executive news summary/sommaire des nouvelles nationales
N ATIONAL N EWS E XECUTIVE S UMMARY / S OMMAIRE DES NOUVELLES NATIONALES
ADM(PA) / SMA(AP)
November 12 2010 / le 12 novembre 2010
M INISTER / L E M INISTRE
Retirement Rumours: Comment
Chantal Hébert: Even before he had to fend off rumours of an imminent departure from federal politics,
Defence Minister Peter MacKay already had some key attributes of a lame duck minister. On a week when the top file in his department has been front and centre at home and abroad, the defence minister spent more time denying that he would soon follow former environment minister Jim Prentice out of politics than manning the front line in the debate over the follow-up to the Canadian combat mission in
Afghanistan. By all accounts, Mr. MacKay was not so much missing in action as kept out of it. With leaks of Canada’s possible extension of its mission in Afghanistan, in a training role, Mr. MacKay was not kept in the loop. With the leaks maturing into full-blown media reports on Sunday, the minister was consigned to confirm but not flesh out the story on CTV's Question Period. As more details were forthcoming, it was
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s communications director, Dimitri Soudas, who did the media rounds.
The power of the PMO has been in ascendancy at the expense of the federal cabinet for a number of decades, but that evolution has rarely been as blatantly obvious as over the past two weeks. After this week, it will be harder to convince voters that Mr. MacKay plays an essential role in Harper's regime. But
then that is also true of the vast majority of his current cabinet colleagues ( TStar A1 ).
L. Ian MacDonald: At a Remembrance Day gala, Defence Minister Peter MacKay was put in the awkward position of having to deny he was about to follow Jim Prentice out of cabinet and into the private sector. Mr. MacKay insisted, “I have no plans to leave this job.” Let's hope not. Just as Prentice's exit as environment minister was a perfectly staged getaway from politics, so too would it be the worst possible time for Mr. MacKay to leave his present portfolio – at the very moment Canada is negotiating an extended stay in Afghanistan. It is not an appropriate time for Mr. MacKay to leave his post. And he would be the first to say so. The Americans have asked us to stay in Afghanistan, despite abandoning us on our bid for a Security Council seat. However, of course we should stay in Afghanistan, in the name of sharing the burden. But we have held the fort in Kandahar and paid a heavy price. That should be our message. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mr. MacKay
are the messengers ( ESun 15 , CSun, LFP
A10, KWS 4, TSun 20, WSun 13, OSun 15).
Afghan Withdrawal: Comment
Ottawa Citizen editorial: It would be a disservice to the memories of our fallen soldiers if a botched, hasty exit were to imperil the achievements of Canada's nine-year combat mission in Afghanistan. So the government is right to craft a non-combat, transitional role for the Canadian Forces beyond 2011. Mr.
MacKay has said the government is considering leaving some troops behind in a training role, “out of
Kandahar, behind the wire.” The government must make clear exactly what it expects Canada's new training mission to entail. If the trainers accompany the Afghan soldiers into the field, that could hardly be described as an end to the combat mission. Even if the Canadians are confined to a training centre in
Kabul, there could still be casualties. The House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian
Mission to Afghanistan concluded: “We have come too far, and sacrificed too much to abandon the people of Afghanistan.” That much is clear. What hasn't been clear is what that engagement will look like, on the military and civilian fronts, after next summer. The more details Mr. Harper can provide about his
strategy, the more effective that strategy will be ( Ctz A10 ).
Remembrance Day
Defence Minister Peter MacKay noted in a media statement the passing of the First World War generation: “This year, Canada mourned the passing of John "Jack" Babcock, our last known veteran of the First World War. His passing signified the end of an era in Canadian military history and, as such, was
marked with a solemn ceremony at the National War Memorial on April 9th, Vimy Day.
” He also remarked on the dwindling ranks of Second World War and Korean War veterans : “Their torch has been passed to us, and our solemn duty is to remember they sacrificed their lives for Canada and the world” (B.
, SSP C11, EJ A4, NBTJ A8, FDG A11, MTT C1; Staff: Gaz A7 , VProv A31).
Shipbuilding Contracts: Comment
Don Martin: If potash protectionism was a precedent, serious trouble is ahead for a government which continues to value its political payoff above all other considerations. It suggests the mother of all regional squabbles is in the offing as the federal government pits three electoral battlegrounds against each other in a fierce competition for its massive ship-buying spree. But with one bidder in Quebec and another in
Halifax, in Mr. MacKay's home province, the largest west coast shipbuilder, Washington Marine Group, is wondering if the political fix is in. If the selection process is anything but totally shipshape, western
alienation will be back on deck. The West, they will howl anew, Wants In ( EJ A14 ).
Aviation Agreement with Qatar
Coverage of Canada’s aviation agreement with Qatar noted the recent dispute with the UAE that included the UAE refusing airspace access to a flight carrying Mr. MacKay and Gen Walt Natynczyk . The military did not say whether Canada will try to negotiate access to a US airbase in Qatar for its military transports
after having been ejected from the UAE (M. Fisher: Gaz B6 , VTC B4).
Minister’s Personal Life
Coverage profiled Nazanin Afshin-Jam, who is reputed to be the new girlfriend of Mr. MacKay (J. Smith:
CDS / CEM
Veterans Charter
Changes to the controversial New Veterans Charter could come as early as next week, Veterans Affairs
Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said. Mr. Blackburn said he hopes to introduce legislation next week that will update the new charter with "a new chapter." Most of the proposed changes were announced in
September. The lump-sum payment, which was been criticized by veterans and CDS Gen Walt
Natynczyk , will also be reformed so vets will have the choice of a onetime payment or staggered payments worth the same amount. Mr. Blackburn said the changes mean the most seriously wounded
soldiers would receive a minimum of $58,000 a year plus the lump-sum payment (A. Raj: ESun 10 , OSun
6, KWS 9, LFP B1).
Remembrance Day
Gen Walt Natynczyk called the turnout at the Ot
tawa memorial “amazing” (B. Campion-Smith: TStar
M ILITARY P OLICE C OMPLAINTS C OMMISSION / C OMMISSION D ' EXAMEN DES PLAINTES
CONCERNANT LA POLICE MILITAIRE
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
C ANADA IN A FGHANISTAN / L E C ANADA EN A FGHANISTAN
Afghan Mission
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is reluctantly deploying military trainers to Afghanistan for three years because he does not want the past sacrifices of Canadian soldiers to be in vain. Mr. Harper said: “I do this with some reluctance but I think it is the best decision when one looks at the options . … The facts on the ground convince me that the Afghan military needs further training .” At the same time, he said that
, VProv A34, WStar C1, NP A1, CH A5, VSun B1, MTT C1; D. Akin: OSun 7 , LFP B1, KWS 9, TSun
21; H. Scoffield: HCH A1 , CG A7, SJT C10).
When asked about his previous unequivocal insistence on a complete withdrawal, Mr. Harper said: “Look,
I'm not going to kid you . … Down deep, my preference would be, would have been, to see a complete end to the military mission.
” Mr. Harper didn't say how big a commitment he will approve, how many
Canadian soldiers will serve as trainers after next July, or the nature of the training. But he suggested the new mission will run until 2014. Coverage noted that about 325 CF troops are currently in training missions in Afghanistan, including about 125 doing classroom instruction in secure staff colleges and
Harper revient sur sa décision
Le premier ministre Stephen Harper affirme qu'il a décidé avec réticence de revenir sur sa décision de retirer les militaires canadiens d'Afghanistan l'an prochain. M. Harper, qui a tenu ces propos en marge du sommet du G20, qui se déroule à Séoul, en Corée du Sud, a affirmé qu'il avait dit à ses alliés de l'OTAN en des termes qui ne laissent aucune place au doute que le rôle de la mission de combat tirait à sa fin. Il a expliqué que les arguments selon lesquels les troupes afghanes n'étaient pas prêtes à être laissées seules et que le Canada pouvait participer à leur formation avaient du mérite. Depuis des mois, les pays de l'OTAN font pression sur M. Harper pour le persuader de revenir sur sa décision. Mais hier, il a soutenu qu'il ne succombait pas à la pression, mais a décidé de reconsidérer son choix en se basant sur
AN 17).
