NATIONAL NEWS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / SOMMAIRE DES NOUVELLES NATIONALES
ADM(PA) / SMA(AP)
August 11, 2011 / le 11 août 2011
MINISTER / LE MINISTRE
Operation Jaguar
Dozens of Canadian troops are heading to the Caribbean this week to assist the Jamaican military with
medevacs and search and rescue during the region's annual hurricane season, Defence Minister Peter
MacKay announced Wednesday in Trenton, Ont. As part of Operation Jaguar, which could last until the
end of November, Canada will deploy three CH-146 Griffon helicopters as well as 65 Canadian Forces
personnel from Canadian Forces bases in Goose Bay, N.L., Bagotville, Que., and Trenton. The
assistance comes at the request of the Jamaican government as the Jamaica Defence Force lacks
helicopters suitable for such operations. "This deployment . will once again demonstrate that the men and
women of the (Canadian Forces) have world-class military skills and discipline and a global reputation
that is second to none," added LGen Marc Lessard (T. Cohen: EJ A9, RLP A11, Ctz A3, Gaz A17, VTC
A6, VSun B5, MT&T C13, WStar D8, VProv A25; J. Lessard: ESun 66, KWS 9, LFP B2; CP: HCH B3; A.
Woods: TStar A10).
Minister Mackay Infrastructure Announcement
Defence Minister Peter MacKay will be talking infrastructure investment, not defence, in Halifax on
Monday, leading to speculation he will confirm federal cash for a proposed convention centre. Mr.
MacKay's office contacted the Halifax Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, "looking to address our
membership and the business community about federal investments on infrastructure in Nova Scotia's
economy," a chamber news release said Wednesday. Mr. MacKay, the MP for Central Nova and the
province's lone federal minister, is scheduled to speak at 7:50 a.m. Neither Mr. MacKay nor his
spokespeople added anything further Wednesday (D. Jackson: HCH A1).
ASSOCIATE MINISTER / MINISTRE ASSOCIÉ
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
CDS / CEM
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
CANADA IN AFGHANISTAN / LE CANADA EN AFGHANISTAN
U.S. Kills Taliban Who Shot Down Helicopter
Kabul NATO-led forces killed the Taliban rebels responsible for shooting down a U.S. helicopter last
weekend but not the insurgent leader targeted in the doomed mission, the top U.S. and NATO
commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday. The disclosure by General John Allen came during a
briefing on the crash that killed 30 U.S. forces. He acknowledged the main Taliban leader sought in the
Aug. 6 operation was still at large. "Did we get the leader that we were going after in the initial operation?
No, we did not," he said. "And we're going to continue to pursue that network" (Reuters: TSun 34, CSun
24, ESun 24, NP A11, LFP B1, VProv A22).
CF OPERATIONS IN LIBYA / OPÉRATION DES FC EN LYBIE
NATO Denies Killing 85 Libyan Civilians
NATO and Libyan officials both refuted damaging claims Wednesday in the six-month-old civil war, with
NATO insisting its airstrike killed soldiers and mercenaries, not 85 civilians, and the state-run TV
apparently showing Moammar Gadhafi's youngest son alive to counter rebel allegations of his death.
NATO spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie said the Libyan claim of civilian casualties in an airstrike near the
western front-line town of Zlitan "was not corroborated by available factual information at the site." NATO
aircraft hit a staging base and military accommodation 10 kilometres south of Zlitan, Lavoie said from the
operational command in Naples, Italy. Four buildings and nine vehicles within the compound were struck
with precision-guided munitions, he said (AP: HCH B2).
Libyan State Television Shows Gaddafi's Son
Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son has appeared on state television just days after rebels battling the
regime reported his death, which Tripoli denied at the time. The broadcaster aired footage of what it said
was a visit Tuesday by Khamis, 28, to a hospital to meet "victims of NATO raids." It was the first time he
had been seen in public since Aug. 5, when a rebel spokesman said a NATO attack on an operations
centre in Zlitan, western Libya, had killed 32 people, including the feared military commander (AFP: NP
A11).
Libyan rebels Say Brega within Grasp
Libya's rebels said yesterday they were on the verge of capturing the coastal oil town of Brega, in what
could be a decisive step toward unlocking the country's oil wealth and forcing out Muammar Gaddafi.
