served in Afghanistan earlier and was wounded in a 2006 incident. Alan
McLaren said his son was engaged to be married, and was a man who died
believing strongly in what he was doing.
‘A
few weeks ago Mark risked his life crawling towards an Afghan soldier who had
been shot in order to provide him first aid under fire,’ his commander said.
Warrant
Officer Robert John Wilson
1st
Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based out of Petawawa, Ont.
Known
as R.J. to all, Wilson was on his second tour of Afghanistan. His wife, also a
soldier, was in Afghanistan as well at the time of his death.
‘He
loved his work, and dearly loved his wife and children,’ his commander said.
‘He will be sorely missed by all.’
Sept.
7, 2008: Roadside bomb attack kills infantryman
A
roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan killed a soldier with the 2nd battalion of
the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Seven others were wounded in
the attack in Kandahar province’s Panjwaii district.
Sgt.
Scott Shipway
2nd
battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo,
Man. Home: Saskatchewan
Shipway
was nearing the end of his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, and had served
in the military since 1991. He had previously completed tours of duty in
Cyprus, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
‘Scott
was a seasoned veteran … a dedicated father and a Saskatchewan Roughriders
fan,’ Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson said.
Fellow-soldiers
called him ‘Papa Shipway’ and his motto was ‘never let a comrade down.’ His
dedication was apparent when he helped save a fellow soldier’s life during a
roadside bomb attack in 2006.
Sept.
3, 2008: Three soldiers killed in ambush
Three
Canadian soldiers in their early twenties, who had nearly finished their tour
of duty, were killed during a fatal ambush in Afghanistan’s volatile Zhari
district. Five others were wounded.
Cpl.
Andrew Grenon
Second
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man.
Grenon,
23, was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson
described him as an experienced soldier who had a calming effect on his
comrades.
‘He
brought confidence to those around him and inspired the first-tour guys, making
them feel safe,’ said Thompson.
Cpl.
Mike Seggie
Second
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Seggie,
21, followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle, who had also served with
the Princess Patrica?s. Thompson described him as a great communicator, who
learned Pashtun phrases to work with local Afghans.
He
was also considered to be ‘cool under fire,’ and often joked with his comrades
to lighten the mood.
Pte.
Chad Horn
Second
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Horn,
21, was greatly admired by his peers and was considered one of the best Light
Armoured Vehicle gunners — the soldier who has to leave himself open to
possible attack by manning the LAV?s large weapon.
Thompson
said he had ‘unlimited potential’ and that his ‘ability to act under fire saved
many lives during the tour.’
Aug.
20, 2008: Three killed in roadside bomb attack
Three
Canadian soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol
in Afghanistan’s Zhari district, and another soldier was injured in the blast.
Sgt.
Shawn Eades
12
Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, Second Battalion Princess
Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group.
Eades,
a highly trained combat engineer, was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan.
‘He
was a veteran soldier and this was his third tour in Afghanistan,’ said
Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson. ‘He was a devoted father who liked to share stories
of his children with his colleagues and friends.’
Eades,
33, is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two young daughters, seven and four.
Sapper
Stephan John Stock
12
Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment from Edmonton, Alberta and attached
to the Second Battalion Princess Patricia?s Canadian Light Infantry Battle
Group.
Everyone
who knew him called him ‘Stock,’ said Spr. Jonathan Allison.
‘I
always admired Stock. He was a very competent soldier. He was the kind of guy
and the same rank level that I could look to for reassurance. He was just a
really solid soldier.’
Allison
said, ‘it?s always difficult when?a friend, dies,’ but he is proud of his
fellow soldier.
‘When
I first heard his name mentioned initially, I was quite shocked. You never
really expect it to be someone who you are close to, but after a few minutes
once it started sinking in I was very proud that he did that.’
Cpl.
Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden
12
Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment from Edmonton, Alberta and attached
to the Second Battalion Princess Patricia?s Canadian Light Infantry Battle
Group. Cpl. Dustin MacCreedy called Wasden, who he referred to as ?Wozzy,? a
?good guy? and a farm boy from Saskatchewan.
‘I
was sad, but proud at the same time because he loved what he did. He was a good
soldier and I?m proud of him.’
Aug.
11, 2008: Soldier killed at remote base
A
Canadian soldier has died in Afghanistan after insurgents attacked a remote
outpost in the volatile Panjwaii district. It’s the second death in three days.
Master
Cpl. Erin Doyle
3rd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.
Hometown: Kamloops, B.C.
Doyle
was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson
described him as a ‘big, tough, mountain of a man’ who was a ‘true warrior and
just the person you would want beside you in a firefight.’ In 2002, he received
the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for community service. Doyle is survived by
his wife Nicole and daughter Zarine.
Aug.
9, 2008: Soldier killed in firefight in Zhari district
A
Saskatchewan-born soldier was fatally shot during a firefight in Afghanistan
early Saturday, as Canadian troops fought insurgents in the volatile Zhari
district. Civilian security personnel were also in the area.
Master
Cpl. Josh Roberts
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man.
Hometown: Saskatoon
Roberts
had transferred to the regular Forces from the North Saskatchewan Regiment in
2006. His superiors promoted him to master corporal only two weeks ago. He
leaves behind a fiancee who was expecting their first child.
July
18, 2008: Slain Winnipeg soldier was on 2nd tour
A
Canadian soldier died inAfghanistanafter he was struck by an improvised
explosive device (IED) buried in the ground during a night patrol in the
Panjwaii district.
Cpl.
James Hayward Arnal, 252nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light
Infantry based in Shilo, Man.
Hometown:
Winnipeg Arnal died in Afghanistan after he was struck by an improvised
explosive device (IED) buried in the ground during a night patrol in the
Panjwaii district.
Arnal
had given up a career in the private sector to join the military four years
ago.
July
6, 2008: Explosion kills Canadian medic
A
Canadian medic out on foot patrol in Kandahar province’s Panjwaii district died
following an explosion.
Pte.
Colin William Wilmot
1st
Field Ambulance, Edmonton Garrison
The
Edmonton-based medic had demanded to go Afghanistan. ‘He was selected to fill a
vacancy soon after, because he was motivated, he was skilled, and because he
was eager to make a difference in the lives of ordinary Afghans,’ said
Brig.-Gen. Dennis Thompson, Canada’s top soldier in Afghanistan. Friends spoke
of Wilmot’s sunny disposition and willingness to help others.
July
4, 2008: Military policeman dies in ‘non-combat incident’
A
military policeman was found dead in his sleeping quarters in the early morning
hours at a Canadian base in the Persian Gulf that is used to provide logistical
support for the Afghan mission. The military quickly said the death wasn’t
combat-related.
Cpl.
Brendan Anthony Downey, 37
Military
policeman 17 Wing Detachment, Dundurn
Downey
was based in Dundurn, Sask. His family said he was overjoyed to hear of his
wife’s recent pregnancy, and that he will be sorely missed by her, their
two-year-old son and the rest of his family. They described him as a ‘committed
patriot’ who joined the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the
United States.
June
7, 2008: Officer dies in freak accident
A
captain leading a night patrol in Zhari district died after falling down a
well, known locally as a kariz, in a grape field. A rescue team extracted him,
but he was pronounced dead at Kandahar Airfield’s military hospital.
Capt.
Jonathan Sutherland Snyder
1st
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Edmonton Hometown:
Penticton, B.C.
Snyder,
who worked with the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT), was on his
second tour of duty in Afghanistan. His superiors praised him for the
leadership he showed under fire. He is survived by his father David, mother
Anne, a fiance and a brother.
June
3, 2008: Platoon commander dies in firefight
Taliban
militants ambushed a joint Canadian-Afghan foot patrol in the Panjwaii
district. The platoon commander was shot about 30 minutes into the firefight.
He was airlifted to the hospital at Kandahar Airfield, but a doctor there
pronounced him dead.
Capt.
Richard (Steve) Leary, 32
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man.
Hometown:
Brantford, Ont.
Leary
was on his first overseas mission. ‘Captain Leary was what we in uniform are
expected to be. Captain Leary was a soldier and Captain Leary was a leader,’
Col. Jamie Cade said at a June 3, 2008 news conference. Leary leaves behind his
wife Rachel, his parents Richard and Gail and his sister Brandi.
May
6, 2008: Medic dies during Taliban ambush
Taliban
militants attacked Canadian soldiers out in the village of Pashmul in Zhari
district west of Kandahar City. The Canadians were there on a rapport-building
mission. Two soldiers were wounded. One would die of his wounds in hospital.
Cpl.
Michael Starker, 36 (reservist)
15
Field Ambulance, Edmonton (Calgary detachment) Hometown: Calgary
In
his civilian life, Starker worked as a paramedic in Calgary. However, he had
previously been a paratrooper with the Canadian Airborne Regiment. Thousands
turned out for his funeral in Calgary. ‘I think he would be laughing his ass
off right now saying, ‘I don’t know why you guys are making such a big deal of
this,” his sister Carolyn Straub told reporters about her self-effacing
brother. Starker also leaves behind his wife Nicole.
April
4, 2008: IED blast kills soldier
A
Canadian soldier died in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar City after his
vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.
Pte.
Terry John Street, 24
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man.
Hometown:
Hull, Que.
Outside
his April 12, 2008 funeral in Surrey, B.C., friends described as a honourable,
dedicated and dependable person. When his body was being shipped home, army
Padre Jim Short described Street as described Street as ‘a vibrant, keen,
energetic, personable young soldier, a team player born to be an infantryman.’
March
16, 2008: IED kills soldier on foot patrol
A
Canadian soldier on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district about 35 kilometres
west of Kandahar City stepped on an improvised explosive device, dying in
hospital of his injuries. He would be the first Canadian killed on foot patrol
in nearly a year.
Sgt.
Jason Boyes, 32
2nd
Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Shilo, Man.
Hometown:
Napanee, Ont.
Boyes
was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. ‘His idea was not to give candy
to children, but to kill insurgents,’ said Regimental Sgt. Maj. Brian Semenko.
‘We are devastated by this news. Jason loved his job, he loved the military,
and his fellow soldiers loved him back. His world was his daughter, Mackenzie,
his wife, Alison, his dogs and his family,’ Boyes’ family said in a statement
distributed by the military.
March
11, 2008: Soldier found dead in room
A
Canadian soldier was found dead in an accommodation room at Kandahar Airfield.
Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche told reporters that the death “is not related to
combat.”
Bombardier
Jeremie Ouellet, 22
1st
Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Shilo, Man. Hometown: Matane, Que.
Ouellet
had only recently arrived in Afghanistan. His family released a statement said
Ouellet was a ‘a dedicated and professional soldier’ who was ‘serving his
country with a lot of honour and pride.’
March
2, 2008: Roadside bomb kills soldier
An
armoured vehicle out on a resupply mission in the Mushan region of the Panjwaii
district about 45 kilometres west of Kandahar City struck an improvised
explosive device. One soldier died.
Trooper
Michael Yuki Hayakaze, 25
Lord
Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) , Edmonton, Alta. Hometown: Edmonton,
Alta.
Hayakaze
graduated from high school in 2001, and reportedly foundered a bit before
finding a home in the army in 2006. He trained as a driver. His mother Inoue
told her son’s March 15, 2008 funeral that he once told her: ‘ ‘It would be
lying if I said I was not scared, But I fight with the belief that we are
protecting our country, the people and our families doing this.’ These words of
Mikey’s resonate in my heart right now.’
Jan.
23, 2008: Roadside bomb kills soldier
A
Canadian armoured vehicle was travelling on a rough, unpaved road as part of a
road-clearing operation in the Panjwaii district about 35 kilometres southwest
of Kandahar City when it struck an improvised explosive device. One soldier
died and two others were injured.
Cpl.
Etienne Gonthier, 21
5e
Regiment du Genie de Combat, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Quebec City
The
combat engineer’s father reportedly didn’t want his son to enlist, fearing
something terrible would happen to him. ‘You were my first love, and fate ended
it January 23rd at 1:40 pm in Kandahar. You’re forever etched in my heart, and
I will never forget you,’ Cinthia Morin, Gonthier’s girlfriend, wrote in an
online posting.
Jan.
15, 2008: Roadside bomb kills soldier
A
Canadian soldier died when his Coyote reconnaissance vehicle struck a roadside bomb
in the Arghandab district about 10 kilometres north of Kandahar City. Another
soldier was wounded. They were on a routine “presence patrol.”
Trooper
Richard Renaud, 26
12th
Regiment, Blinde du Canada, Val Cartier, Que. Hometown: Alma, Que.
Renaud’s
wife was pregnant when he died. He also left behind a four-year-old stepson,
his parents and a sister. ‘He loved his country. He defended his convictions
with vigour. He was proud … and for me, he was a hero,’ Renaud’s father,
Jean-Marc, said after the Jan. 6, 2008 funeral in Saguenay, Que.
Jan.
6, 2008: Rollover kills two Canadian soldiers
Two
Canadian soldiers die after their armoured vehicle rolled over in rough terrain
in Zhari district, about 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. The men were
in the turret of their LAV III. The dirt track on which the vehicle was
travelling had been made slippery by rain.
Cpl.
Eric Labbe, 31
Royal
22nd Regiment, Valcartier, Que.
Hometown:
Rimouski, Que.
Labbe
had been in the military for six years. He had previously served overseas in
the former Yugoslavia. He had reportedly been considering leaving the military
when he paid a visit home shortly before he died.
Warrant
Officer Hani Massouh, 41
Royal
22nd Regiment, Valcartier, Que. Hometown: Alexandria, Egypt
Massouh
had spent 17 years in the military and was the veteran of several overseas
missions, including Haiti, Croatia, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia. He had a
five-year-old daughter and was weeks away from retirement. With files from The
Canadian Press
2009
Dec.
30, 2009: Four soldiers, journalist killed in Kandahar blast
Four
Canadian soldiers, all reservists, were killed along with a Canadian journalist
in Kandahar City by a powerful insurgent bomb on Dec. 31, 2009. Their deaths
marked the second deadly incident for Canada in a week.
Sgt.
George Miok
Sgt.
George Miok, 28, from Edmonton, was with the 41 Combat Engineer Regiment.
Brig.-Gen.
Daniel Menard described Miok as a meticulous planner who was ‘always available’
to his troops. ‘The welfare of his soldiers came first and they knew they could
turn to him for advice and guidance,’ said Menard.
Cpl.
Zachery McCormack
Cpl.
Zachery McCormack, 21, of Edmonton was with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.
He
was described as a caring, ‘outstanding soldier’ who was always ready to help
his comrades.
Sgt.
Kirk Taylor
Sgt.
Kirk Taylor, 28, was from Yarmouth, N.S. and was a member of the 84 Independent
Field Battery.
Brig.-Gen.
Daniel Menard said Taylor was a ‘true gunner’ who was known to his troops as
‘Sgt. Morale.’ He always spoke fondly of his loved ones back home, where he
mentored trouble youths.
Pte.
Garrett Chidley
Pte.
Garrett Chidley, 21, of Cambridge, Ont., was with the 2nd Battalion Princess
Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
Known
as an avid video game player, Chidley also made ‘tough tasks seem easy by
joking around,’ said Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard.
Dec.
24, 2009: Canadian lieutenant killed in IED attack
Andrew
Nuttall, a 30-year-old Canadian lieutenant, died when an improvised explosive
device detonated while he was on foot patrol in the village of Nakhoney, in the
volatile Panjwai district of south Afghanistan. He died along with an Afghan
army soldier.
Lt.
Andrew Nuttall
Lt.
Andrew Richard Nuttall, 30, was on a routine foot patrol in south Afghanistan
when he and an Afghan National Army soldier were killed in an IED attack.
Nuttall,
from Prince Rupert, B.C., was praised as a fine young leader — a generous man
with a winning smile who believed in what he was doing.
Oct.
30, 2009: Canadian soldier killed in Afghan IED attack
An
IED blast has killed a Canadian solider in Afghanistan, the second such death
in less than a week.
Sapper
Steven Marshall died while on patrol about 10 kilometres southwest of Kandahar
City. Marshall was a member of the 1st Combat Engineering Regiment, which is
based in Edmonton, Alta.
Sapper
Steven Marshall
Sapper
Steven Marshall, 24, had only been in Afghanistan for a week before the blast.
His death comes just as the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry begin
their rotation in the country.
Marshall
was described as a popular soldier in his unit who had a great sense of humour
and smile that was ‘contagious.’
Oct.
28, 2009: Canadian soldier, 26, killed by IED blast
A
26-year-old Canadian soldier was killed and two others injured in an IED blast,
in southern Afghanistan.
The
victim was identified as Lt. Justin Garrett Boyes, a member of 3rd Battalion,
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.
Lt.
Justin Garrett Boyes
Lt.
Justin Garrett Boyes, a member of 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian
Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, was training local Afghan police. He was
struck by an IED blast just 10 days into his deployment.
‘So
early in the deployment, Justin’s death is going to be difficult to accept by
his brothers in arms, but will not deter any of us from continuing with our
mission,’ said Brig. Gen. Jonathan Vance, the commander of Task Force Kandahar.
Boyes
grew up in Saskatchewan and leaves behind his wife, Alanna, and son, James.
Sept.
17, 2009: Canadian soldier killed in IED strike, 11 injured
Another
Canadian soldier has been killed and 11 others injured in an IED strike in
Afghanistan.
The
victim was identified as Pte. Jonathan Couturier, 23, of 2nd Battalion, Royal
22e Regiment, based in Valcartier, Que.
Pte.
Jonathan Couturier
Pte.
Jonathan Couturier, 23, of 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, based in
Valcartier, Que. Couturier was described as the ‘little brother’ of certain
members of his section, a soldier who never lost his sense of humour, even in
stressful times. ‘He never missed an occasion to talk about his passions —
hockey, his (Ford) Mustang and last but not least the love of his life —
Andreanne,’ his commanding officer said.
Sept.
13, 2009: Soldier falls victim to roadside bomb
For
the second time in a week, a Canadian soldier has fallen victim to a roadside
bomb in southern Afghanistan. Four other Canadian soldiers were injured when
their armoured vehicle was hit by an IED 13 kilometres southwest of Kandahar
City.
Pte.
Patrick Lormand
Pte.
Patrick Lormand, 21, was with the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, also
known as the Van Doos. Known as ‘Lorm’ to his friends, he was well liked and
was credited with raising the morale of his section and his platoon. He is
survived by his parents Jacques and Sylvie Lormand.
Sept.
6, 2009: Two soldiers killed in roadside blast
A
powerful roadside bomb blast hit an armoured vehicle that was part of a
Canadian convoy on a road southwest of Kandahar, killing two soldiers. Five
others were also injured but their conditions were not serious.
Maj.
Yannick Pepin
Maj.
Yannick Pepin, 36. With the 5 Combat Engineer Regiment, stationed in
Valcartier, Que.Pepin had been in the Canadian Forces for a decade and took
great pride in the mission. He leaves behind his partner Annie and two
children, Alexandra and Charles.
Cpl.
Jean-Francois Drouin
Cpl.
Jean-Francois Drouin, 21, with the 5 Combat Engineer Regiment, stationed in
Valcartier, Que. He was known as ‘Big Drou’ to his friends and is remembered as
somone who liked to make others laugh. He received an accelerated promotion to
corporal just before his last mission. Survived by his partner Audrey.
August
1, 2009: Two soldiers killed in IED blast
Two
soldiers were killed when their re-supply convoy was struck by two improvised
explosive devices in the Zhari district.
Cpl.
Christian Bobbitt
Cpl.
Christian Bobbitt, 23, was a member of the 5th Combat Engineer Regiment with
the 2e Batallion of the Royal 22e Regiment, also known as the Van Doos. He was
based in Valcartier, Que. Bobbitt, known as ?Bob? to his friends and fellow
soldiers, was known for both his sense of humour and his technical expertise.
He is credited with playing an integral role in Task Force Kandahar?s efforts to
clear roadways of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He is survived by his
spouse, Felicia, his brother, Jonathan, and his parents, Liane and Yvan.
Sapper
Matthieu Allard
Sapper
Matthieu Allard, 21, was a member of the 5th Combat Engineer Regiment with the
2e Batallion of the Royal 22e Regiment, also known as the Van Doos. He was
based in Valcartier, Que. Allard was known as a hard-working soldier and a team
leader. ?If you didn?t say stop, he?d always continue working,? said Maj.
Yannick Pepin, commander of the 51 Field Engineering squadron. Allard is
survived by his parents, Rene and Christine.