Afghan Mission: Comment
Globe & Mail editorial: Canada must step back in Afghanistan, but the suggestion that Canadian troops are to be safe “inside the wire” in Kabul is at best a clumsy bit of political subterfuge. The need for a continued presence by CF in Afghanistan beyond the end of the Kandahar mission in 2011 is compelling.
To withdraw Canadian and NATO soldiers in 2011 would be tantamount to handing victory to the Taliban.
It is, as Mr. Harper says, “too early.” The Afghan National Security Forces are rapidly gaining strength, numerically and in terms of their professionalism. The Afghan National Police today are the most trusted public institution in the country. Increasingly, Afghans are in a position to fight their own war, but they are not there yet. The end of Canada’s mission should be 2014, when President Hamid Karzai says Afghan troops will be able to provide their own security. Canadian casualties will be reduced, perhaps dramatically so. But to pretend that Canada can play a critical training role while remaining safely cocooned is an artifice. So long as there are Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, there will be a risk of
Michael Den Tandt: What took the Harper government so long? It was always likely, if not inevitable, given the situation on the ground and Canada's alliances, that we would keep an armed force of some kind in Afghanistan beyond July, 2011. This is also, it so happens, the right thing to do. It is true that a majority of Canadians favour an absolute pullout now. That is the government's fault: They have never managed to articulate the subtleties of the mission or make it plain why we are there. If Canada maintains a force of several hundred, as has been reported, the CF will continue to take casualties. But the families of the soldiers who have died there, and all those who have been injured, and all those serving now and preparing to serve, will take comfort in knowing that this country didn't simply walk away from a difficult
mission because it was no longer politically easy ( CSun 15 ).
Remembrance Day in Afghanistan
At strongpoints and fire bases across Kandahar's Panjwaii district -- everywhere where Canadian combat troops are deployed "outside the wire" to fight the Taliban -- solemn tribute was paid to fallen comrades on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. BGen D. Milner said: “Truly, this is a day to reflect. It is a significant day in our lives .” Family members of soldiers who died in Afghanistan were in the country
Soldiers serving in Afghanistan were the first to receive the newly designed poppy coins on
Remembrance Day. About 14,400 poppy quarters in all were distributed to Canadians Forces members, including those deployed elsewhere in the region, such as the recently closed Camp Mirage. This year's coin was designed in partnership with the Royal Canadian Legion. The mint said 11 million of the quarters
will find their way into circulation (M. Stephenson: CSun 4 , ESun 13, TSun 26, OSun 4, WSun 10, KWS
9).
O THERS / A UTRES
Remembrance Day
Coverage included Remembrance Day ceremonies and observances across the country (Staff: NP A6 ; J.
, WStar C1, VProv A31; C. Chan: VProv A3
, CSun 4, TSun 26, OSun 4, KWS 9, WSun10; S. Logan: CSun 5
; J. Gerson and L. Storry: CH B1
Cérémonies du jour du Souvenir
Les familles de huit soldats canadiens qui ont perdu la vie lors de la mission en Afghanistan ont fait le voyage à Kandahar pour prendre part aux cérémonies du jour du Souvenir. Elles se sont jointes aux près de 200 soldats rassemblés mercredi matin au cénotaphe de l'aérodrome de Kandahar. Et lors de la cérémonie, le commandant de la mission canadienne à Kandahar, le brigadier général Dean Milner, a affirmé à la foule présente qu'il était essentiel de se rappeler que les soldats morts au combat en
Afghanistan avaient perdu la vie pour la "cause commune de l a liberté et de la décence humaine". La
cérémonie dans ce pays a ressemblé à celles se tenant aux quatre coins du Canada ( Dr 4 ).
A Ottawa, des dizaines de milliers de personnes se sont réunies autour du Monument commémoratif de g uerre du Canada. Aux traditionnelles deux minutes de silence ont succédé le passage de quatre chasseurs CF18, puis 21 coups de canon. Le gouverneur général, David Johnston, qui présidait pour la première fois la cérémonie, a ensuite déposé plusieurs gerbes de fleurs au pied du monument. Le nouveau ministre de l'Environnement, John Baird, représentant le premier ministre, a ensuite imité son
De nombreuses personnes ont assisté, hier matin, à la cérémonie commémorative annuelle pour le jour du Souvenir qui avait lieu à la 3e Escadre de Bagotville. Comme le veut la tradition, deux minutes de silence ont été observées à 11h le 11e jour du 11e mois , soit l'heure à laquelle la Première Guerre mondiale a pris fin, en 1918. La cérémonie a débuté par une parade rassemblant plusieurs escadrilles
C'est au pied d'un cénotaphe entièrement restauré qu'ont eu lieu les cérémonies commémorant le jour du
Souvenir, hier, dans la capitale. Pour le président de la filiale 4 de la Légion royale canadienne, Jean-Guy
Perreault, les citoyens de Fredericton ont ainsi voulu démontrer leur attachement envers ce symbole. Au moins 2000 personnes étaient présentes, selon certaines estimations. Il s'agissait, selon M. Perreault, d'une foule record pour un 11 novembre dans la capitale. Parmi les dignitaires qui ont pris part aux cérémonies se trouvaient le lieutenant-gouverneur, Graydon Nicholas, le député de Fredericton-Lincoln et ministre de l'Énergie, Craig Leonard, ainsi que le ministre national du Revenu et député fédéral de
Fredericton, Keith Ashfield ( AN 4 ).
Remembrance Day as Statutory Holiday: Comment
National Post editorial: Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod has put forward a private member's bill calling for Ontario to make Remembrance Day a statutory holiday. Ms. MacLeod's heart is clearly in the right place, and every option to honour and support veterans is worth considering. However,
Ms. MacLeod's well-intentioned idea should be voted down. Remembrance Day is a sad time for many
Canadians, including a whole new generation of Afghan war veterans and the loved ones our fallen have left behind. Let's never turn the day we set aside to honour their efforts into a chance to relax amongst the
White Poppies
MP Jason Kenney commented on the controversy being generated by anti-war protestors wearing white poppies. He said if Canada had stayed home during the Second World War, it would have sent a message of surrender : “We could have stopped fighting. We could have put on the white poppy and stayed home .” Coverage noted that some protesters laid wreaths adorned with white poppies at the
National War Memorial (S. Logan: CSun 5 ).
Commissionaires Agreement
The relationship between the CF and the Commissionaires is about to get a lot closer with a formal agreement that ensures military personnel injured in the line of duty can find new employment with the security company. The Return to Work memorandum is the first formal agreement between the
Commissionaires and the Department of National Defence (S. McCulloch: VSun A2 ).
Veterans Charter: Comment
Jean-Pierre Blackburn, VAC minister: Over the past seven weeks, our government has unveiled a series of new measures totalling more than $2 billion for our veterans and their families. We have made all of these changes for only one reason: because it was our duty to do so. Our government is committed to making sure our CF personnel, veterans and their families have the support they need – when they need
Sexual Assault Accusation: Letter
The letter from VAdm Bruce Donaldson about an Ottawa Citizen
editorial was reprinted ( SSP A13 ).
Section: News
Headline: MacKay has wings clipped in lame duck cabinet; Defence minister's absence on
Afghan file highlights power of the Prime Minister's Office
Page: A1
Byline: Chantal Hébert Toronto Star
Outlet: Toronto Star
Illustrations:
Defence Minister Peter MacKay appeared to be out of the loop this week.