"This is the most important place for the oil," rebel field commander Faraj Moftahi told Reuters behind the
frontline, which runs through sand dunes topped with scrub to the east of Brega (Reuters: MT&T C3).
OPERATION NANOOK / OPÉRATION NANOOK
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
PROCUREMENT / APPROVISIONNEMENT
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
OTHERS / AUTRES
MP Galipeau Sticks with Military Support Decals
Ottawa-Orléans Conservative MP Royal Galipeau says he has no intention of taking down two oversized
"Support Our Troops" decals he pasted up in the windows of his new Parliament Hill office. When he
moved into a second-floor office in Confederation Building in June, Galipeau put the camouflagepatterned decals in windows overlooking the corner of Bank Street and Wellington Street. The oversized
ribbons are clearly visible from a block away. Galipeau says he has received no complaints about his
signs. "Nobody has ever raised it and the whip (Gordon O'Connor) never raised it," he said. Galipeau
says he never had any complaints when he had the same decals up in his office in the Promenade
building and, before that, in the third floor of the West Block building (G. McGregor: Ctz C6).
Armed Forces Owns Rights to Yellow Ribbon
You can tie a yellow ribbon around your old oak tree for free. But if you want to use a yellow ribbon and
the phrase "Support Our Troops" in your business you're going to have to pay Ottawa for the privilege.
The Department of National Defence has owned the copyright to the phrase and the yellow ribbon image
since 2007, said Department of National Defence public affairs officer Capt. Rob Bungay. He said
Canada adopted the yellow ribbon campaign after its success in the United States in a merchandising
launch in May 2005. Subsequent to its introduction, a registration for trademark protection was submitted
in mid-2006 and it was formally registered in early 2007. Proceeds from the sale of yellow ribbon products
such as magnets, decals, shirts and ball caps go to Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support
Services on behalf of current and former members of the Canadian Forces and their families, said
Bungay (S. Llewellyn: FDG A1, NBTJ A5, MT&T A6).
NATO Drifts into Irrelevance: Comment
J.L. Granatstein: The crisis in financial markets - and the coming budget cuts in many nations - will surely
hit the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Britain is slashing its defence budget, as are
the Americans, the Italians, the Greeks, and even Canada, arguably the soundest economy in the West.
These cuts will weaken NATO even more, the alliance already reeling after a decade of bumbling
incompetence. Bumbling incompetence: is that too harsh? NATO's ability to cajole its members to send
troops has been very limited, as Canadians discovered when, after the Manley Report of 2008 called on
NATO to put a paltry 1,000 troops into Kandahar province to support the hard-pressed Canadian Battle
Group, the alliance essentially came up dry. Only the U.S. came through, poor old Uncle Sam once again
stepping up to the plate. It wasn't much better when the Libyan intervention began early in 2011. This
should be a sharp wake-up call for the Alliance members, the leading democratic states of the world. But
there is almost no sign that any of the nations around the table in Brussels cares. In diplomacy as in
baseball, it's three strikes and you're out. Afghanistan was strike one; Libya was strike two. And strike
three? No one yet knows where the next call for action might be - Syria? - but if NATO funks it again, then
the pressure from Ottawa and, possibly, Washington may be irresistible (Ctz A10).
Section: News
Byline: Tobi Cohen
Outlet: Edmonton Journal
Headline: Troops will help during Jamaica's hurricanes
Page: A9
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
Dateline: OTTAWA
Source: Postmedia News
Dozens of Canadian troops are heading to the Caribbean this week to assist the Jamaican military with
medevacs and search and rescue during the region's annual hurricane season, Defence Minister Peter
MacKay announced Wednesday in Trenton, Ont.
As part of Operation Jaguar, which could last until the end of November, Canada will deploy three CH146 Griffon helicopters as well as 65 Canadian Forces personnel from Canadian Forces bases in Goose
Bay, N.L., Bagotville, Que., and Trenton.
"Our government is committed to ensuring that our Canadian Forces are ready to assist our allies on the
world stage, if and when the call comes," MacKay said.
"I could not be more pleased that our men and women in uniform will be working alongside members of
the Jamaica Defence Force during that country's coming hurricane season."
The assistance comes at the request of the Jamaican government as the Jamaica Defence Force lacks
helicopters suitable for such operations.
Part of the Military Training and Co-operation Program, the mission will be an opportunity for Canadian
troops to impart their search-andrescue knowledge to their Jamaican counterparts, and will also be a
chance for them to brush up on their own skills.