July
16, 2009: Soldier killed in fall from cliff
A
soldier died during a counterinsurgency mission in the Panjwaii district of
Kandahar province, when he fell from a high position on a cliff.
Pte.
Sebastien Courcy
Pte.
Sebastien Courcy, 26, was a member of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal 22e
Regiment, also known as the Van Doos. Courcy is survived by his mother,
Ginette, and his sister Julie. Courcy was described as a ‘fine soldier’ by his
commander Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance. ‘Sebastien gave his life for Canada. Such
is the price soldiers must sometimes pay to honour their obligation to their
country and to the missions set before them,’ Vance said.
July
6, 2009: Two Canadians killed in helicopter crash
Two
Canadian soldiers died when a Griffon helicopter crashed near a U.S. base, 80
kilometres northeast of Kandahar.
Another
coalition soldier also died in the incident, and three Canadians injured.
Insurgents were not involved in the incident.
Master Cpl. Pat Audet
Master
Cpl. Pat Audet served with the 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, and was based
in Valcartier, Que. He was on his first deployment to Afghanistan. Canadian
commander Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance said Audet, 38, ?played a valuable role in
reducing exposures to (improvised explosive devices), and by providing aviation
support to combat operations.? He is survived by his wife Katherine and his
parents.
Cpl.
Martin Joannette
Cpl.
Martin Joannette served with the 3e Bataillon, Royal 22e Regiment, based in
Valcartier, Que. The 25-year-old soldier was on his third deployment to
Afghanistan. Canadian commander Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance said Joannette
?played a valuable role in reducing exposures to (improvised explosive
devices), and by providing aviation support to combat operations.? He is
survived by his wife, Marie-Eve.
July
4, 2009: Soldier dies from injuries from IED blast
A
Canadian soldier died from injuries sustained in an IED blast several weeks
prior.
The
incident occurred on June 23 while on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district,
southwest of Kandahar city. He died in Quebec City in hospital.
Master Cpl. Charles-Philippe Michaud
Master
Cpl. Charles-Philippe Michaud was from the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment
based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier. He was on his second tour of
Afghanistan. Col. Jean Marc Lanthier, commander of the 5th Canadian Mechanized
Brigade Group, called Michaud a mentor to other soldiers, as well as a model soldier.
He is survived by his wife, parents and brother.
July
3, 2009: Soldier killed, 5 injured in roadside bomb blast
A
Canadian soldier travelling in a convoy carrying the senior commander in
Kandahar province was killed Friday when his vehicle struck an improvised
explosive device.
Five
other soldiers were hurt, but Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, who commands coalition
forces in Kandahar, escaped injury.
Cpl.
Nicholas Bulger
Cpl.
Nicholas Bulger, 30, was a member of 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian
Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.Bulger started basic military training in
November of 2000 in Saint Jean, Quebec, underwent trades training for the
infantry in Wainwright, Alberta, and then in 2001 became the rifleman and
armoured vehicle driver for the First Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian
Light Infantry in Edmonton. He took a break from the forces and returned in
January 2008.He leaves behind a wife and two children.
June
14, 2009: Soldier killed trying to defuse bomb
A
Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan when one of two roadside bombs he
was trying to defuse exploded. The explosion also killed an Afghan police
officer and gravely injured a local interpreter.
Cpl.
Martin Dube
Cpl.
Martin Dube, a combat engineer, was from 5e Regiment du Genie de Combat based
at CFB Valcartier near Quebec City. Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance described Dube as
someone who enjoyed life and was good at making others laugh. He said Dube, a
skilled perfectionist, was ‘one of the best guys to be around.’ Dube is
survived by his girlfriend, Julie, his parents, Marie-Paule and Roger and his
brother Vincent.
June
8, 2009: Soldier killed on foot patrol
A
Canadian soldier on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan was killed by an
improvised explosive device in the volatile Panjwaii district.
Pte.
Alexandre Peloquin
Pte.
Alexandre Peloquin, 20, was known to his friends as ‘Pelo.’ He served with the
3e Bataillon, Royal 22e Regiment, based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier near
Quebec City. He is survived by his mother, Monique.
April
23, 2009: Major found dead on military base
Enemy
action is ruled out in the death of a soldier found at Kandahar Airfield, who
had served at Joint Task Force Kandahar headquarters. Circumstances of death
under investigation.
Maj.
Michelle Mendes
Maj.
Michelle Mendes, who was 30, hailed from a small town near Colborne, Ont. She
served in a previous tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2006. At that time she
served as a captain with the Ottawa-based 154 Squadron. She had graduated from
Kingston’s Royal Military College in 2001 with a history degree. Her mother
told a community newspaper in 2006 that her daughter had opted to work in
military intelligence.’Her tragic death has left many of us stunned,’ Padre
Martine Belanger during her ramp ceremony in Kandahar.
April
13, 2009: Canadian killed, 4 hurt in Afghan blast
A
Canadian soldier died and four others were wounded when their armoured vehicle
rolled over an improvised explosive device north of Kandahar city on Monday.
Trooper
Karine Blais
Blais
served with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment Battle Group — the
famed Quebec regiment nicknamed the Van Doos — based at Canadian Forces Base
Valcartier, near Quebec City. Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance described Blais as an
energetic soldier who gave ‘100 per cent to every challenge she faced.’ Vance
said Blais demonstrated qualities of a future leader, adding she had a ‘unique
sense of humour’ and that she was respected by all members of her squadron.
Blais leaves behind her mother Josee, her grandmother Laurette and her brother,
Billy.
March
20, 2009: 4 soldiers killed in 2 separate attacks
Four
Canadian soldiers were killed and another eight injured in Afghanistan in two
separate improvised explosive attacks.
Master
Cpl. Scott Vernelli
Vernelli,
28, served with November Company, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment
Battle Group. Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance described him as a ‘superb soldier’ —
who junior soldiers looked up to and respected. ‘He was an enthusiastic and
dedicated father,’ said Vance. ‘He was a terrific athlete, very funny, and
ironically enough, always able to joke at the worst of times.’ Vernelli is
survived by his wife and six-month-old daughter.
Cpl.
Tyler Crooks
Crooks,
24, served with November Company, 3rd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment. He
is remembered as a ‘keen and motivated soldier, and also a great athlete,’ said
Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance. He had an affinity for dirt-biking and was a
‘Texas-hold’em cardshark.’ ‘He’s remembered by his friends as the kind of guy
who will do anything for you without even being asked,’ said Vance. He is
survived by his parents, his fianc?e Kelly Maxwell, and his brother Tage
Crooks.
Trooper
Jack Bouthillier
Bouthillier,
20, served with the Reconnaissance Squadron, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian
Regiment Battle Group. His home unit was The Royal Canadian Dragoons based at
CFB Petawawa. Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance said Bouthillier enjoyed challenges and
was an athlete who practised martial arts. ‘He was a joker who made everyone
laugh. His enthusiasm and ardour at work inspired everyone,’ said Vance. He
left behind his parents and a companion.
Trooper
Corey Hayes
Hayes,
22, was a ‘proud and dedicated soldier who always put his friends and family
before himself,’ said Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance. ‘His friends remember him not
only as a friend and a comrade-in-arms, but a brother who inspired them to
stand up in the face of danger, and do what was right.’ Hayes was a member of
Reconnaissance Squadron, 3rd Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle
Group. His home unit was The Royal Canadian Dragoons. He is survived by his
parents.
March
8, 2009: Soldier killed by roadside bomb
A
Canadian soldier is killed and four others injured when their armoured vehicle
strikes a roadside bomb. The group had been patrolling an area northeast of
Kandahar city.
Trooper
Marc Diab
Diab
served with the Royal Canadian Dragoons and was a was a member of the 3rd
Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.
Brig.-Gen.
Jonathan Vance said he was a passionate soldier who ?loved to make people
laugh? and ?never stopped giving.? Diab was also deeply committed to his
church, loved playing soccer, and had a close relationship with his family and
girlfriend.
March
3, 2009: 3 soldiers killed on patrol in Arghandab District
Three
Canadian Forces personnel are killed after an improvised explosive device
detonated near their armoured vehicle during a patrol in the Arghandab
District. Two others were injured in the attack.
Cpl.
Dany Olivier Fortin
From
425 Tactical Fighter Squadron at 3 Wing Bagotville. Fortin, an ardent supporter
of the Montreal Canadiens, was known to his fellow soldiers as ‘Danny-O.’
Warrant
Officer Denis Raymond Brown
From
the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. Brown was a husband and father of four
children. In his civilian life, Brown serves as a police special constable. He
was described as cheerful and upbeat, no matter the challenge he was facing.
Cpl.
Kenneth Chad O’Quinn
From
2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron. O’Quinn,
known as ‘Chad’ by his friends, was described as a ‘proud, dedicated soldier
who had a bright future ahead of him’ and believed he could accomplish anything
in life — a belief shared by those who knew him.
Jan.
31, 2009: One soldier killed by roadside bomb
A
Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan as he participated in a major
operation to locate bomb-making factories in Taliban territory. The soldier was
killed at the tail end of the mission when his vehicle was struck by a
improvised explosive device.
Sapper
Sean Greenfield
Greenfield
was a member of 24 Field Engineer Squadron, 2 Combat Engineer Regiment based
out of Petawawa, Ont., serving with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian
Regiment Battle Group.
Greenfield,
25, was described as exceptionally fit and aspired to join JTF2, Canada’s elite
and secretive special forces team. His fellow soldiers said he had a great
sense of humour and he loved to sing and play guitar.
Jan.
7, 2009: One soldier dead, 3 injured in IED blast
One
Canadian soldier was killed and three injured after an improvised explosive
device detonated near their armoured vehicle in Afghanistan’s Shah Wali Kowt
district. Col. Jamie Cade, acting commander of Task Force Kandahar, called IEDs
a “plague” that is difficult to fight. Over the last month alone, 10 Canadian
soldiers have been killed by IEDs.
Trooper
Brian Richard Good
Member
of the Royal Canadian Dragoons based at CFB Petawawa, Ont., serving with the
3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
Good,
42, is described by fellow soldiers as an easygoing man with a distinctive
laugh, and who was active in his community. He was remembered for his devotion
to his wife, Sandra, and two daughters.
2010
December
18, 2010: Canadian soldier killed in Kandahar bomb blast
A
Canadian soldier was killed when an improvised bomb exploded next to his patrol
in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar.
Corporal
Steve Martin
Cpl.