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Even before he had to fend off rumours of an imminent departure from federal politics on
Wednesday, Peter MacKay already had some key attributes of a lame duck minister.
On a week when the top file in his department has been front and centre at home and abroad, the defence minister spent more time denying that he would soon follow former environment minister Jim Prentice out of politics than manning the front line in the debate over the follow-up to the Canadian combat mission in Afghanistan.
By all accounts, MacKay was not so much missing in action as kept out of it.
As soon as Parliament tooled down for the Remembrance week last Friday, Foreign Affairs
Minister Lawrence Cannon picked up the phone to give his opposition critic a heads-up that the government was reconsidering its long-held commitment to end Canada's military presence in
Afghanistan next year.
According to Bob Rae, the conversation fell well short of a comprehensive briefing on the specifics of the government's intentions.
Nor, it seems, did Cannon expand on the rationale for the new Conservative tack.
But then Rae would hardly have required a play-by-play account of the reasons that might justify a belated federal decision to recommit a significant number of troops to Afghanistan after 2011.
He and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff had been arguing since June that Canada should trade its soon-to-end combat role for a training one.
Until last week, it looked like Ignatieff would go into the next election campaign as the only federal leader to have promoted an extension to Canada's military presence on an unpopular front. This was one policy the Liberals should not mind being forced to share with the ruling
Conservatives.
In hindsight, one clear purpose of Cannon's call was to allow government spin doctors to present the new twist in the Conservative thinking on Afghanistan as part of a consensual bipartisan process.
On the heels of the call, government spin doctors proceeded to leak the gist of its content to the media - never failing to mention that the Liberals were aware of ongoing policy developments on
Afghanistan.
At least Cannon was allowed a phone call and Rae and Ignatieff were made to look like they were in the loop.
The same cannot be said of MacKay.
With the leaks maturing into full-blown media reports on Sunday, the minister was consigned to confirm but not flesh out the story on CTV's Question Period.
Within 24 hours, more details were forthcoming - all in the shape of leaks and many involving operational details related to MacKay's defence department.
But, the next day still found him on the bleachers while Stephen Harper's communications director, Dimitri Soudas, did the media rounds.
The sight of an unelected partisan staffer apprising Canadians of their government's thinking on a top-of-mind defence and foreign policy issue that involves committing hundreds of Canadian men and women to a war theatre for an extra three years was unprecedented.
The power of the PMO has been in ascendancy at the expense of the federal cabinet for a number of decades, but that evolution has rarely been as blatantly obvious as over the past two weeks.
Outside Parliament Hill, a collective shrug greeted the announcement that environment minister
Prentice was leaving the cabinet for a private-sector career. Given Prentice's shrinking political profile, most Canadians had to take the near-unanimous word of Parliament Hill columnists that his departure was a big loss to the government.
After this week, it will be harder to convince voters that MacKay plays an essential role in
Harper's regime.
But then that is also true of the vast majority of his current cabinet colleagues.
Chantal Hébert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Lead: At a Remembrance Day gala in Toronto on Wednesday night, Defence Minister Peter
MacKay was put in the awkward position of having to deny he was about to follow Jim Prentice out of cabinet and into the private sector.
Headline: MacKay should stay Now is not the time for defence minister to follow Jim Prentice
Page: 15
Byline: L. IAN MACDONALD
Outlet: The Edmonton Sun
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
At a Remembrance Day gala in Toronto on Wednesday night, Defence Minister Peter MacKay was put in the awkward position of having to deny he was about to follow Jim Prentice out of cabinet and into the private sector.
Less than a week after Prentice stepped down to become vice-chair of CIBC, MacKay denied he was in talks to join Gowlings, a national law firm.
"I've got the best job in the country and I'm thrilled to be here," MacKay told reporters at the glittering black-tie benefit for military families.
"I have no plans to leave this job."
STAGED
Let's hope not. Just as Prentice's exit as environment minister was a perfectly staged getaway from politics, so too would it be the worst possible time for MacKay to leave his present portfolio -- at the very moment Canada is negotiating an extended stay in Afghanistan.
Canada is looking at downsizing our contingent from 2,500 to less than 1,000 troops, and the mission re-profiled from a combat role in Kandahar to training Afghan soldiers and police in
Kabul.
With a NATO summit in Lisbon next week, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper is likely to announce the renewed-but-reduced Canadian commitment, one which should largely remove our troops from harm's way, it is not an appropriate time for MacKay to leave his post. And he would be the first to say so.
These negotiations with the Americans and other NATO partners are at a delicate stage. The prime minister maintains any training role would be "inside the wire" in Kabul, while the
Americans are pressing us to mentor Afghan trainees "outside the wire" as well.
The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, has gone to extraordinary lengths, giving an interview in which he publicly put pressure on Canada to accept a mentoring role.
"Yes," he said, "they go outside the wire and depending on where they are they may face an environment that's less than safe."
It's one thing to be pressing the government through diplomatic and military channels, and quite another to be leaning on it in public.
MIA
The Americans went missing in action during Canada's failed bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council last month.
Their UN ambassador, Susan Rice, who is married to a Canadian, was away from her post in
Africa, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't lift a finger for us, nor did U.S. President
Barack Obama make so much as a phone call on Canada's behalf.
Yet before the Indian Parliament this week, and in front of the whole world, Obama endorsed
India's bid for a permanent seat on an expanded Security Council.
And then the Americans come knocking at our door again, asking us to assume a role that could involve our troops being placed in harm's way once more, when Canada's casualties in
Afghanistan, 152 dead and hundreds wounded, are already disproportionate.
Harper is the man who has to make the phone calls to the families of the dead, and he has called it the hardest part of his job as prime minister.
He shouldn't have to think very hard about this -- of course we should stay, in the name of burden sharing, and as a reliable NATO ally of the U.S.
But we've held the fort in Kandahar and paid a heavy price.
That should be our message. Harper and MacKay are the messengers.
-- MacDonald is editor of Policy Options magazine
Section: Editorial
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Headline: Post-combat questions
Page: A10
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: Ottawa Citizen
It would be a disservice to the memories of our fallen soldiers if a botched, hasty exit were to imperil the achievements of Canada's nine-year combat mission in Afghanistan.
So the government is right to craft a non-combat, transitional role for the Canadian Forces beyond 2011. Such a continuation would not violate the schedule, set by Parliament in 2008, for ending our highly dangerous engagement in Kandahar.
It would ensure that Canada's expertise in Afghanistan, gained at such a high cost, is not wasted.
It would leave Canada with a toehold in an area of high concern to global security.
And it could help the larger NATO mission get into a position to wind down without triggering civil war in Afghanistan. It could help NATO consolidate the gains made through the recent
American troop surge and maintain a position of power relative to the Taliban and al Qaeda. No path to peace can succeed with the Taliban in the ascendant.
The sooner Canada can provide its NATO partners with a clear, detailed plan for its engagement beyond 2011, the better equipped those partners will be to handle the transition.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay has said the government is considering leaving some troops -- as many as 1,000, according to reports -- behind in a training role, "out of Kandahar, behind the wire." Trainers are certainly in demand, as the Afghan National Army must grow and mature if it's to secure a fractious country. Canada already has experience in training and mentoring
Afghan forces.
The government must make clear, though, exactly what it expects Canada's new training mission to entail. If the trainers accompany the Afghan soldiers into the field, that could hardly be described as an end to the combat mission. Even if the Canadians are confined to a training centre in Kabul, there could still be casualties.
There is, of course, no way for anyone -- diplomats, aid workers, or soldiers -- to work in
Afghanistan without some risk. So the end of the combat mission will not necessarily mean an end to Canada's sacrifices -- and would not, even if the military pulled out entirely.