"This deployment . will once again demonstrate that the men and women of the (Canadian Forces) have
world-class military skills and discipline and a global reputation that is second to none," added Lt.-Gen.
Marc Lessard.
Jamaica's rainy season runs from May to November with hurricanes most likely between June and
September.
The last major hurricane to hit Jamaica came in 2007 when Hurricane Dean ravaged the country, leaving
three people dead and causing some $310 million US in damage.
In 2004, Hurricane Ivan left 17 Jamaicans dead and caused $360 million in damage.
Back to Top
Section: News
Lead: CFB TRENTON, Ont. -- In response to a request from the Jamaican government, Canada will
deploy three CH-146 Griffon tactical helicopters and 65 Canadian Forces personnel to support the
Jamaica Defence Force during hurricane season.
Headline: Canuck troops on storm mission
Page: 66
Byline: JEROME LESSARD, QMI AGENCY
Outlet: The Edmonton Sun
Illustrations:
enton to
make Wednesday's announcement.
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
CFB TRENTON, Ont. -- In response to a request from the Jamaican government, Canada will deploy
three CH-146 Griffon tactical helicopters and 65 Canadian Forces personnel to support the Jamaica
Defence Force during hurricane season.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay made the announcement Wednesday morning.
MacKay said Operation Jaguar will undertake critical lifesaving tasks both inland and over water, starting
this Friday. The mission will wrap up at the end of November.
One search and rescue helicopter and seven search and rescue technicians from CFB Trenton will be the
first deployed to Jamaica.
The rest will be deployed from 5 Wing Goose Bay, N.L., Valcartier, Que., and 17 Wing Winnipeg.
The Jamaica Defence Force needs Canada's help because it doesn't have helicopters capable of search
and rescue and medical evacuation flights.
© 2011 Sun Media Corporation
Section: Canada
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: Canadian Forces offer storm aid to Jamaica
Page: B3
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
TRENTON, Ont. (CP) - Canada is sending three helicopters and 65 military staff to Jamaica to help out
during what is expected to be a rough hurricane season.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the military will assist with search and rescue during the season,
which lasts through November.
The announcement at CFB Trenton on Wednesday follows a request from the Jamaican government.
Forecasters say high ocean temperatures and atmospheric conditions point to an above-average storm
season in the Caribbean.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration is predicting seven to 10 hurricanes.
Canada and Jamaica have been increasing their military ties in recent years.
"Our government is committed to ensuring that our Canadian Forces are ready to assist our allies on the
world stage, if and when the call comes," MacKay said in a news release.
"I could not be more pleased that our men and women in uniform will be working alongside members of
the Jamaica Defence Force during that country's coming hurricane season."
Section: News
Headline: Military to aid Jamaica during storms
Page: A10
Byline: Allan Woods Toronto Star
Outlet: Toronto Star
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
Canada is sending military helicopters and dozens of personnel to assist Jamaican authorities through
the island's hurricane season this summer and fall.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced the assistance package Wednesday at CFB Trenton. It will
include three Griffon helicopters and 65 Canadian Forces members to conduct search-and-rescue
activities through to November.
More than a dozen tropical storms have been forecast to hit the Caribbean nation over the coming
months and Jamaica's Office of Disaster Management and Emergency Preparedness has cautioned that
people living in flood-prone areas and along the coast are particularly vulnerable. Floods and landslides
are always a threat, as are rough waters that can cast sailors and fishermen adrift.
The Jamaican Defence Force, the country's military, does not have the ability to carry out search-andrescue functions or medical evacuations. The Griffons have a crew of three and can carry up to 10
passengers or six stretchers.
The assistance follows $2.1 million in funding from the Canadian International Development Agency for a
three-day disaster simulation exercise that involved the Jamaican health minster, the police, military and
other local agencies.
In August 2007, Hurricane Dean hit the south coast of Jamaica and sent locals heading for higher ground
as vicious winds ripped roofs off of houses and torrents of rain wiped out roads.
In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 storm, left 18,000 people homeless and killed more
than a dozen. The worst recorded storm to hit Jamaica dropped almost a metre of rain in some places
and blew in furious winds of 180 km/h.