Steve Martin, 24, of the Royal 22e Regiment, was just two days short of his
25th birthday when he died.
Governor
General David Johnston issued a statement offering his deepest sympathies to
Cpl. Martin’s loved ones.
‘Cpl.
Martin displayed an admirable sense of duty to Canada, bringing great pride to
his unit and to the Forces as a whole,’ he wrote.
August
30, 2010: Soldier dies from IED injuries
A
corporal died from wounds he sustained in an IED blast on Aug. 22 while on foot
patrol in the violent Panjwaii district of Kandahar province.
Cpl.
Brian Pinksen
Cpl.
Brian Pinksen was a member of 2nd Battalion, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment,
based in Corner Brook, N.L.
He
was serving in Afghanistan with 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment
Battle Group.
‘It
is with utmost sorrow that I extend the condolences of all Canadians to the
family and friends of Corporal Brian Pinksen, a brave soldier who died due to
injuries sustained in Afghanistan,’ said Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
July
20, 2010: Soldier killed by explosive device
Sapper
Brian Collier was killed by an IED blast after he dismounted from his vehicle.
He was 24 years old.
Sapper
Brian Collier
Brian
Collier, 24, was a member of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment based at CFB Edmonton.
It was his first deployment to Afghanistan.
‘Previously
injured in a separate IED strike, Sapper Collier fought hard to overcome his
injury in order to get back to doing his job with his comrades,’ said
Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance.
Born
in Toronto and raised in Bradford, Ont., he was serving with the 1st Battalion,
The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.
June
26, 2010: IED claims lives of two Canadian soldiers
Two
medical technicians working with a unit that was on its way to deal with a land
mine were killed on their travels, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar
City, when the vehicle they were in detonated an improvised explosive device.
The
incident occurred at 11 a.m. local time about 20 kilometres southwest of
Kandahar City. Another soldier was injured in the blast.
MCpl.
Kristal Giesebrecht
Kristal
Giesebrecht, 34, was a medical technician attached to the 1st Battalion, The
Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group. She was a member of 1 Canadian Field
Hospital, based at CFB Petawawa.
‘Kristal
loved life to the fullest. She was a wonderful friend, always opening her heart
to everyone in need,’ said Brig.-Gen Jonathan Vance.
Giesebrecht,
originally from Wallaceburg, Ontario and who was married, becomes the third
Canadian woman to be killed in a combat situation.
Pte.
Andrew Miller
Andrew
Miller, 21, was a medical technician attached to the 1st Battalion, The Royal
Canadian Regiment Battle Group. He was a member of 2 Field Ambulance, based at
CFB Petawawa,
He
was called ‘Caillou’ by his friends.
‘Andrew
was very confident in both his soldier and clinical skills. He wanted nothing
more than to be part of the Health Services Unit for ROTO 9, in Afghanistan,’
said Brig.-Gen Jonathan Vance.
Miller
was born in Sudbury, Ontario
June
21, 2010: Soldier killed on joint foot patrol with ANA
An
IED blast claimed the life of a soldier who was on a joint foot patrol with
members of the Afghan National Army near the village of Nakhonay. He was killed
after dismounting from his armoured vehicle.
Sgt.
James Patrick Macneil
From
the 2 Combat Engineer Regiment based at CFB Petawawa, MacNeil was serving with
the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.
Brig.-Gen
Jonathan Vance said Macneil was on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan. He
called him a ‘proud Cape Bretoner’ with a great sense of humour who was always
‘the life of the party.’
June
6, 2010: Soldier killed while searching for weapons
A
Canadian soldier was killed when he was struck by an improvised explosive
device while on a mission to find a stockpile of insurgent weapons southeast of
Kandahar.
Sgt.
Martin Goudreault
Sgt.
Martin Goudreault, 35, was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan when he was
killed. A member of the Edmonton-based 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, his latest
deployment in the Afghan theatre began only one month ago. He was killed on
June 6, 2010 by an improvised explosive device while searching for insurgent
weapons southeast of Kandahar.
May
24, 2010: Soldier killed by IED near Kandahar city
A
Canadian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device, while on a
combat resupply patrol southwest of Kandahar city.
Trooper
Larry Rudd
Trooper
Larry Rudd, 26, was killed while on a combat resupply patrol southwest of
Kandahar city. He was from the Royal Canadian Dragoons and served with the 1st
Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.
‘Larry
was a go-to soldier who always put the needs of his family, his friends and his
fellow soldiers before those of his own,’ said Col. Simon Hetherington, deputy
commander of Task Force Kandahar.
May
18, 2010: Suicide car bomber kills Canadian officer
A
Canadian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan after a suicide car bomber
detonated an explosive device in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 18 people in
total.
Col.
Geoff Parker
Col.
Geoff Parker, of Oakville, Ont. was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 18,
2010 when a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive device. The
highest-ranking member of the Canadian Forces to be killed in Afghanistan,
Parker was the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian
Regiment. Parker was married with two children.
May
14, 2010: IED blast kills Canadian soldier
A
Canadian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan after an improvised explosive
device detonated about 15 kilometres west of Kandahar City while he was on foot
patrol.
Pte.
Kevin McKay
Pte.
Kevin McKay, 24, of Richmond Hill, Ont., was killed when an IED exploded while
he was on foot patrol near Kandahar City.
Known
to his friends as ‘Mickey,’ he was remembered as a generous, dependable,
quick-witted young man who embodied the spirit of the Canadian soldier.
May
5, 2010: Canadian soldier killed in IED explosion southwest of Kandahar City
A
Canadian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan after an improvised explosive
device detonated 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.
Petty
Officer (second class) Craig Blake
Craig
Blake, 37, was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated about 25
kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.
A
native of Simcoe, Ont., he was a member of Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic), based
in Shearwater, N.S. and was trained in improvised explosive device disposal.
Blake
leaves behind a wife and two young children.
April
11, 2010: Canadian soldier killed in IED explosion
A
Canadian soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol in
Afghanistan.
Pte.
Tyler William Todd
Pte.
Tyler William Todd, 26, of Kitchener, Ont., died near the community of
Belanday, about eight kilometres outside the provincial capital.
Brig.-Gen.
Daniel Menard said Todd was a pillar of strength to the other young soldiers he
served with. ‘He never allowed the small things to get to him and was often the
rock upon which his comrades depended,’ Menard said. ‘His enthusiasm and strong
will was an inspiration to his platoon.’
March
22, 2010: Canadian soldier dies of wounds after Afghan attack
A
Canadian soldier died in an Edmonton hospital as a result of injuries sustained
Mar. 6 during a foot patrol in Zhari District, west of Kandahar city, when an
improvised explosive device blew up near his patrol.
Cpl.
Darren James Fitzpatrick
Cpl.
Darren James Fitzpatrick, 21, of Prince George, B.C., was on his first tour in
Afghanistan, serving with the Operational Mentor Liaison Team.
He
was treated in Kandahar, transferred to Germany and to the University of
Alberta Hospital in Edmonton. He passed away surrounded by his family.
Feb.
12, 2010: Soldier killed during weapons training
A
Canadian soldier was killed during a routine weapons training accident
northeast of Kandahar City. Four other soldiers were injured in the incident.
Cpl.
Joshua Caleb Baker
Cpl.
Joshua Caleb Baker, 24, was known for a laugh that ‘would find your ears and
bring a smile to your face,’ according to Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard.
Baker
was serving in Afghanistan as a member of The Loyal Regiment from Edmonton, as
well as with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team
Feb.
10, 2010: Soldier dies while on leave from Afghan mission
The
Defence Department says a soldier who died at home of natural causes while on
leave from Afghanistan will be formally listed as an Afghan casualty.
Capt.
Frank Paul
Following
his death, Capt. Frank Paul was awarded the sacrifice medal and his name was
added to the seventh book of remembrance.
His
family was also presented with the Memorial Cross.
Jan.
16, 2010: Canadian sergeant killed on foot patrol
A
Canadian soldier was killed on foot patrol, near the village of Nakhoney,
southwest of Kandahar city, by a buried bomb. No one else was injured in the
explosion.
Sgt.
John Wayne Faught
Sgt.
John Wayne Faught, 44, was a seasoned section commander, who was respectfully
known as ‘Toast’ because of his hard and crusty personality.
A
native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., he planned to retire in two years. He was on
his third tour in Afghanistan.
2011
October
29, 2011: Soldier dies in Kabul suicide attack
Master
Corporal Byron Greff, who was based in Edmonton with the reconnaissance platoon
of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, died when the
Rhino he was travelling in was rammed by an explosives-packed car. Four other
NATO soldiers, 8 civilian contractors and 4 Afghan civilians were also killed.
Master
Cpl. Byron Greff
Master
Cpl. Byron Greff, who was on his second tour of Afghanistan, was described by a
senior officer as an ‘extremely fit’ soldier who loved hunting and playing
hockey in his free time.
June
25, 2011: Soldier dies in non-combat incident in Afghanistan
Master
Cpl. Francis Roy, who served with the country’s special forces regiment, was
discovered by fellow soldiers early Saturday at a forward operating base in
Kandahar city. He died of non-combat injuries in Afghanistan, the military
said.
Master
Cpl. Francis Roy
Originally
from Rimouski, Que., Roy was on his first overseas deployment with the
country’s special forces regiment.
May
28, 2011: Soldier dies in non-combat incident in Afghanistan
Bombardier
Karl Manning, 31, died in what the military describes as a “non-hostile”
“non-accident” incident. Manning, a native of Chicoutimi, Que., was an
artillery soldier and radar operator, who spent the better part of a nearly
completed tour at a remote base amid the desolate hard scrub villages of
western Panjwaii.
Bombardier
Karl Manning
Bombardier
Karl Manning died in what the military describes as a ‘non-hostile’
‘non-accident’ incident.
Manning,
a native of Chicoutimi, Que., was an artillery soldier and radar operator, who
spent the better part of a nearly completed tour at a remote base amid the
desolate hard scrub villages of western Panjwaii.
March
27, 2011: Canadian soldier killed in IED blast on foot patrol
Cpl.
Yannick Scherrer, a 24-year-old Montreal native, was killed by a roadside bomb
while on a foot patrol in the Panjwaii district.
Cpl.
Yannick Scherrer
Cpl.
Yannick Scherrer, 24, was killed by an improvised explosive device near Nakhonay,
southwest of Kandahar city, while on a foot patrol.