Canada has invested massive amounts of aid and human resources in Afghanistan over the past decade. The government must explain whether its development emphasis will shift to other countries as the combat mission ends, or whether its development strategy within Afghanistan will change. It would certainly be unfair and unwise to make such a shift abruptly and without proper planning and consultation with Canadian and Afghan experts on the ground.
"The end of the combat mission in Afghanistan in 2011 should by no means be seen as the end of the engagement by Canada and Canadians," concluded the House of Commons Special
Committee on the Canadian Mission to Afghanistan earlier this year.
"We have come too far, and sacrificed too much to abandon the people of Afghanistan."
That much is clear. What hasn't been clear is what that engagement will look like, on the military and civilian fronts, after next summer. That uncertainty has so far made it difficult for anyone --
Canadians, Afghans, NATO partners -- to plan for the next phase. The more details Prime
Minister Stephen Harper can provide now about his military and civilian strategy for
Afghanistan (assuming he has one), the more effective that strategy is likely to be.
Section: News
Byline: Bruce Deachman
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Julie Oliver, The Ottawa Citizen / At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, a beam of sunlight shines upon the Unknown Soldier's tombstone at the
Canadian War Museum.
Colour Photo: Bruno Schlumberger, The Ottawa Citizen / Veteran Ben Regalbuto, takes in the
Governor General's Foot Guardsduring Thurday's Remembrance Day ceremonies.
Photo: Wayne Cuddington, The Ottawa Citizen / Second World War veteran Doug Perkins and his wife, Gwen, whom he says is 'the best thing that ever happened to me,' attended their first
Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa Thursday. Perkins said signing up to fight was the thing to do and he did it for the sense of country.
Headline: 11th hour 11th day 11th month; At his first ceremony in the capital, a soldier remembers
Page: A1 / Front
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
As the clear notes of The Last Post echoed off the buildings surrounding the War Memorial
Thursday morning, Doug Perkins sat, watched, listened and remembered.
He remembers signing up to fight in the Second World War, on Nov. 5, 1942, just an 18-year-old at the time with two years experience with the 48th Highland Reserve, where they met on
Fridays to parade through downtown Toronto.
"That was the end of a 10-year depression," he recalled, "and a lot of older men joined because they didn't have jobs.
"I was young. I figured it was the thing to do. I did it for the sense of country."
In retrospect, he figures he should have stayed in school -- he'd only gotten as far as Grade 11 in his hometown of Toronto, where, at 86, he still lives. But his country had called.
His training to be an engineer took him from Brampton to Petawawa to Truro, N.S., and it was two years before, in the autumn of 1944, Sapper Perkins was sent overseas.
"At that age," he remembers, "you grew up in a big hurry."
Following The Last Post, a loud cannon report marked the beginning of two minutes silence, during which Canadians everywhere bowed their heads and remembered.
With Gwen, his wife of nearly 60 years sitting beside him Thursday, Perkins remembered sailing to Europe aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam, the flagship of the Dutch fleet. For two days, he said, a
German U-Boat chased but did not catch them.
He remembers what one of his sergeants said to him when he landed in Europe. "Perkins," the sergeant said, "remember two things: Keep your head down and don't volunteer, and you might get home."
He laughs at the notion of having a choice to volunteer or not. "It was 'You, you and you'," is how he remembers it.
Perkins served in Germany, Belgium and Holland, spending much of his time laying mines and building Bailey Bridges so that tanks and other vehicles could cross waterways. "Especially in
Holland," he jokes, "where there's a canal every 15 yards."
He remembers being in Holland when it was liberated.
"I remember going through all these towns, and people in their upstairs windows were waving white flags. It brought a tear to your eye.
"But I was too young to appreciate what was going on. I just went along with the gang and did what I was told."
- - -
A second cannon blast broke the silence. Thousands of onlookers along Elgin and Wellington
Streets and on the lawn outside the East Block listened as a bagpipe lament played. The bright
November sun reflected off the three service medals on Perkins' chest -- the Canadian Volunteer
Service Medal, the War Medal 1939-45, and the France and Germany Star.
He's never previously attended the Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.
During his 38-year post-war career as a bus driver with the TTC, he used to pull over and stop so he and his passengers could observe the two minutes' silence. In retirement, he usually watched it on TV.
He never joined the Legion: He went to his local chapter when he got back from Holland, but only found old men drinking beer and telling war stories.
"I'd had four and a half years of it," he remembers thinking. "That was enough.
"I walked out and never went back."
- - -
A year ago, Doug's son Kevin thought it would be nice for his parents to at least once attend the
Nov. 11 ceremony in Ottawa. During the year leading up to this week's visit, Doug found himself getting increasingly excited about it. More memories returned.
He remembered the steel cages they'd put in fields to hold the German prisoners of war they captured. You had to take a wide berth around them, he recalled, because they would continually spit at their captors.
"The Hitler Youth were the worst," he remembers. "They were the toughest opposition the army had."
And he remembers capturing one German soldier who, before the war, was a barber.
"We kept him with us from then until the end of the war, and we got free haircuts."
Kevin says he thinks the trip to Thursday's ceremony added five years to his dad's life.
- - -
Snowbird jets performed a low fly-by through the brilliant November sky. Wreaths were laid, first by dignitaries such as Gov. Gen. David Johnston, Government House Leader John Baird,
Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella and, representing the mothers of Canada, Silver Cross Mother
Mabel Girouard. Her son, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, was killed in Afghanistan in
2006.
More wreaths were laid, representing numerous organizations: The Canadian Coast Guard,
Ottawa Police Service, Overseas War Brides, Nursing Sisters.
His cane beside him and a blanket over his legs, Perkins tried to remember three friends he'd made in Petawawa who shipped with him to Europe. One was Sam Wagstaff. The other two were French-Canadian, and their names now elude him. All three died in Apeldoorn, Holland.
"They just got hit."
- - -
Another fly-by, this one by two Second World War-vintage planes. After a pipe-and-drum rendition of Amazing Grace, the Ottawa Children's Choir helped close out Thursday's ceremony, singing God Save the Queen and a hymn, I Vow to Thee, My Country.
Doug met Gwen -- "The best thing that ever happened to me," he says -- in 1950, a year after he joined the TTC. The couple had five children -- two girls and three boys. "They're all well and happy," he says, "and we're thankful for that."
Tens of thousands of onlookers applauded their thanks Thursday as hundreds of veterans paraded down Elgin Street. Others approached the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where they laid poppies.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay noted in a media statement the passing of the First World War generation. "This year, Canada mourned the passing of John "Jack" Babcock, our last known veteran of the First World War. His passing signified the end of an era in Canadian military history and, as such, was marked with a solemn ceremony at the National War Memorial on
April 9th, Vimy Day."
He also remarked on the dwindling ranks of Second World War and Korean War veterans.
"Their torch has been passed to us, and our solemn duty is to remember they sacrificed their lives for Canada and the world," he said.
- - -
Doug Perkins returned from Europe aboard the RMS Queen Mary, which, carrying 8,000
American and 6,000 Canadian troops, he remembers as "the biggest floating crap game I'd even seen."
Doug was among the first wave of troops to return because he had volunteered to go to the
Pacific theatre. He never got the chance: The Queen Mary landed in New York on July 12, 1945, a month before the war in Japan ended.
"I wish I could remember more."
- - -
Online: For photo galleries, video footage and coverage of ceremonies across Canada, go to ottawacitizen.com/remembrance
Section: News
Outlet: Montreal Gazette
Illustrations:
Colour Photo:
Headline: Around the world, Canadians pay tribute to their fallen comrades
Page: A7
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: OTTAWA
Source: Postmedia News
OTT AWA -As the clear notes of the Last Post echoed off the buildings surrounding the National
War Memorial in Ottawa yesterday, Doug Perkins sat, watched, listened and remembered.