Section: Front
Byline: David Jackson Provincial Reporter
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Illustrations:
the city on Monday to talk about infrastructure investment. (Christian Laforce / Staff)
Headline: MacKay to talk infrastructure dollars in HRM; Return trip fuels speculation about federal
cashfor convention centre
Page: A1
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
Defence Minister Peter MacKay will be talking infrastructure investment, not defence, in Halifax on
Monday, leading to speculation he will confirm federal cash for a proposed convention centre.
MacKay's office contacted the Halifax Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, "looking to address our
membership and the business community about federal investments on infrastructure in Nova Scotia's
economy," a chamber news release said Wednesday.
MacKay, the MP for Central Nova and the province's lone federal minister, is scheduled to speak at 7:50
a.m.
Neither MacKay nor his spokespeople added anything further Wednesday.
"The minister will address the Halifax Chamber of Commerce to discuss economic and infrastructure
initiatives for the province," communications director Jay Paxton said in an email.
Premier Darrell Dexter said he will be at the breakfast. He said he is aware of what MacKay will talk
about, but he is not spoiling the minister's announcement.
Dexter said he has thought all along that there was no reason to expect the project wouldn't go ahead.
Speaking generally about the negotiations, he said things come up that one can't predict, but "at this
point, I would anticipate that we'll have a successful conclusion to the project."
The province applied in early January for $47 million from a federal infrastructure fund to help pay for a
new $159-million convention centre. The province and Halifax Regional Municipality would be responsible
for $56 million each.
That price was good until mid-January, but that extended to mid-April. The estimated cost now is
unknown.
MacKay said Monday the federal government was "ready to go," but he didn't confirm federal support and
said there were still issues to be worked out. He referred questions to the developer, Rank Inc., headed
by Joe Ramia.
Ramia has been out of town and unavailable for comment this week.
The convention centre is part of a bigger development called Nova Centre.
The private part of the project includes a hotel, financial office tower and retail, residential, and
commercial space.
The Rank website said tenants for 75 per cent of the project are in final negotiations.
Dexter said he couldn't comment on whether the tenants that were lined up are still on board.
"We have to allow Mr. Ramia to do what he has to do, from the province's perspective. We have to allow
the federal government to make their own announcement. It's no good for us to go getting in the middle of
all of that."
The centre had been slated to open in January 2015.
Mayor Peter Kelly said he will be at the breakfast Monday, but he doesn't know whether MacKay will
deliver federal support.
"I'm not sure what his intentions are, but he is speaking to the business community through the chamber
and I look forward to his comments," Kelly said.
Convention centre opponent Phil Pacey, a Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia spokesman, said he is
concerned about MacKay's request to speak to the chamber on short notice but still hopeful Ottawa will
say no.
"We certainly feel there are many more desirable projects in Nova Scotia," Pacey said. "Our infrastructure
is generally in bad shape and a lot could be done in the province."
The Heritage Trust is a member of the Save the View from Citadel Hill coalition, which has lobbied
against the centre.
Pacey said the group has research that shows convention business is in decline and questions the
province's projected economic benefits. But Dexter said the project would be good for the city, province
and region.
Halifax could draw national conventions for the first time, Dexter said, and conventioneers often use the
events as a "jumping-off point" for vacations.
"It would not surprise me if the majority of the benefit of the project actually spun out into the rest of the
province."
Section: News
Lead: WASHINGTON/KABUL -- NATO-led forces killed the Taliban militants responsible for shooting
down a U.S. helicopter last weekend but not the insurgent leader targeted in the doomed mission, the top
U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said on Wednesday.
Headline: Taliban pay for Chinook shooting 30 Navy Seals, troops died when chopper hit by grenade
Page: 34
Byline: PHIL STEWART AND PAULTAIT, REUTERS
Outlet: The Toronto Sun
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
WASHINGTON/KABUL -- NATO-led forces killed the Taliban militants responsible for shooting down a
U.S. helicopter last weekend but not the insurgent leader targeted in the doomed mission, the top U.S.
and NATO commander in Afghanistan said on Wednesday.
The disclosure by General John Allen came during a briefing on the crash that killed 30 U.S. forces--most
of them elite Navy SEALs -- in the single deadliest incident for the U.S. military in the Afghan war. Eight
Afghans were also killed in the crash in a remote valley southwest of Kabul.
STILL AT LARGE
Allen acknowledged that the main Taliban leader sought in the Aug. 6 operation was still at large.
"Did we get the leader that we were going after in the initial operation? No, we did not," Allen said. "And
we're going to continue to pursue that network."