Scherrer was
from Montreal and was on his first tour in Afghanistan
--------
-------------
Afghan president's visit to
Canada quietly scrubbed amid Iraq debate
Macleans.ca Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani listens to a question from the audience at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, Wednesday, March 25, 2015. (Carolyn Kaster/AP/CP). OTTAWA – A series of diplomatic sources say Afghanistan's ... Afghan president's trip to Canada scrapped: SourcesCP24 Toronto's Breaking News Visit of new Afghan president scrubbedHamilton Spectator
AFGHANISTAN'S PRESIDENT GHANI AND
DR. ABDULLAH - WANTED 2 VISIT CANADA ON THEIR USA TRIP 2015- AND CANADA -
Tory-Liberal-NDP-Green-Bloc- put a VETO on it??? WTF????? The greatest
victory in humanity of the last 15 years-
April 5, 2014 election in Afghanistan where 8 million women, their
mommas, grandmas, sisters, brothers and youngbloods marched in the face of
the Taliban Islamic Baby killing marching and freezing horrendous rain storm
and voted.... from the mountains and the valleys... 2 the cities proving our
Canadian and Nato and Afghan troops did NOT die in vain....
OH CANADA- troops and their
mommas and grandmas won't ever 4give this- fix it... or the election of
Canada 2015 is going 2 decimate your political parties.... imho. ARTICLE:
Afghan president's visit to Canada
quietly scrubbed amid Iraq debate
Macleans.ca
Afghan president's visit to Canada
quietly scrubbed amid Iraq debate
Macleans.ca
Afghanistan's President Ashraf
Ghani listens to a question from the audience at the United States Institute
of Peace in Washington, Wednesday, March 25, 2015. (Carolyn Kaster/AP/CP).
OTTAWA – A series of diplomatic sources say Afghanistan's ...
Afghan president's trip to Canada
scrapped: SourcesCP24 Toronto's Breaking News
Visit of new Afghan president
scrubbedHamilton Spectator
PHOTOS:
---
Well, well, well- Switzerland has a neutral army- know they were
in Afghanistan in some position- and Swedes are conscripted.... what do u
think Canada? Good refreshing article from Feb. 2015-
ARMED NEUTRALITY
QUESTION PERIOD: ARMED NEUTRALITY- Feb. 1, 2015 by Bensen
Switzerland
is an beautiful nation, rich in culture and history. One of the terms
commonly associated with Switzerland is “neutral”. “I’m not picking a
side, I’m Switzerland,” might be a common phrase to hear.
Here’s
the interesting thing, though: Switzerland has an army. Yes, the nation
that is known worldwide for being a peacekeeper has a very modern,
well-trained army. Men are actually required to serve in the Swiss Army
for a time after turning 18.
Armed
neutrality isn’t just pursued by Switzerland, though they’re the best
examples of the concept, much of Scandinavia and South America partake in the
“non-aligned movement”, which aims to be a coalition of neutral nations
committed to maintaining international peace.
But
what of Finland, Australia, Canada, South Africa or Mexico? None of
these states are neutral. Should they be?
For
many of these states, known as “middle-powers”, there is a sizable movement
to become armed and neutral. For geographically isolated states like
Australia (or South Africa, arguably) this would be far easier a feat than in
Mexico or Canada (on either side of the United States, the antithesis of
armed neutrality) or Finland (bordering Russia, see above).
But
a country like Mexico or Canada could, indeed, have the most to gain from
armed neutrality. The military could contribute far more to safety at
home, and would end up saving money in the long run by avoiding costly war.
Would
suddenly bordering two neutral neighbours make the United States
bristle? Probably, but remember that Switzerland borders France, itself
a fairly militarized state. A neutral state is actually very beneficial
to its neighbours in many senses; giving diplomats a common place to meet
with adversaries (such as the U.S.-Iranian summit that took place in Bern
last year). Becoming an armed, neutral state could potentially catapult
Canada or Mexico to an increased prominence in North America, and the entire
hemisphere at large.
What
do you think? Is armed neutrality a revolutionary future for middle
powers, or an unrealistic fantasy? Sound off in the poll below.
-------------
And there's
the solution Canada- MAKING MENTAL HEALTH WORK ESPECIALLY WHEN OUR policing
and public are involved with some potentially horrendous situations that need
2 be addressed.... let's get r done.... our Canada's Olympian Clara Hughes
and our Military and Policing and First Responders and Youth- No Bullying Campaign
is working... hell yeah.imho
Hamilton police bring mental health workers along to frontlines |
|
Isaf Canadian Joint Task Force Afghanistan
Related Image with Isaf Canadian Joint Task Force Afghanistan
Video Isaf Canadian Joint Task Force Afghanistan
Download Video/mp4 - Medium
Related video with Isaf Canadian Joint Task Force Afghanistan
http://apkxda.com/isaf_canadian_joint_task_force_afghanistan.html
----------
Nice Share...
Captain
Kamal Kalsi in Times Square Sept. 14, 2009, wearing his Army combat uniform
digital camouflage turban along with his ACU uniform. Kalsi, who is the first
Sikh in the U.S. Army, served as an emergency room doctor and emergency medical
services director.
When
Capt. Kamal Kalsi first arrived in the United States from his native India, he
was a 2-year old toddler, who had been born into a Family with a long history
of military service.
Kalsi
marks the fourth generation of serving in the military, with his great-grandfather
having served in the Royal British army and his grandfather and father having
served in the air force in India. You can view the full article here: http://www.army.mil/…/fort-bragg-doctor-continues-family-hi…
Are you
interested in joining the U.S.
Army? You can begin the enlistment
process here: https://goo.gl/forms/aQH9scPE24
https://www.facebook.com/ArmyFutureSoldierCenter/photos/a.413584395005.357535.292094465005/10155416001840006/?type=1&theater
----
From The Toronto Star: "Canada’s survey of sunken wreck of Franklin expedition ship HMS Erebus would not be possible without the backing of Canadian Forces team." Read on by clicking below. #StrongProudReadyJoint Task Force (North)
Franklin Expedition search: Canada’s military muscle makes it possible
Canada’s survey of sunken wreck of Franklin expedition ship HMS Erebus would not be possible without the backing of Canadian Forces team
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/04/13/franklin-expedition-search-canadas-military-muscle-makes-it-possible.html
---
COUNTERTERROR
FIGHT
04.15.155:25
AM ET
Meet
the General Shaking Up America’s Yemen, ISIS, and Hostage Rescue Plans
Lieutenant
General Bennet Sacolick’s little-known office is grabbing the spotlight with
its review of U.S. hostage policy and ISIS and Yemen strategy.
Army
Lieutenant General Bennet S. Sacolick still remembers the call: The body of an
American hostage had been found in Iraq.
It was
2004, and the Iraqi insurgency was building momentum. Four Blackwater USA
contractors had recently been killed and their burned bodies hung from a bridge
in Fallujah. The Mahdi army, a Shia militia created by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr,
was rising up and Sacolick, then a colonel, was commanding a special operations
task force in Iraq.
After
the call, Sacolick and his men tracked down the insurgents and captured or
killed the group responsible for the kidnapping. It was a single-minded hunt
with little concern for anything but the location of the next target. Sacolick
never considered the victim’s family—either during the hunt for the insurgents
or after the body was recovered near an overpass. The family wasn’t part of the
mission.
“The
Iraqis would love for us to fight their fight for them, but it is a bad idea.”
“We
eventually were able to kill or capture every single one of them, but I never
associated that with a family back home,” said Sacolick, who asked that the
victim not be named for privacy reasons. “I’ve since met the family and they
are wonderful people, and now I’m on the other end of it and I realize there is
a huge tail associated with hostages. Maybe that was my own personal maturing
process, when you realize there was more to it than just what is going on in my
battle space in Iraq.”
That
disconnect between those trying to free the hostage and the family waiting for
news of their loved ones is one reason the Obama administration ordered a
review of how the U.S. government handles hostage negotiations and rescues.
Sacolick, now director of the strategic operational planning directorate, was
tapped to oversee the review, thrusting his little known planning office at the
National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) into the spotlight.
While
not household names, Sacolick and his office play an integral role in the
United States’ counterterrorism fight. They are the architects of the strategy
to combat terrorism worldwide, including the plan to destroy ISIS. In a rare
interview, Sacolick talked to The Daily Beast about the ongoing hostage review;
how his office is rewriting the strategy in Yemen from scratch as the country
disintegrates into a civil war; and how his office is revising the plan to
degrade and defeat ISIS as Iranian-backed militias lead an offensive in Tikrit.
***
The hostage
police review was ordered by President Obama in August, shortly after the video
emerged showing journalist James Foley’s death. The families were not invited
to be a part of the review until December. Christine Wormuth, the
undersecretary of defense for policy, said last year that the review will
include a “specific emphasis on examining family engagement, intelligence
collection, and diplomatic engagement policies.”
Typically,
the FBI is the leading agency that deals with the families. Military special
operations units often conduct the rescue, with recent attempts in both Yemen
and Syria. Much of the criticism of how the U.S. government handles hostage
negotiations focuses on turf wars between the government agencies, poor
leadership, and a lack of compassion and communication with the families.
Foley’s parents said they felt ignored by U.S. officials.
The
Daily Beast has spoken with several families who said they are not regularly
updated and that information gathered by different agencies is not shared,
often forcing families to serve as a bridge. The families also said there is no
clear hostage policy, creating an ad hoc system that leads to delays and a
breakdown of communication.
The
review started with letters to families and former hostages. Sacolick and his
team interviewed in person every single family who lost a loved one or had a
loved one still in captivity.
“I am
the honest broker in the process,” Sacolick said. “I am working directly for
the White House.”
In
addition to interviewing families of hostages and former hostages, the review
team consulted with experts in the government, think tanks, and representatives
of four countries. The interviews brought back Sacolick’s experience in Iraq,
he said. Connecting the people pursuing the safe recovery of a hostage with the
people talking to the family is an important step, he added.
“We
just don’t do a great job of keeping families informed,” Sacolick said. “We can
do better. It is the most traumatic experience of their life. We can do much
better at providing, not just leveraging, all elements of this great, wonderful
government to bring their loved ones back home and doing a better job keeping
them informed. Right now there is a disconnect.”
Sacolick
declined to reveal any of the recommendations in his upcoming report besides a
need for better communication with the families. He said the review is about
halfway complete and is expected later this spring.