He recalled signing up to fight in the Second World War, on Nov. 5, 1942, just an 18-year-old at the time.
"That was the end of a 10-year Depression," he said, "and a lot of older men joined because they didn't have jobs.
"I was young. I figured it was the thing to do. I did it for the sense of country."
Tributes to those who answered the call for Canada were made yesterday around the country and from around the globe.
In Seoul, South Korea, Prime Minister Stephen Harper honoured their sacrifices, while combat troops in Afghanistan paused to remember their own fallen comrades.
In Ottawa, after the Last Post, a loud cannon blast marked the 11th hour of the 11th day of the
11th month and the beginning of two minutes of silence, during which Canadians bowed their heads and remembered.
The moment of silence is timed to recall the official end of the First World War on that date in
1918.
Harper, who was in South Korea for a meeting of world leaders, attended a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Korean War Memorial. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War -a three-year conflict in which 26,791 Canadian soldiers participated and 516
Canadians died.
"Today, we honour and remember those members of the Canadian Forces who fought in one of the toughest wars in our history, to defend South Korea against an oppressive communist invader," Harper said in a statement released by his office.
Harper paid tribute "to our brave men and women in uniform who continue the proud tradition of defending peace and freedom around the globe."
Defence Minister Peter MacKay also honoured their memory, in particular, that of Canada's last veteran of the Great War. "This year, Canada mourned the passing of John (Jack) Babcock, our
last known veteran of the First World War," he said in a statement. "His passing signified the end of an era in Canadian military history."
In Afghanistan, Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner said: "Truly, this is a day to reflect. It is a significant day in our lives." - - -
A Sign Of Respect
Students and staff at Centennial Regional High School observe Remembrance Day by forming a giant poppy. See John Kenney's video at montrealgazette.com/
Section: Opinion
Byline: Don Martin
Outlet: Edmonton Journal
Headline: Massive shipbuilding contract must be kept on an even keel; B.C. bidder up against rivals in Quebec, Maritimes
Page: A14
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: OTTAWA
Source: Postmedia News
If potash protectionism was a precedent, serious trouble is ahead for a government which continues to value its political payoff above all other considerations.
It means Quebec City's NHL hockey arena is all but guaranteed to receive federal funding to save a handful of vulnerable Conservative seats in the region, opening the vault to taxpayer handouts for all manner of professional sports venues.
And it suggests the mother of all regional squabbles is in the offing as the federal government pits three electoral battlegrounds against each other in a fierce competition for its massive shipbuying spree.
Canada's three largest shipbuilders are fighting for two contracts with an estimated value of $35 billion, or roughly four times the price tag of the F-35 jet fighter contract that has got everybody in a lather.
But with one bidder in Quebec and another in Halifax, in Defence Minister Peter MacKay's home province, the largest west coast shipbuilder is wondering if the political fix is in.
The fiercest naval showdown since the Battle of the Atlantic is now raging behind the scenes as federal officials scout out the eligible shipyards. To the winners will go many years of stable government contracts. To the loser, a prolonged scramble to stay afloat.
The clearest hint at the sensitivity of the issue was a Privy Council decree banning lobbyists from representing the bidding shipyards to politicians or bureaucrats. There is to be no perception of key ministers being arm-twisted by old friends, even though plenty of background advice is now in circulation out of the lobbyist registrar's sight.
As he eyes the Irving Shipbuilding and Davie Yards Inc., competition, Vancouver-based
Washington Marine Group CEO Jonathan Whitworth wonders if he will be a victim of government meddling with business decisions for political purposes.
Whenever Quebec is in a crucial bidding process, the competition tends to get politically dicey.
With Atlantic Canada in need of an economic boost, Halifax gets the empathetic edge. That leaves Vancouver as an early underdog at the cabinet table.
"Have we heard the rumours? Yes. Are we fearful that political answers could sway the opinion?
I'll also say yes," admits Whitworth. "But we're not worrying about other shipyards. We're
making sure the federal government knows what we're doing and what we've done for over 50 years. If it's an open, fair and transparent decision, we'll have nothing to worry about."
What would infuriate the West, perhaps with the visceral intensity of reaction to Brian Mulroney shifting the CF-18 maintenance contract from Winnipeg to Montreal, would be to shun the West and to sign the biggest contract with Davie Yards Inc. of Levis, Que., a possibility considered likely in B.C., one senior MP confided to me this week.
Davie Yards has received almost $700 million in government loans or loan guarantees in the last two years, most of it from the Export Development Corp., of Canada. That is far greater than the support given to its contract bidding rivals, which in Washington Marine's case amounts to zero.
Yet, despite all the support at extremely favourable terms, Davie languishes in bankruptcy protection and is looking for buyers all around the world.
Davie communications vice-president Marie-Christine St-Pierre declined to comment on the company's efforts to find a buyer, beyond confirming interest from two potential investors she declined to name. But she insists the shipyard is ready and able to deliver any contracts it signs with the federal government
The stakes go far beyond the health of an individual company. The 28 large ships proposed for construction over the next three decades would create two national shipyards and a sustainable economic base for the selected regions.
The shopping lists includes frigates, coast guard vessels, Arctic patrol ships, a huge polar icebreaker and supply ships with maintenance contracts filling in the lag times between building contracts.
So far, nobody is complaining about the preliminary selection process. Requests for proposals will roll out next spring and the contracts likely will be decided by the federal cabinet in the fall of 2011.
But if the selection process is anything but totally shipshape, western alienation will be back on deck. The West, they will howl anew, Wants In. dmartin@postmedia.com
Section: Business
Byline: MATTHEW FISHER
Outlet: Montreal Gazette
Headline: Qatar, Canada do airline deal; 3 passenger, 3 cargo weekly. Quiet, quick agreement in sharp contrast to dispute with United Arab Emirates
Page: B6
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: KANDA HAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan
Source: Postmedia News
Canada and Qatar have quietly signed an aviation agreement that will allow Qatar Airways to fly three passenger flights and three cargo flights a week to and from the Gulf sheikdom.
Talks were successfully concluded on Oct. 25 after only three days of negotiation, according to
Qatari news media.
The quick agreement with Qatar was in sharp contrast to a dispute between Ottawa and the
United Arab Emirates over flights to and from Canada. It caused the UAE to kick the Canadian military out of Camp Mirage, a key logistical base in Dubai that had been used for nine years to support the war in Afghanistan.
Before talks broke down last month, Canada and the U.A.E. had haggled for five years over greater access to Canadian airports for Emirate Airlines and Etihad Airways -an expansion that was strongly opposed by Air Canada and Transport Canada.
Air carriers in Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands also have strongly objected to the rapid expansion of flights to Europe by Gulf carriers.
Canada had not publicized the new agreement with Qatar, perhaps fearing potential further fallout from its escalating dispute with the U.A.E. Newspapers in the U.A.E. have not published details of the air agreement between Canada and Qatar although media there usually cover the aviation industry very closely.
The U.A.E. placed a visa requirement on Canadian visitors earlier this week. When the edict comes into effect in the coming weeks -on Jan. 2 -Canada will be the only western country whose citizens face such a restriction.
Qatar does not require that Canadian citizens have a visa before travelling there. In a sign of warming relations, Canada is to open an embassy in Qatar early next year.
Canada could retaliate against the U.A.E. by cancelling the six flights a week that Emirates
Airlines and Etihad Airways currently fly to Toronto or by banning U.A.E. aircraft from
Canadian airspace as the U.A.E. did when they refused access last month to a flight carrying
Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Canada's top soldier, Gen. Walt Natynczyk. Such a move could cost the U.A.E.'s two national carriers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in additional fuel costs because it would add several hours' flying time and an additional stop to about a dozen
passenger flights every day to the western United States and an hour per day of additional flying time to about half a dozen flights to the U.S. East Coast.