U.S. President Barack Obama flew to Dover Air Force Base on Tuesday to watch the arrival of the
remains of those killed.
Allen defended the decision to send in the elite team, saying it was necessary to chase militants who
were escaping an ongoing operation that targeted an important Taliban leader.
'STRUCK BY RPG'
"We committed a force to contain that element from getting out. And, of course, in the process of that, the
aircraft was struck by an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) and crashed," Allen told Pentagon reporters via
video-conference from Kabul.
Allen said a subsequent air strike around midnight on Aug. 8 killed other Taliban insurgents believed to be
behind the attack.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said those killed were Taliban leader Mullah
Mohibullah and the insurgent who it said fired the shot that downed the CH-47 helicopter.
It said the two men were trying to flee the country-- presumably to safe havens in neighbouring Pakistan.
© 2011 Sun Media Corporation
Section: World
Byline: Rami Al-shaheibi; Slobodan Lekic
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Illustrations:
ts to show Moammar Gadhafi's
youngest son, Khamis Gadhafi, left, visiting an injured man in a hospital in Tripoli, Libya, on Tuesday.
(Libyan State TV / AP)
Headline: NATO denies killing 85 Libyan civilians; Libya rebuts report ofGadhafi's son's death
Page: B2
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
Source: The Associated Press
BENGHAZI, Libya - NATO and Libyan officials both refuted damaging claims Wednesday in the sixmonth-old civil war, with NATO insisting its airstrike killed soldiers and mercenaries, not 85 civilians, and
the state-run TV apparently showing Moammar Gadhafi's youngest son alive to counter rebel allegations
of his death.
NATO spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie said the Libyan claim of civilian casualties in an airstrike near the
western front-line town of Zlitan "was not corroborated by available factual information at the site."
NATO aircraft hit a staging base and military accommodation 10 kilometres south of Zlitan, Lavoie said
from the operational command in Naples, Italy. Four buildings and nine vehicles within the compound
were struck with precision-guided munitions, he said.
"With our surveillance capabilities, we monitored this military compound very carefully before striking it,"
Lavoie said. "A number of military or mercenary casualties were expected due to the nature of the activity
we monitored."
"Our assessment, based on the level of destruction of the buildings, confirms the likelihood of military and
mercenary casualties," he said.
Meanwhile, Libyan state television broadcast images of a man it said was 27-year-old Khamis Gadhafi,
who commands one of the best trained and equipped units in the Libyan military.
Rebels had claimed Friday that Khamis Gadhafi was killed in another airstrike in Zlitan. The regime
dismissed the allegation and said the rebels were only trying to deflect attention from the killing last week
of the opposition's military commander, possibly by other rebels.
The images on television showed the son at a Tripoli hospital visiting people wounded in a NATO airstrike
and said it was on Tuesday. If genuine, it would be the first time he has been seen in public since the
reports of his death.
State television also showed funerals for dozens of civilians it said were killed in the NATO airstrike near
Zlitan, about 140 kilometres southeast of Tripoli.
The channel has been airing images in black and white to honour a three-day mourning period for the 85
people the government said lost their lives in Zlitan.
A day earlier, state television ran images of Libyans rummaging through the rubble of buildings the
government said were destroyed by the airstrike. They were shown digging out body parts and piling
dead babies in sacks in the back of ambulances. It said 33 children and 32 women were among those
killed.
Also Wednesday, rebel fighters moved closer to Libyan coastal towns held by Moammar Gadhafi, scoring
another significant gain in an offensive launched over the weekend, a spokesman said.
By sundown, the rebels had reached positions 20 kilometres south of the coastal town of Zawiya and five
kilometres south of the town of Surman, said Abdulsalam Sloga, a rebel spokesman in Libya's Nafusa
mountain range, southwest of the capital of Tripoli. Fighters also moved forward on the road to Aziziya, a
town south of Tripoli, he said.
Reaching the coast near Tripoli would mark a significant breakthrough in the civil war, which has been
deadlocked for long periods.
Section: World
Outlet: National Post
Illustrations:
Headline: Libyan state television shows Gaddafi's son, reported dead, visiting hospital
Page: A11
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
Source: Agence France-Presse
Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son has appeared on state television just days after rebels battling the
regime reported his death, which Tripoli denied at the time. The broadcaster aired footage of what it said
was a visit Tuesday by Khamis, 28, pictured, to a hospital to meet "victims of NATO raids." It was the first
time he had been seen in public since Aug. 5, when a rebel spokesman said a NATO attack on an
operations centre in Zlitan, western Libya, had killed 32 people, including the feared military commander.