***
The
hostage review is one of the highest profile projects on Sacolick’s desk, but
his daily challenge is mapping out the United States’ counterterrorism
strategy.
“Trust
me, someone is scheming against a U.S. Embassy somewhere on this planet every
single day,” Sacolick said. “There are threats emanating from half a dozen
countries. It keeps you up at night, but I am really comfortable with our
country’s posture to prevent that.”
Sacolick
said his career, which has spanned three decades, was good preparation for his
current job. Sitting in his office, Sacolick’s walls tell the story of that
career. A framed plaque commemorates his tour as commanding general of the U.S.
Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, where he
oversaw the training of the Army’s special operations forces. And a framed flag
marks his stint as commander of 1st Special Forces Operational
Detachment—Delta, more commonly known as Delta Force.
Sacolick
enlisted in the Army in 1981 and served with the 2nd Ranger Battalion before
earning his commission a year later. He has commanded at the detachment, troop,
squadron, group, and task force level, including 12 years in Delta Force as a
unit and task force commander during the Iraq War. He has seen combat in Iraq,
Somalia, Bosnia, and Afghanistan, according to his biography.
“I’ve
been involved in every aspect of combating terror at every single level for the
past 30 years,” Sacolick said.
And it
shows in the ways the United States is fighting ISIS and al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the terror outfit’s branch in Yemen. Sacolick’s first
special operations command was with the 7th Special Forces Group, training and
mentoring soldiers from Latin American nations including Colombia, Peru, and El
Salvador. He sees the partnerships with local forces as the way forward,
especially in Iraq.
“The
introduction of American ground forces in large numbers is not the answer,” he
said. “What will we achieve that we couldn’t achieve 10 years ago? Why is now
going to be any different? We’ll just get sucked into a black hole. The Iraqis
would love for us to fight their fight for them, but it is a bad idea.”
Sacolick
said the American people wouldn’t accept another massive deployment of
conventional troops as in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I
think they accept the small footprint that Special Forces provides,” he said,
adding that small numbers of conventional troops like the 82nd Airborne
Division Trainers in Iraq could fit that bill, too.
But
that model depends on a partnership with the local government. Take Yemen,
where the government was overthrown by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. That
forced the United States to remove its special operations forces from the
country—hampering counterterrorism operations and drone strikes against AQAP,
generally considered the most dangerous of the al Qaeda affiliates.
With
Saudi Arabia leading a coalition against the rebels, the violence in Yemen has
turned into a regional proxy war. Sacolick’s staff is rewriting its Yemen
strategy, touted as the president’s counterterror model, from scratch as
conditions on the ground shift daily.
“They
were supporting our CT [counterterrorism] efforts,” Sacolick said. “Now that
government is on the verge of collapse. It is really concerning. We’re talking
about it every day. That is one of those areas where we let it play out.”
But finding
willing partners with a more stable government is hard. Kurdish Peshmerga units
are making progress against ISIS in Syria and northern Iraq. But the same can’t
be said for the Iraqi army. Defense officials announced plans to oust ISIS from
Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, this spring. Iraqi officials said their
forces aren’t ready, however.
Iranian
military advisers and militia fighters have had some success mobilizing the
Iraqis, leading an offensive against Tikrit last month. But the Iraqis’ first
major counterattack against ISIS stalled, forcing the U.S. to break the
stalemate with airstrikes. With the city liberated last week, the militia
victory turned into an orgy of looting and lynching, according to media
reports.
***
Between
80,000 and 100,000 militia fighters are in Iraq fighting ISIS, and the influx
of Iranian fighters and influence is a concern, Sacolick said.
“As
long as they take their orders from Baghdad, I think we’ll be OK,” he said.
“Those were the guys we were fighting five years ago. What happens when rogue
elements decide they don’t like the U.S. Embassy? This is a consideration. We
look at this all the time.”
Sacolick
said ISIS poses a much bigger threat to Iran than the U.S., which could be a
good thing.
“When
ISIL took down Mosul and were moving on Baghdad, you don’t think my counterpart
in the Iranian government wasn’t in a panic?” Sacolick said, using the
government’s preferred acronym for ISIS. “That was probably the most
significant national security crisis they’ve had in a very, very long time.
Let’s leverage them. I am sure they’d love to have American soldiers die on
their behalf, but I’d prefer to have Iranian ones.”
Sacolick’s
staff is reworking the strategy against ISIS, and the revision is due this
month. Sacolick said the shelf life for any strategy is about 36 months before
it needs to be updated, but he is optimistic that the overall plan is working.
“We’ve
been able to disrupt ISIL’s momentum,” he said. “They completely overwhelmed
Mosul and they were on the heels of Baghdad. We were able to disrupt their
momentum. We were able to affect their ability to communicate. We were able to
affect their ability to mass. We were able to affect their ability to
maneuver.”
***
At the
end of the day, Sacolick knows the United States can’t shoot its way to
victory. The only way to win is to change minds, and that fight begins on
social media. A first step is confronting ISIS’s massive social network, which
produces almost 100,000 tweets a day.
“Their
social media apparatus is out of control,” Sacolick said. “We’re just starting
to develop a strategy, a plan to address it, and it is a tough one. I just
don’t think America appreciates the significance of that. Three middle-class
schoolgirls decide they want to be freedom fighters in Syria. How does this
happen in our country? How do we address that?”
Brookings
analysts J.M. Berger and Jonathon Morgan found current efforts to combat ISIS’s
social media campaign wanting, according to a March analysis on ISIS’s Twitter
activity. Morgan and Berger said counter messages from the State Department
were only moderately effective, and most watchers on Twitter tuned in to see
who won the argument. Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group,
called the State Department’s counter-messaging program an “embarrassment,”
according to the report.
Morgan
and Berger argue that any counter messaging has to come from a third party not
affiliated with the U.S. government. Sacolick said a third party from a Muslim
country like Jordan or the United Arab Emirates is needed to spread an
anti-terror message.
“We
have over 60 countries that want to help in some capacity,” he said. “It
doesn’t have to be dollars or dropping bombs.”
But
Sacolick acknowledged there isn’t a single solution to combating terrorism or a
grand strategy to achieve victory, despite his mission. In the end, it will
take battles on all fronts—military, economic, diplomatic—to make any real
difference.
“We
won World War II because we were part of a coalition,” Sacolick said. “Maybe we
need some 21st-century [version] of that. Where is that community of the
willing that all view terrorism as a threat to their national interest? That is
what will be required.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/15/meet-the-general-shaking-up-america-s-yemen-isis-and-hostage-rescue-plans.html
Justin Trudeau's Liberals lose
lead to Tories, support to NDP
CBC.ca For the first time since Justin Trudeau took over the party two years ago, the Liberals have lost the lead in national voting intentions. While that has placed the Conservatives in top spot, it is the New Democrats who have benefited from the Liberals' slip. Suck It Up, Progressives: We Need a Coalition NowTheTyee.ca |
1. Such a difference... - Ask The Old Hippies - Hip...
www.hipforums.com/forum/topic/256840-such-a-difference
Such a
difference... - posted in Ask The Old Hippies: I have not been alive long
enough to watch the world change to what it is now, but I've done my research.
----
In Canada the Environment matters not 2 the tree
cutting poster posers but everyday folks who live and work and are historically
part of Canada’s communities- it matters- SOUTH AFRICA NAILS THE
TRUTH - ARICLE BRILLIANT FROM SOUTH AFRICA- QUOTE: Without new notions of equality and alliances for change beyond
the narrow confines of environmental groupings, new models of economy won’t
emerge and environmentalism will continue to remain at the margins, doing its
usual mop up jobs, rather than contributing to pro-active change.
Picture: Sabino/Flickr
Environmentalists in South Africa are largely seen as lone and
desperate voices. Often they are perceived to be white and middle-class, but
that is changing slowly.Environmentalists remain at the margins of the mainstream economy and outside of key decision-making channels. Where they cannot control the excesses and harm belched out of the belly of a gluttonous economy, they mop up the aftermath.
Their fire fighting battles range from dealing with issues such as acid mine drainage to rhino poaching and the prevention of shale-gas extraction to exposing heavy polluters.
Despite all of these noble efforts and media wars, environmentalists are losing ground. This is not only due to a lack of resources but also because environmentalists have a tendency to form alliances amongst themselves and only talk to each other.
Take, for example, nuclear energy. The anti-nuclear debate is largely confined to a few environmentalists – some lone figures and others trying to work as an organized formation without any real broad appeal.
Despite some public sympathy, in the more than fifteen years that this debate has been raging, environmental groupings have not been able to build a coherent coalition against nuclear power.
Winning the nuclear debate requires a broad-based alliance that will have to involve labour, business lobbies, religious groupings, agencies and individuals that work within government, and the public in general.
It’s hard work and can’t be done alone.
To succeed one also needs a broader political programme - a theory of change for the development of a new political economy.
The idea of a new political economy can’t be invented on its own. It has to be worked out by engaging others outside one’s own fold.
A new political economy can only emerge out of a new value system that restrains our addiction to consumption. The growth in shopping malls all around South Africa is testimony to this surge in consumptive behaviour despite the fact that our populace is heavily indebted.
So who is to blame?
Economic models are based on lifestyle choices. The greater the wants, the bigger the size of the economy and rate at which it must grow. Add to this the fact that nations also compete with each other for power, wealth and status in the world.
These wants are not only shaped by the desire to satisfy basic needs, but also by projects of vanity. Thus capitalism thrives because it can exploit our essential needs through a mark-up on the sale of basic necessities and more so because it exploits the human weakness for addiction to a particular lifestyle. Our growth paradigm commits so-called “consumers” to spending more on things they don’t really need.
We live in a world where flawed ideas about modernity drive the growth of new technologies and innovations in ways that are not always best suited to the needs of the planet and all of its people.
All of this unhealthy consumption takes place in the name of finance, jobs and more taxes.
Financial flows from the government purse, investments from government employee pension funds (South Africa’s is among the largest in the world), the decisions of trade union investment arms and the deployment of surplus capital from finance houses and corporations all shape the nature of the economy, where it invests and how.
In the end, the “growth at all costs” approach is the default compromise position between capital, organized labour and government. While capital, labour and government may seem at odds with each other - as they wrangle over the proceeds of wealth creation and its distribution - they are less questioning of the prevailing economic paradigm and the direction it is hurtling us towards.