Qatar is a peninsula connected to Saudi Arabia which juts into the Persian Gulf only a few kilometres from the UAE's territorial waters. The country is the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas reserves.
Qatar is home to Al-Jazeera, the Arab-and English-language all-news network, which is hugely popular across the Middle East.
Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and in South
Asia, has its forward headquarters in Qatar and the U.S. air force has a major airbase there.
The military was mum yesterday about whether Canada will try to negotiate access to that airbase for its military transports. Since being forced out of Camp Mirage on Nov. 3, passenger flights from Canada to Kandahar have been routed via Cyprus.
Section: News
Headline: Brains, beauty and a match for the minister; Girlfriend Nazanin Afshin-Jam's CV as notable as MacKay's
Page: A6
Byline: Joanna Smith Toronto Star
Outlet: Toronto Star
Illustrations:
Peter MacKay and Belinda Stronach share a laugh at an awards show in Sydney, N.S., in
2005. MacKay and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hit it off in 2006. MacKay attends a dinnerwith girlfriend Lisa Merrithew in Montreal in 2003. Jana Juginovic and MacKay were engaged to be married but broke up . Calvin Ayre's charitable group has helped Nazanin Afshin-
Jam. Defence Minister Peter MacKay is seen with Nazanin Afshin-Jam at a dinner Wednesday.
Jacques Boissinot/CP file photo Andrew Vaughan/CP file photo Mike Ryan/Toronto Star file photo Jake Wright/The Hill Times file photo david Cooper/TORONTO STAR
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
She has rubbed her gorgeous elbows with political prisoners, royalty, the prime minister, the
Dalai Lama and even a billionaire online gambling tycoon who boasts of staying a step ahead of the law.
Now Nazanin Afshin-Jam, 31, is the new girlfriend of one of the most highly recognizable serial monogamists in the country.
That would be Defence Minister Peter MacKay, 45, whom she met six years ago when she came to Ottawa to speak about human rights abuses.
"Mr. MacKay was very helpful and they became friends," her spokeswoman, Valentina Medici, wrote in an email Thursday before declining to share any more details.
Her curriculum vitae might just be more impressive than his.
Afshin-Jam is a human-rights activist who devotes unpaid full-time hours to saving children in her native Iran from execution.
She has a degree in international relations and political science from the University of British
Columbia, studied at the prestigious Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and is working on a master's degree in diplomacy with a concentration in international conflict management.
She is fluent in English, French and Persian and speaks some Spanish, too. She started flying planes when she was a teenager. She had a bit part in the movie sequel to Scooby Doo. And she is beautiful. No, really beautiful. She won contests for it.
Afshin-Jam immigrated with her family to North Vancouver, B.C., after having fled Iran for
Spain when she was just a baby.
Her father had been general manger of the Sheraton Hotel in Tehran where music, alcohol and the mingling of men and women - all forbidden by the Islamic fundamentalists who came into power with the Iranian Revolution in 1979 - were just part of the routine.
So, he was thrown in jail, lashed and was headed for death by firing squad when a friend managed to secure his release. Afshin-Jam was still in grade school when she saw the scars on his back. Championing human rights became her calling.
"Do you ever think about what your life would be like if your family stayed there?" she was asked in an April 2006 interview with the National Review Online.
"All the time," she replied. "This is why I am so dedicated to helping those stuck in such a repressive regime."
Her fight to end the most severe form of female oppression - state-sanctioned death - began in earnest, oddly, with beauty pageants.
"I always go back to what are the blessings God has given me and how can I best use them,"
Afshin-Jam told the Vancouver Sun in October 2008. "Beauty is a blessing and it shouldn't be something that's looked down on . . . [But] I always have to prove myself because [my body] is just a shell. It's not who I am."
She won the title of Miss World Canada in 2003 and placed as first runner-up in the global version of the competition, a high-enough level of fame that it spurred a French human rights activist to send her a letter that changed her life.
It was about the case of another young woman with the same first name - Nazanin Mahabad
Fatehi - an Iranian teenager who was sentenced to death by stoning for killing one of three men who were trying to rape her and her niece.
Afshin-Jam took up her cause and circulated a petition that garnered more than 300,000 signatures worldwide and has been lauded as instrumental in saving the girl from a barbaric end.
Her efforts also caught the attention of former MP Belinda Stronach, another famous girlfriend of MacKay who he claimed - publicly in a television interview at home with his dog - broke his heart when she crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals to help save the government of Paul Martin in 2005.
Stronach, in fact, used her first opportunity in Question Period after the Conservatives came to power to ask MacKay, who was then foreign affairs minister, whether he had received assurances from the Iranian embassy that Fatehi would receive a new trial.
His sarcastic tone as he remarked on her "recent interest in the case" was duly noted at the time, although it was nothing compared to the uproar he caused when Stronach alleged he had called her a dog while muttering in the House of Commons later that year.
A generous donation from Stronach also helped pay the bond that got Fatehi released from
Islamic court.
The ex-girlfriend of her future boyfriend was not the only unexpected person to help champion her chosen cause.
The other, at least indirectly, was Calvin Ayre, a self-described farm boy from Saskatchewan who became a billionaire by launching the Internet gambling empire Bodog and bragged to
Forbes magazine in 2006 that he gets around U.S. laws by being based in other countries.
His Costa Rica mansion was raided by local authorities not long after the story was published.
They were looking for an illegal poker game but found only a wrap party for a poker championship reality television series. Afshin-Jam was there the night of the raid as a host of the series.
Medici said Afshin-Jam met Ayre only a handful of times at corporate events and to discuss some charity initiatives. His charitable organization, for example, produced and funded a documentary about Fatehi featuring Afshin-Jam in 2007.
A spokesman for MacKay declined to comment for this story; a spokesperson for Ayre said he was travelling and could not be reached.
Section: News
Lead: OTTAWA -- Changes to the controversial New Veterans Charter could come as early as next week, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said Thursday.
Headline: Veterans charter to be updated
Page: 10
Byline: ALTHIA RAJ PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU
Outlet: The Edmonton Sun
Illustrations:
photo of JEAN-PIERRE BLACKBURN 'I'm responsible for these people'
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
OTTAWA -- Changes to the controversial New Veterans Charter could come as early as next week, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said Thursday.
Blackburn, who participated in his first national Remembrance Day ceremony, said the responsibility he has to care for Canada's veterans weighed heavily on his shoulders as he placed a wreath at the National War Memorial.
"I'm responsible for these people. I saw them walking in front of me, older, younger, and I have great responsibilities to ensure that we are correct with them and for their future," he told QMI
Agency.
Blackburn said he is particularly concerned about Canada's modern veterans.
"Am I doing a good thing for them?," the minister asked. "I believe I am."
Blackburn said he hopes to introduce legislation next week that will update the new charter with
"a new chapter."
Most of the proposed changes were announced in September after outgoing veterans ombudsman, Pat Stogran, held a press conference criticizing the Conservative government for failing to take care of veterans.
The lost earnings minimum will be bumped up to $40,000 a year and eligibility requirements will be stretched so seriously injured veterans can receive a monthly allowance between $536 and $1,609.
The lump-sum payment, which was been criticized by veterans and the Chief of the Defence
Staff Walt Natynczyk, will also be reformed so vets will have the choice of a onetime payment or staggered payments worth the same amount.