A spokesman in Tripoli said the claim was untrue. "Basically the news about the killing of Khamis by a
NATO air strike are very dirty lies to cover the mur-der of civilians in the peaceful city," said spokesman
Mussa Ibrahim. Khamis, who trained at a Russian military academy, commands the much-feared Khamis
Brigade, one of the regime's toughest fighting units.
Section: International
Headline: Libyan rebels say town within grasp; n Oil town Brega could be major step to ousting Gaddafi
Page: C3
Outlet: Times & Transcript (Moncton)
Byline: Reuters u
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
NEAR BREGA, Libya - Libya's rebels said yesterday they were on the verge of capturing the coastal oil
town of Brega, in what could be a decisive step toward unlocking the country's oil wealth and forcing out
Muammar Gaddafi.
"This is the most important place for the oil," rebel field commander Faraj Moftahi told Reuters behind the
frontline, which runs through sand dunes topped with scrub to the east of Brega.
From a hill overlooking a turquoise Mediterranean, rebel artillery shells could be seen sending up clouds
of dust and smoke on the town's northern edge. Gaddafi's forces responded with an occasional shell or
rocket.
Moftahi said his men had already ventured briefly into the town and he hoped to move in in force in the
next day or so.
NATO aircraft have been helping the rebels, attacking Gaddafi's forces around Brega almost every day,
and Moftahi said the advance would have to be coordinated with the alliance.
Once they had captured the town, the rebels would need to push on, however, because the port and oil
terminal are about 15 km (10 miles) to the west of the town.
"It's a very important step for our forces... we'll take it and go on to Misrata," he said, referring to a rebelheld town further west along the coast.
OPEC member Libya is the third-largest oil producer in Africa and holds the continent's largest crude oil
reserves. It produced 1.6 million barrels of oil a day before the uprising against Gaddafi's 41-year-rule
erupted in February.
Brega is one of several oil terminals now lying idle on the coast.
Near the rebel-held eastern town of Ajdabiya, regional commander Fawzi Bukatif ran his hand over a
map, pointing to a web of pipelines running from the central desert to the coast.
"After we get Brega they will have nowhere to make a stand," he said of Gaddafi's forces. "It will be easy
to clear this area. This is half the country: the oil is between the east and the middle."
Section: City
Byline: Glen McGregor
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
window of his Parliament Hill office.
Headline: Galipeau sticks with military support decals; Tory MP hasn't had any complaints
Page: C6
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa-Orléans Conservative MP Royal Galipeau says he has no intention of taking down two oversized
"Support Our Troops" decals he pasted up in the windows of his new Parliament Hill office.
When he moved into a second-floor office in Confederation Building in June, Galipeau put the
camouflage-patterned decals in windows overlooking the corner of Bank Street and Wellington Street.
The oversized ribbons are clearly visible from a block away.
A caucus colleague of Galipeau's, Alberta Conservative Rob Anders, was told by thenparty whip Jay Hill
to remove a pro-life message posted in his East Block window in 2008. Anders took down the sign that
said "Defend Life" after a Liberal Senate staff member complained.
At the time, Hill said that signs in parliamentary office windows, regardless of the message, were not
allowed.
"It's a long-standing policy. It just makes eminent sense to me," he told the Hill Times newspaper.
Galipeau says he has received no complaints about his signs. "Nobody has ever raised it and the whip
(Gordon O'Connor) never raised it," he said.
Galipeau said he saw nothing wrong with a political message displayed in a Parliament Hill window.
"This office is a political office. This is Parliament Hill and politics happens on Parliament Hill."
Galipeau says he never had any complaints when he had the same decals up in his office in the
Promenade building and, before that, in the third floor of the West Block building. Galipeau notes that the
West Block sign was up so long that it was photographed by Google and can still be seen on Google
Maps' Street View feature.
He said he wasn't concerned about the precedent set by Hill's order to Anders.
"Jay Hill wasn't known to be the most even-handed holder of that office," Galipeau said. Hill retired as an
MP last year. No one in the Speaker's Office was available this week to say if there are rules on window
decorations for MP offices.