As a result, contradictions prevail.
Governments perpetuate the dual problem of environmental and labour exploitation as necessary evils by choosing development models that are at odds with their rhetoric of sustainability, poverty alleviation and labour rights.
Firms encourage management and shareholder greed by incentivising the focus on the bottom line such that they end up working against social wellbeing and the planet’s future. They may be investing capital for economic growth, but at the same time, don’t take responsibility for the damage they cause to nature, labour and society.
Trade union investment arms are also not absolved from perpetuating the prevailing system. These investment arms and pension funds could help to shape a new type of economy, if they would just apply their minds to it.
Environmentalists are not entirely innocent either. Many environmentalists are pleased to do philanthropic work or take care of the mop up job when disaster strikes. However, the reduction of environmentalism to a beneficiary of philanthropy and charity demobilises its political relevance and guarantees it’s continued complicity in the prevailing, highly destructive, global economic system.
In this role, environmentalism merely enables the current system rather than disabling it. Without a theory of change, environmentalism is neither able to advance mechanisms for change nor is it able to demonstrate how a transition to a new kind of economy would be better than the existing one.
Thus, instead of just shouting from rooftops, environmentalists require a new theory of change. This can’t be invented through idealising alone but will have to evolve through active engagement with other organized formations where people are encouraged to seek a new ethos and moral compass for the economy.
Without new notions of equality and alliances for change beyond the narrow confines of environmental groupings, new models of economy won’t emerge and environmentalism will continue to remain at the margins, doing its usual mop up jobs, rather than contributing to pro-active change.
How we win a new economic system is partly a function of resistance. It is also the outcome of a new ethic – the ethic of moderation and less affluent lifestyle choices.
Shifts in the way capitalism works will, in the end, largely depend on the transformation of individual consciousness.
This change has to manifest in the real economy. Growth that is wasteful produces greater inequality and weakens the path to inter-generational sustainability.
Thus, the goals of a low carbon future must be melded to goals for better social development. The fight against inequality has to become an intrinsic part of broader environmentalism and in this regard, present-day environmentalists must be challenged to reflect on how embedded and comfortable they are in the current economic system.
Unless we address the central issue - the morality of our economic system - we will continue to trudge along as if the environmental cause is on track, when clearly it is not.
Related
Articles
AFGHANISTAN- ISAF- Resolute Support Mission – Nato Troops
Resolute Support Mission
NATO's Afghan web documentary Return to Hope has been
nominated for a Webby award -- and we can't win without your help! Please vote
for us here: http://goo.gl/GO4FKu
---------------
Two decades ago, European nations
contributed more than 40 percent of U.N. peacekeepers, she said in a speech in
Brussels. It's less than 7 percent now. U ASK WHY CANADIANS AND AMERICANS UK-AUSSIES-KIWIS
NOT SIGNING UP... why should they when the monsters are treasured over the
victims?
U.S., UN press Europe to return to peacekeeping
By Cara Anna, The Associated
Press 8:31 a.m. EDT March 26, 2015
--------
We have been trying 2 reach 2 for some seniors
and diabiled with their income tax.... Rec centre (contact 902 679-2539 (Gillian) can have the hall from
8 - 2pm free- BUT NOW WE NEED VOLUNTEERS 2 DO THE INCOMETAX FOR SENIOR AND DISABLED
ONLY.... can u put it out on the air waves please DATES- 17 and 24th April FREE.
we would so appreciate your help.
(Gillian at the town hall is the one 2 speak 2 ... we call her xfiles
).... Canada AVR help us track some volunteers- it would -AGAIN- only be 4
seniors and disabled. could not get
answer on ur phone.
The reason we have to be careful about how we
talk about suicide is that, however inevitable depression may be, suicide is
preventable. Suicide rates vary and fluctuate all the time, between genders and
eras and places. People are dying, daily, from our inability to talk about
mental health properly. Partly, this is unavoidable. We simply don’t know
enough about how the brain works. Neuroscience is a baby science, a mere
century old, and our scientific understanding of the brain is nowhere near
where we’d like it to be. We know more about the moons of Jupiter than what is
inside of our skulls.
But there are things we can do right now to save
lives. One is to talk about mental illness in exactly the same way as we talk
about physical illness, without either demonising or glamorising. Sure,
depressed people are often drawn to creative areas, as an outlet. By
externalising internal feelings we make them more bearable. But we must be wary
of any kind of us/them situation.
“The parts of me that used to think I was
different or smarter or whatever, almost made me die,” said the American
novelist David Foster Wallace, who did indeed end up killing himself in 2008.
Kurt Cobain was not a 'tortured genius', he had
an illness
21 years after the death of Kurt Cobain, novelist
Matt Haig says the way we glamorise the suicides of famous artists inhibits our
understanding of mental illness
love
u- thank u.... hug Ireland 4 us.... they are so lucky... and so is our Canada...
u did ur job... and did it brilliant- God bless our troops, our kids and our
Canada. He puts the A in yippee-yi-yA-
Motherf**er....
Stephen
Colbert - Ottawa Shooting - Sings National Anthem "O Canada" -
10/29/2014
-----------------
Ukrainian deployment 'significant'
200 Canadian troops to train military forces
BY BETTY ANN ADAM, THE STARPHOENIX
-------------------
“The big
thing is, the parents were wise enough to report that their daughters were
missing,” Supt. Best said. “It basically came back to the good sense of the
parents to have reported them missing and to have been very candid in
describing what they believed to be the case: that they had left for Syria.”
The investigator
on the case reached the RCMP liaison officer in Cairo early in the morning
local time. The liaison officer immediately began canvassing his contacts in
the Egyptian police, who managed to find the girls before their flight to
Istanbul departed. The Egyptians held the girls and returned them to Canada on
July 17.
“In this particular case,
everything that could go right went right,” Supt. Best said.
How RCMP officers
tracked three Canadian girls in Egypt before they could join ISIL in Syria
Stewart Bell | April
15, 2015 11:37 AM ET
More from Stewart
Bell | @StewartBellNP
------------------
in
Canada's history the only designated Catholic church in the whole country....
with Canada's history of France and Britain wars over ownership of our
Canada.... well on this day women equal men by law in our Canada... our
children f**king mattr- and no religion will ever steal or hijack our
nation.... and globally there are 3.4 Billion Christians... we'll take
baby!.... in Canada women's rights trump any religion... #1BRising - we'll take
it... Pope Francis loves us.... Afghan
women rose in the millions stomping over the vicious Taliban Islamic baby
killing machine and sleeting rain... and voted.... proving humanity lives in
this world... and their devotion in telling us our Canadian troops and ISAF
troops did NOT die in vain.... we'll take it. And God bless a local mayor 4 not
giving up on Canada's founding traditions in our bilingual nation of over 200
Cultures... our Canada. hugs and love
from Old momma nova...
Supreme Court rules prayers can't continue at Quebec council meeting
By: The
Canadian Press
-------------------
VOTE- we
fought so hard as women as disabled as people of minorities....VOTE.... Afghan women
marched on April 5, 2014 in the millions in the face and horror of Taliban
Islamic Baby Killing machine and horrific weather- from mountains 2 villages 2
small towns 2 cities... and voted with their mommas, grandmas, sisters, cousins
and brought their kids and youngbloods and elders.... they were defiiant
beautiful, bold and brilliantly strong Afghan women.... IMAGINE AFTER ALL THE
HORROR.... Afghan women voted.....proving the world's greatest will of basic
humanity and freedoms is more powerful than evil. Afghan women proved 2 the world that our
Canadian troops - your troops... ISAF troops did NOT die in vain.... VOTE....
VOTE... GET OF YOUR ASSES- GET YOUR PROPER ID... AND GET OUT AND VOTE... honour
yourselves and your families... and that nation that embraces u and gives u
hope.... Sweet Jesus, Mother Mary and Joseph.... Afghan women walked the talk
on bombs and poison and acid and purest evil... and voted...... on April 5,
2014 and created the bravest of the brave
#1BRising..... so vote... imho. God bless our troops.
Russia laments 'political games' as foreign minister set to miss Arctic Council
ublished:
Wednesday, 04/15/2015 12:00 am EDT
Two years ago at a conference in
Norway, a high-ranking Russian official elaborated on the benefits of
developing an economic-focused approach to the Arctic.
·
More Related To This Story
Yevgeny Lukyanov, deputy secretary
of Russia’s security council, told an Arctic Frontiers conference in January
2013 that about 11 per cent of Russian GDP is produced in the region and that
the resources there were essential for the economic prosperity of the
country.
At the same conference, Canadian
Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who would become the chair of the Arctic
Council a few months later, talked of "creating economic growth" with
the "help of our Arctic Council partners.”
Canada would eventually oversee the
creation of the Arctic Economic Council, something the Russian Embassy says it
welcomed, and still considers one of Canada’s main achievements during its term
at the head of the multilateral body.
But by the time the economic council
held its first meeting last fall, Russia-Canada relations had soured
tremendously. The Conservative government began taking a hard line against
Russia after what Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called “Russia’s invasion
and illegal occupation of Ukraine.” Canada has sent its military to carry
out missions in Eastern Europe and will now be sending soldiers to train
Ukrainian forces against "Russian aggression." Over the past
year Canada has slapped sanctions on dozens of Russians, and Immigration
Minister Chris Alexander said in February that Russian President Vladimir
Putin has been “behaving like a terrorist."
Ms. Aglukkaq boycotted an Arctic
Council meeting in Moscow last fall to protest Russian action in Crimea.
Now, the Russian Embassy informed media over the weekend, its foreign
minister, Sergey Lavrov, will miss the upcoming Arctic Council meeting in Iqaluit
on April 24-25—the last meeting featuring Canada as chair of the council—and
would be sending its natural resources and environment minister, Sergey
Donskoi, instead.
The decision did not come lightly,
and according to a Russian official had been expected for several weeks. But
the embassy says it was not in retaliation for Ms. Aglukkaq's boycott.
“There was
no question of retaliation, no,” said Kirill Kalinin, second secretary of
the political section and press secretary of the Russian Embassy, in an
interview with Embassy. “The
only question that arose out of the situation is that unfortunately Mr. Lavrov
has a very tight schedule."
But the deep freeze runs deeper than
missed ministerial connections: the embassy says it is largely frozen out of
all diplomatic activity in Ottawa these days.