Blackburn said the changes mean the most seriously wounded soldiers would receive a minimum of $58,000 a year plus the lump-sum payment. althia.raj@sunmedia.ca
Section: News
Headline: A perfect day to remember; Veterans of wars past and present join ceremonies as huge crowds gather to honour their sacrifices
Page: A12
Byline: Bruce Campion-Smith and Tonda MacCharles Toronto Star
Outlet: Toronto Star
Illustrations:
From left: In Toronto, poppies on the cenotaph in Kew Gardens. In Ottawa, Governor General
David Johnston comforts Mabel Girouard, whose sonwas killed in Kandahar. At Queen's Park,
Premier Dalton McGuinty greets Ann Manester, 92, a World War II nurse. Above, the colour guard arrives at Kew Gardens. A veteran salutes as ceremonies conclude in Ottawa, where
30,000 packed the square at the National War Memorial. Members of the Seaforth Highlanders march in downtown Vancouver, where the Olympic cauldron was relit in a ceremony to honour veterans. Allan Tanner, 85, Thursday at the Grande Parade in Halifax. Tanner joined the merchant navy in1939 at age 14. DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR DAVID
COOPER/TORONTO STAR Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS Sean Kilpatrick/ THE
CANADIAN PRESS vince talotta/TORONTO STAR Jonathan Hayward/THE CANADIAN
PRESS ANDREW VAUGHAN/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Under a cloudless sky, the many came out to honour the dwindling few.
An estimated crowd of 30,000 packed the square around the National War Memorial as a nation paused to reflect and remember the sacrifices of soldiers in battlefields from Europe to Korea to
Afghanistan.
And at the centre of attention, the veterans of yesteryear sat alongside the veterans of today, all of them with medals arrayed across their chests.
As the sounds of bagpipes, trumpets and gun salutes sounded, it was a day when memories forged more than six decades ago came flooding back - names, faces and times spent together.
"I remember all the good times ... on a date like today, I think of a lot of people who didn't make it. The guys I knew well," said Roly Armitage, 85.
Armitage was with the Royal Canadian Artillery during the Allied push through Normandy and into Belgium, Holland and Germany. He remembers the close ties with wartime buddies. "The relationship between you and him is closer than brothers because you depend so much on each other," said Armitage, who became a veterinarian after the war.
Yet the army's quick pace often meant that Armitage would never see his wounded buddies again or get to say goodbye before they died.
"You don't get a chance," said Armitage, one of four brothers who served in the war. One was killed during a submarine patrol in the Atlantic.
Gen. Walt Natynczyk, the chief of defence staff, called the turnout at the Ottawa memorial
"amazing."
"A perfect day to recognize outstanding service to the country, honouring those who have gone before us. We are the kind of force we are because of the outstanding veterans we have," he said.
Sounds amplified by the stark silence of thousands punctuated the ceremony: the skirling of bagpipes as the Cameron Highlanders played the mournful strains of "Amazing Grace." Muffled but persistent applause of gloved hands cheering the veterans.
The veterans marched in a parade past Ottawa dignitaries, but John McEvoy, 91, turned away, tears streaming down his cheeks. A veteran of World War II, he doesn't march because his foot was badly burned when a pipe aboard the ship he served on burst, blasting him with a jet of scalding steam. He was 23. He wept, he said, because the memories of those who never returned were so clear. "I think of all the sailors who went down to Davy Jones' locker - that's what we called it," he said. "I'm sorry to see the young guys go today," to fight in Afghanistan, he said.
Doris Hope, 87, served with the navy as a wireless operator from a station near Moncton. Her job was to listen for the dash-dot Morse code signals of U-boats at sea, get a direction-bearing on the signal and then pass the information up the chain so an air attack could be scrambled.
"We'd work all night by ourselves in these shacks, just one person with this pot-belly stove," she said.
Retired Maj.-Gen. Richard Rohmer, 86, injected a political edge into his remarks at the
Remembrance Day ceremony at Queen's Park.
Speaking to more than 1,000 people in front of the imposing granite Veterans Memorial he helped create five years ago, he referred to the Star's Wounded Warriors series that detailed the plight of veterans, reading aloud the words of Veteran Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn from a clipping: "This department was functioning with traditional veterans. With the
Afghanistan situation, this department was not ready."
And then the defiant general, his Distinguished Flying Cross, his Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, and his Order of Canada gleaming in the sun against the sky blue backdrop of his
RCAF uniform, quietly took his seat.
Blocks away, in front of Old City Hall, outgoing Mayor David Miller urged the crowds to thank vets.
"On this Remembrance Day, take a moment to acknowledge the veterans that are with us today for their bravery and heroism," said Miller in his speech. "Extend your hand and say, 'Thank you.
Thank you for your service.' "
As the crowd shuffled away, one man walked up to World War II veteran George Kolodziejczak, shook his hand and said "Thank you."
"Thank you for having done this so that I don't have to," said John DiCenso.
Kolodziejczak, who fled to Canada from Poland in 1949, smiled, his eyes crinkling in the sunlight.
With files from Allan Woods, Rob Benzie and Jayme Poisson
Section: News
Byline: MARK KENNEDY
Outlet: Montreal Gazette
Illustrations:
Photo: PARK JI-HWAN GETTY IMAGES / Harper: "My preference would have been a complete end to the military mission."
Headline: 'Reluctant' PM okays Afghan mission; Harper confirms Canada to leave 'trainers' for three years after combat role ends
Page: A19
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: SEOUL
Source: Postmedia News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday he is reluctantly deploying military trainers to
Afghanistan for three years because he doesn't want the past "sacrifices" of Canadian soldiers to be in vain.
After several days of reports that the Conservative government was considering assigning nearly
1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan after Canada ends its military combat mission next year, the prime minister confirmed the plan.
At a news conference, Harper spoke frankly about what motivated the decision -which is a sharp reversal from the public statements he was making this year about the future of the Canadian mission.
"I do this with some reluctance, but I think it is the best decision when one looks at the options,"
Harper said.
The prime minister said other NATO countries would like Canada to continue its combat mission in Afghanistan, where more than 150 Canadian soldiers have lost their lives.
"I've been very clear that is not an option Canada will consider," Harper said.
"And look, I'm not going to kid you, down deep my preference would be, would have been, to see the complete end to the military mission.
"But as we approach that date, the facts on the ground convince me that the Afghan military needs further training."
Harper added that once he realized the training was necessary, he felt it was required to protect the hard-fought victories of the Canadian military.
"I don't want to risk the gains that Canadian soldiers have fought for and that they have sacrificed in such significant numbers for by pulling out too early if we can avoid that."
The prime minister said he believes that a smaller mission that just involves training will present
"minimal risks for Canada."
At the same time, he said, that will "truly ensure" Afghan forces are able to assume responsibility for their security.
Earlier in the day, in an interview with CTV, Harper delivered a similar rationale for the decision. He told the network that he had never made a secret of the fact he wanted all the troops to come home.
"As you know, we've been in Afghanistan for a very long time, almost as long as the two world wars combined," the prime minister said
Section: News
Lead: SEOUL, South Korea -- Canadian troops will stay an extra three years in Afghanistan,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday, though he promises they'll no longer engage in combat missions and will instead focus on safer training missions.
Headline: In Afghanistan until 2014 Harper: Would have preferred 'complete end' to mission
Page: 7
Byline: DAVID AKIN, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU CHIEF
Outlet: The Ottawa Sun
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
SEOUL, South Korea -- Canadian troops will stay an extra three years in Afghanistan, Prime
Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday, though he promises they'll no longer engage in combat missions and will instead focus on safer training missions.
"I do this with some reluctance, but I think it is the best decision when one looks at the options,"
Harper told reporters here just before the opening of the G20 summit.
"Look, I'm not going to kid you -- down deep, my preference would have been to see a complete end to the military mission, but as we approach that date, the facts on the ground convince me that the Afghan military needs further training."