The Support Our Troops stickers and magnets have caused controversy elsewhere. The city of Toronto
ordered them removed from fire trucks and ambulances in 2008. Then-mayor David Miller said the fire
department received calls from people concerned the city was taking a position on the war in Afghanistan.
Galipeau bought the signs at a Canex store on CFB Petawawa He says the message of his signs is clear.
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. The sign says support our troops. That's what I'm saying."
Section: Main
Headline: Armed Forces owns rights to yellow ribbon; Copyright | Image can't be used for corporate
types of promotion, says military
Page: A1
Outlet: The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)
Byline: STEPHEN LLEWELLYN llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
You can tie a yellow ribbon around your old oak tree for free.
But if you want to use a yellow ribbon and the phrase "Support Our Troops" in your business, you're going
to have to pay Ottawa for the privilege.
The Department of Natural Defence has owned the copyright to the phrase and the yellow ribbon image
since 2007, said Department of National Defence public affairs officer Capt. Rob Bungay.
"Although we appreciate and encourage individuals' personal support of the Canadian Forces through the
display of the yellow ribbon, the use of the department's intellectual property in corporate promotional
matter cannot be supported," he said in an email.
"The unauthorized use of the yellow ribbon in commercial advertising could mislead the public and
Canadian Forces members with regard to the companies' association with the official Support Our Troops
program; and/or DND's endorsement of the companies over that of their competitors."
He said Canada adopted the yellow ribbon campaign after its success in the United States in a
merchandising launch in May 2005.
Subsequent to its introduction, a registration for trademark protection was submitted in mid-2006 and it
was registered in early 2007.
The first Canadian yellow Support Our Troops ribbon was introduced as a car magnet, and it's now one
product in an extensive selection of Support Our Troops items available for purchase, said Bungay.
"In a nutshell, the policy allows Canadians to license the image to aid in the promotion of goodwill events
and activities in support of our troops while prohibiting the use of the symbol in association with the
promotion of for-sale goods and services that have no direct association with the members of the
Canadian Forces or of their families," he said.
Proceeds from the sale of yellow ribbon products such as magnets, decals, shirts and ball caps go to
Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support Services on behalf of current and former members of the
Canadian Forces and their families, said Bungay.
"In addition to ongoing contributions, over $3.5 million has been distributed to all bases, wings and units
across Canada to support new and existing morale and welfare initiatives at the local level," he said.
The Armed Forces has also licensed the use of the yellow ribbon to 85 entities for the promotion of their
fundraising event or activity, including many private individuals as well as some well-known organizations
such as the Calgary Flames hockey club, said Bungay.
The military takes its copyright seriously. But Bungay said usually a call or a letter is enough to handle
unauthorized use.
Companies interested in using the yellow ribbon should contact the national manager of strategic
communications at Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support Services, said Bungay.
The Riverview Ford car dealership in Fredericton has a large yellow ribbon on its signage and Nick
McCarthy, general manager and vice-president, said he has no problem with the symbol being
copyrighted by the military.
"We haven't heard anything about it," he said Wednesday. "We've had no problems. No one's mentioned
anything to us."
McCarthy said the company began using the yellow ribbon after being contacted by officials from
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown when Canadian soldiers were first deployed to Afghanistan.
"They were getting local businesses to support the troops overseas," he said. "They were selling those
and we purchased them at that time and put them up and they've been up ever since.
"I didn't even know that they copyrighted that."
McCarthy said it's nice the military controls the symbol.
"There's all kinds of people around that are trying to make a buck off of causes that are important to
people," he said.
Oromocto Mayor Fay Tidd also said she was surprised to learn the yellow ribbon is copyrighted, but she
had no concerns about it.
"It's a great compliment to those that have the yellow ribbon on their buildings or in the windows of their
cars and houses and wear the yellow ribbons on pins," she said Wednesday.
Tidd said there are yellow ribbons on almost every business, church and public building in Oromocto.
"The ribbons have been everywhere for the last couple of years," she said.
Tidd said she was pleased to hear the money went to Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support
Services .
Bob Lockhart, a retired military officer and commentator on military matters who lives in Fredericton, said
he's surprised, but not concerned, the military has copyrighted the yellow ribbon.
"Certainly the military is very open in seeking the support of the Canadian population for the work that the
military does," he said.