"We've been deprived of the
opportunity to meet with the Canadian government, with our colleagues in the
department of foreign affairs, to discuss vitally important issues. Of course
that's very unfortunate,” said Mr. Kalinin.
“Our main task is total
normalization of ties between Russia and Canada, and co-operation in the Arctic
is one of the fields where we strive to do that. We don’t believe that there
should be any sort of political games around the Arctic. We should be focused
on helping each other and co-operating.”
The Arctic “is a territory for
dialogue, not confrontation,” argued Mr. Kalinin. “We should be working
together closely, no matter what kind of issues we might have.”
Russian
‘threats’
Dialogue with Russia isn’t exactly a
Canadian priority right now. Canada announced April 14 that it would be
deploying "approximately 200 Canadian Armed Forces personnel" to
Ukraine until spring 2017, to train "Ukrainian forces personnel,"
explicitly to help Ukraine "in its efforts to maintain sovereignty,
security and stability in the face of Russian aggression."
As well, speaking to reporters via
teleconference on April 10, Associate Minister of National Defence Julian
Fantino outlined how an annual military operation in the North showed how “we
can be proud of the response of our Canadian Armed Forces to the threats posed
by the Russians.”
Operation Nunalivut, based around
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, is a “large scale military exercise” with army, navy
and air force participation, according to National Defence. The affair is
sometimes billed as a device for military diplomacy. In 2013, for example, the
military said the operation would welcome observers from Norway. This year, a
press release did state that “many community, allied and governmental partners”
would be involved.
Mr. Fantino would only name the
United States through NORAD as foreign observers. “They are present here, they
are part of our North American defence system, they’re part of the exercise.
And other than that, it’s for the most part Canadian assets, Canadian interests
and Canadian government representatives,” he said during the teleconference.
It's only the latest military effort
to be tied to anti-Russian sentiment by Ottawa, as tensions continue to rise. Last
year Canada stood up an air task force in Romania featuring six CF-18 fighter
jets and 200 personnel, the defence department says, and relocated in September
to Lithuania, which borders Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad. This March,
Canada sent 125 soldiers as part of "multinational training
opportunities."
cmeyer@embassynews.ca
@ottawacarl
@ottawacarl
More from Embassy - Canada's Foreign Policy Newspaper
---
Nails it... just nails it..... u know what... THE WORLD’S
EVERYDAY PEOPLE NEED 2 PICK A DAY AND RISE UP... AGAINST IMF- UNITED NATIONS...
AND MEDIA FEEDING $$$GREED....
QUOTE: But equally important is responsibility. In all the
rage about migration, one thing is never discussed: what we do to cause
it. A report published this week by the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists reveals that the World
Bank displaced a staggering 3.4 million people in the last five years. By
funding privatisations, land grabs and dams, by backing companies and
governments accused of rape, murder and torture, and by putting $50bn into
projects graded highest risk for “irreversible and unprecedented” social
impacts, the World Bank has massively contributed to the flow of impoverished
people across the globe. The single biggest thing we could do to stop migration
is to abolish the development mafia: the World Bank, International Monetary
Fund, European Investment Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development.
Refugees don’t need our tears. They need us to stop
making them refugees
--------------
Why have First Nations leaders and councils and
all governments of Canada - Provinces and Territories not picked up on this....
why are all of them wasting so many lives and time - Canada- we can't afford
electing politicans who only know how 2 bitch and not act and accomplish...
imho.- seriously all ethnic but CANADA'S FIRST PEOPLE... and believe us all....
CANADA IS THE ONLY NATION.... doing anything at all... United Nations and their
offshoots scream whilst doing not a thing but poser protesting with nature's
trees 4 their signs... God us old folks r tired... so tired... come on Canada
please. And God bless the brilliant and
honest journalists of this world... they are as rare as protectors of our
children of this world..imho- Good on our First Nations Mi'kmaq peoples... who
find solutions... instead of sitting on their arses along with elected
politicians. They make promises and keep
them. imho
N.S. Mi’kmaq help with forensic research for
missing person cases
CLARE MELLOR STAFF REPORTER
Published April 19, 2015 - 8:34pm
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BLOG:
CANADA MILITARY NEWS: Water- Canada’s glorious
water…./Canada history… /Canada let’s preserve our water better and drink from
taps instead of killing whales and wildlife with plastic eh?/ NOVA SCOTIA
CANADA’S MI’KMAQ PEOPLES OF NOVA SCOTIA- ATLANTIC CANADA.... SHOWED US
IMMIGRANTS HOW 2 FIND WATER, HUNT, FISH AND SURVIVE/ International Water Day
March 22, 2015
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Inuit seek offshore reversal
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — A tiny Inuit village is to ask a
federal court today to overturn a regulatory decision that OKs offshore energy
exploration.
“Our hunting culture is at stake," said
Jerry Natanine, mayor of Clyde River, a Nunavut community of about 1,000 people
about midway along the eastern coast of Baffin Island.
The judicial review in Toronto is considering
last June’s National Energy Board approval of a Norwegian consortium’s plan for
a five-year program of seismic tests in Davis Strait along the island’s entire
length. The testing, which uses loud, high-intensity sounds to help map the sea
floor and the geology underneath, is to begin this summer.
The people of Clyde River have concerns about the
impact those sounds could have on the marine mammals and fish they depend on.
And they have plenty of company.
The Baffin Mayors Forum, made up of all the
communities on Baffin Island, joined with Clyde River at the original energy
board hearings, and regional and territorial Inuit groups agree the tests are a
bad idea.
So does the Nunavut Marine Council, which
represents Nunavut’s wildlife management bodies.
A wide spectrum of 44 nongovernmental groups and
individuals are also supporting Clyde River: from Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and
Amnesty International to faith-based groups such as KAIROS. It’s an unusual
coalition, in that Inuit groups have often viewed such southern groups with
suspicion.
“This is a human rights issue," said Warren
Bernauer, who’s helping co-ordinate Clyde River’s supporters and organizing a
rally with a feast of seal and whale meat outside the courthouse.
“We’re still in a situation where these proposals
are being shoved down the throats of the people of Nunavut."
Natanine said he hopes the judicial review will
stop testing until a strategic environmental assessment is complete.
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To all our aged Vets who cannot be honourable
accepted 2 local hospitals like Camp Hill in Halifax because of outdated and
way 2 many aged civil servants who still control elected MPs and all
governments- saw this in the 60s and 70s... and Sweet Jesus, Mother Mary and
Joseph.... in Canada... a Vet is a Vet... PERIOD... all parties stop
showboating on tv and media 4 your political parties... work 2gether and fix
this sheeet... or we ill kick all your asses out of our parliaments... and
that's a damm promise.... the underground silent majority of everyday people
have had enough... and NDP, Tory, Liberals, (Greens just don't give a sheeet-
move on this one) and Bloc..... we mean all of u.... ENOUGH OF YOUR PRETEND U
CARE. We want results... Camp Hill has beds... why should our service men and
women die in such horror and rejection from municipal, provincial and federal
governments... who just don't give a sheeeeet... except 4 a news blurb??? God
bless our folks who serve... thank u... IT'S FRIDAY FOLKS... how about a little
red something something 4 our troops....
----------------
QUOTE: The
most beautiful as well as the most ugly inclinations of man are not part of a
fixed biologically given human nature, but result from the social process which
creates man
QUOTE: Leave it to a Christian
nation to have this much compassion for humanity.
Italian police have arrested 15
Muslim migrants in Palermo for allegedly having thrown Christian refugees off
the rubber boat that was taking them to Italy after a fight for “religious
reasons”, according to media reports.
Those arrested – from Mali,
Guinea and Ivory Coast – were part of a group of 100 that were rescued off the
Libyan coast by the Italian coastguard.
After their arrival in Palermo,
the other migrants informed police that 12 Christian refugees were hurled off
the boat and killed after a religious row with the 15 Muslims that were later
arrested. Among the arrested is a 17-year-old, according to Repubblica
newspaper.
The incident occurs after as many
as 400 migrants fleeing Libya are feared to have drowned when their boat
capsized 24 hours after departing the North African coast. Italy’s coastguard
has rescued 144 people but several hundred others are feared dead given the
size of the vessel.
Italian coastguard said they have
“continuously” rescued up to 10,000 people since Friday (10 April
Muslims Take Twelve Christians
And Throw Them Off A Ship And Have Them Drowned. The Italians Come Over, Rescue
The Christians And Punish The Muslims
-------------
O Canada- when School Board Officials do NADA
NADA NADA -posted 2 THE BULLY PROJECT- our saviour and our friend of each and
every child/youth on this planet...
QUOTE:
The department also could not comment on the case
due to confidentiality rules.
Murrant said he doesn’t want to see the boy
expelled. Rather, he would have the student removed from school for a time so
he can get the therapy he needs.
“He poses a threat to all of the students, not
just my son," said Murrant. “He needs to be worked with one-on-one with a
professional educator." He said one of the reasons he has gone public with
his ordeal is to help other students suffering from the effects of bullying.
Sydney man fed up with bullying of son
ANDREW RANKIN CAPE BRETON BUREAU
Published April 16, 2015 - 8:00pm
-----------------
WHERE IS HAMAS? HEZBOLLAH? MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD?
Why aren't u helping ur Islamic Refugees? - World Silent as ISIS Slaughters
Palestinians
As described by the Guardian in an article dated
March 5, 2015 – before the latest ISIS attacks – Yarmouk is “a refugee camp
designed as a safe haven for the Palestinian diaspora that had become the worst
place on earth. No electricity for
months. No piped water. No access for food.”
The Guardian article then noted how the plight of
Yarmouk residents was worse than the much ballyhooed situation in Gaza “because
the siege was more comprehensive; Yarmouk was a prison from which there was no
escape. Unlike in Gaza, where UNRWA has several offices, the organisation
cannot enter Yarmouk at all.”
World Silent as ISIS Slaughters Palestinians
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History Spotlight: 100 Years for
Canada's Navy
Canada Royal Air Force- and the Great War
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History and Heritage- History of
Canada Army
------
100 years of immigration in Canada
by Monica Boyd and Michael Vickers
http://history404.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/49707647/100%20years%20of%20immigration%20in%20Canada.pdf
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Nellie McClung and the Great War
A champion of
women’s rights, Nellie McClung also supported pacifism — until her eldest son
signed up to fight.
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CANADA- The 100-year conflict that is the First World War
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