In terms of legal control, he said he would rather see the rights to the yellow ribbon owned by the military
than a private company seeking to make a profit off of such an important public symbol.
"In the hands of the military, there is probably a better chance that it would be used for its original
purpose," he said.
The yellow ribbon isn't the only image controlled by the military.
Lockhart said it's illegal in Canada to wear a military uniform and pretend to be a soldier, sailor or airman
or woman.
Another symbol related to war that's copyrighted is the poppy, which is the property of the Royal
Canadian Legion, he said.
Section: Editorial
Byline: J.L. Granatstein
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Headline: NATO drifts into irrelevance
Page: A10
Date: Thursday 11 August 2011
Source: Citizen Special
The crisis in financial markets - and the coming budget cuts in many nations - will surely hit the countries
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Britain is slashing its defence budget, as are the Americans, the
Italians, the Greeks, and even Canada, arguably the soundest economy in the West. These cuts will
weaken NATO even more, the alliance already reeling after a decade of bumbling incompetence.
Bumbling incompetence: is that too harsh? NATO has been in Afghanistan officially since mid-2003,
running the International Security Assistance Force which has been fighting the Taliban and mounting
Provincial Reconstruction Teams around the country. But NATO's ability to cajole its members to send
troops has been very limited, as Canadians discovered when, after the Manley Report of 2008 called on
NATO to put a paltry 1,000 troops into Kandahar province to support the hard-pressed Canadian Battle
Group, the alliance essentially came up dry. Only the U.S. came through, poor old Uncle Sam once again
stepping up to the plate.
Nor were the NATO nations eager to fight anyone in Afghanistan, the Americans, British, and Canadians
being almost alone in their willingness to take on the Taliban. The other members sheltered behind
caveats - we don't fight at night, they said, or we can't go into the south - and alliance solidarity crumbled,
although every nation was happy to get soft billets on the ISAF headquarters staff. It was no edifying
spectacle; it remains so.
It wasn't much better when the Libyan intervention began early in 2011. The Gadhafi regime was seen as
a soft touch, one that had plenty of muscle available to in terrorize its own population, but one that would
crumble in a few days under the weight of a NATO air assault. The United States came in heavy, firing off
its cruise missiles, and NATO, led by the British, French, Canadians, and the Nordic nations put up
fighter-bombers in substantial numbers. But the Americans quickly withdrew, leaving the job to the
alliance members, and the intervention began to peter out. The Libyan rebels could not get their military
act together, their politics and policies almost completely murky. And the Gadhafi regime would not fold.
The leader might have been mad, but he was no weakling, and he hung on with much support from his
army and mercenaries.
NATO will probably prevail in Libya - if prevailing means that some kind of deal will be struck for powersharing between the rebel fanatics and the Gadhafi loyalists. NATO is unlikely to win in Afghanistan unless winning is defined as some kind of deal reached eventually between the theocratic Taliban and the
corrupt Karzai government. But what this all means is that the North Atlantic alliance will have fought two
wars in the first 11 years of the new century and lost - or failed to win - both.
This should be a sharp wake-up call for the Alliance members, the leading democratic states of the world.
But there is almost no sign that any of the nations around the table in Brussels cares. Oh, there are
studies and reports, new plans and policies, all followed by pledges of action and reform. But nothing
really changes, and the financial crises of 2008 and 2011 guarantee that less money will be put up for
defence by the alliance members. What it all amounts to is that Washington will be required to do the
lion's share of global military action - if the U.S. budget crisis and Republican-Tea Party isolationists will
permit this. We're all in trouble.
And where does this leave Canada? Ottawa has been fed up with the way most NATO members hid
under the bushes to avoid Afghanistan and Libya while Canadians fought and died. That ought to lead to
a serious re-examination of the utility of the alliance, of its worth to us in the immediate and longer-term
future. But NATO contains most of our friends in the world and, while the grumbling among the mandarins
and politicians continues, there is unlikely to be any immediate interest in pulling out.
But in diplomacy as in baseball, it's three strikes and you're out. Afghanistan was strike one; Libya was
strike two. And strike three? No one yet knows where the next call for action might be - Syria? - but if
NATO funks it again, then the pressure from Ottawa and, possibly, Washington may be irresistible. NATO
has lasted more than 60 years, but even historic alliances can become so attenuated and powerless that
their irrelevance can no longer be ignored.
Historian J.L. Granatstein is a senior research fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs
Institute.
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