Canada's combat mission is to end in 2011. In an interview in January, Harper had said: "We will not be undertaking any activities that require any kind of military presence, other than the odd guard guarding an embassy. We will not be undertaking any kind activity that requires a significant military force protection, so it will become a strictly civilian mission."
Harper, though, appears to have changed his mind.
SMALLER MISSION
"I don't want to risk the gains that Canadian soldiers have fought for and they have sacrificed for in such significant numbers for by pulling out too early if we can avoid that," he said. "If we can continue a smaller mission that involves just training, I think frankly that presents minimal risks to Canada but it helps us ensure that the gains we've made are continuing."
Canada's NATO allies, particularly the U.S. and Britain, have been pressuring Canada to stay in
Afghanistan.
"I know there are others in NATO who would like us to continue the combat mission. I've been very clear, that's not an option Canada will consider," Harper said.
Harper said the training mission under consideration would run until 2014.
Earlier in the day, about 20 Canadian veterans joined Harper and the leaders of the United
Kingdom and Australia for a Remembrance Day ceremony in Seoul that paid particular heed to those who fought and died in the Korean War.
Section: Front
Byline: Heather Scoffield
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: Harper extends Afghan mission; Canadian troops to train country's military till 2014
Page: A1
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The Canadian Press
SEOUL, South Korea - Stephen Harper says he decided with some "reluctance" to extend
Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.
The prime minister confirmed Thursday that Canadian troops will stay in Afghanistan to train the country's military after the current combat mission ends in July.
"I do this with some reluctance but I think this is the best decision, when one looks at the options," he said.
"Look, I'm not going to kid you. Down deep, my preference would be, would have been, to see a complete end to the military mission."
Previously, Harper had insisted Canadian troops would withdraw by July. However, NATO countries have been working for months to persuade him to change his mind, and the opposition
Liberals suggested they would support an extended training mission.
Harper, speaking on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, acknowledged he has been under pressure by NATO allies to continue in a combat role, but he said a training role was the most he could agree to.
He said he told his NATO allies in no uncertain terms that Canada's combat role is coming to an end, but added that he sees merit in the argument that Afghan troops aren't ready to stand on their own and Canada could help in their training.
"I don't want to risk the gains that Canadian soldiers have fought for and have sacrificed in such significant numbers by pulling out too early, if we can avoid that," he said.
Sources have told The Canadian Press the government is considering sending 600 to 1,000 soldiers to Kabul until 2014 to bolster NATO training efforts.
"I think if we can continue a smaller mission that involves just training, I think frankly that presents minimal risks to Canada, but it helps us to ensure the gains that we've made," Harper said.
Section: National News
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Byline: CAMPBELL CLARK and BILL CURRY
Headline: `A smaller mission that involves just training ... is the best decision' Stephen Harper in Seoul, Nov. 11, 2010 `Canada's military mission in Afghanistan ends in 2011' PMO e-mail
Aug. 24, 2010
Page: A1
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Stephen Harper said he didn't really want to do it, but felt compelled to bend: Canada will keep soldiers in Afghanistan in a training role after next July, extending a military mission he wanted to end completely.
It was a moment of turnaround for the Prime Minister, who had repeatedly asserted all Canadian soldiers except a handful of embassy guards would quit Afghanistan next year, but faced pressure from allies to do more.
He appeared to swallow as a reporter noted he'd been unequivocal on complete withdrawal for more than a year, nodding quietly throughout the question, and then admitting that he struggled with the options, and remains ambivalent about the choice. ``Look, I'm not going to kid you,'' he said in South Korea, where he is attending a G20 summit. ``Down deep, my preference would be, would have been, to see a complete end to the military mission.
``But as we approach that date, the facts on the ground convince me that the Afghan military needs further training. ... I think if we can continue a smaller mission that involves just training, I think frankly that presents minimal risks to Canada but it helps us ensure that the gains we've made are continued. ... So I do this with some reluctance but I think it is the best decision when one looks at the options.''
It wasn't, according to some who tried to persuade Ottawa to approve a new training mission, just a matter of swallowing his past pledges that all troops would be withdrawn.
Allies such as the United States and Britain viewed Mr. Harper as the most reluctant in a cabinet that included many ministers who were more willing - and the decision rested with a Prime
Minister who had grown cool on the Afghan mission and frustrated with the country's mercurial
President, Hamid Karzai.
They argued that allies should stick together longer, and with arguments that Mr. Harper echoed as many minds turned to the toll of war on Remembrance Day: that after years of sacrifice,
Canada shouldn't walk away from a request to train the Afghan troops who will take over the battle.
However, Mr. Harper didn't say how big a commitment he will approve, how many Canadian soldiers will serve as trainers after next July, or the nature of the training. But he suggested the new mission will run until 2014.
While the United States has called for Canadian training to include in-field mentoring of Afghan troops or police that would expose the trainers to the risk of firefights, Mr. Harper insisted that there will be no involvement in combat after next July.
``I know there are others in NATO who would like us to continue the combat mission. I've been very clear. That's not an option Canada will consider,'' Mr. Harper said.
A government official said this week that Mr. Harper was considering a request to send about
750 trainers and 200 support troops - but the Prime Minister did not say whether he approved those numbers. Canada has about 2,900 troops in Afghanistan, with most in combat or combatsupport roles in Kandahar province.
At home, where Liberals have since June called for the government to consider a post-2011 training mission, opposition politicians were unimpressed by Mr. Harper's expressed reluctance.
Months after the Liberals called for a training mission, Mr. Harper's office ruled it out. On Aug.
24, after the leak of a government draft outlining possible post-2011 civilian roles in
Afghanistan, the PMO e-mailed reporters to stress, ``We just want to be absolutely clear that
Canada's military mission in Afghanistan ends in 2011.''
On Thursday, the Liberals called for details of the new mission, and the NDP asked how, after so recently insisting no troops would stay, the Prime Minister was suddenly converted under pressure from NATO allies, notably the United States.
``I feel like these decisions aren't being made in Canada,'' NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said.
Mr. Dewar argued that a decision on sending troops to a war zone, even for training, should require a vote in Parliament. The Liberals said they do not necessarily agree with that.
``That's a discussion that needs to be had with all the parties after the government tells us exactly what it's doing. But in principle, I don't think it's absolutely necessary,'' said Bob Rae, Liberal foreign affairs critic.
About 325 Canadian Forces troops are currently in training missions in Afghanistan, including about 125 doing classroom instruction in secure staff colleges and training bases; NATO is calling for about 750 more. But the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, said on Wednesday he would like to see Canada continue the kind of ``outside-the-wire'' in-field mentoring that about 200 Canadians are doing now.
Unlike classroom training at bases and schools, mentoring means the risk of fire, and some fear it could slide toward involvement in combat. The Liberal vice-chair of the Commons committee on
Afghanistan, Bryon Wilfert, said he'd be against outside-the-wire mentoring because Canadians would not support a post-2011 mission that would put their soldiers ``in harm's way.''
Section: Actualité
Outlet: La Voix de l'Est
Illustrations:
"Je ne veux pas mettre en péril les gains pour lesquels les Canadiens se sont battus et ont fait des sacrifices en si grand nombre en se retirant trop tôt, je veux éviter cela", dit Stephen Harper.
Headline: Harper explique sa volte-face
Page: 22
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: S éoul, Corée du Sud
Source: LAPRESSE CANADIENNE
Le premier ministre Stephen Harper affirme qu'il a décidé avec réticence de revenir sur sa décision de retirer les militaires canadiens d'Afghanistan l'an prochain.
M. Harper, qui a tenu ces propos en marge du sommet du G20, qui se déroule à Séoul, en Corée du
Sud, a affirmé qu'il avait dit à ses alliés de l'OTAN en des termes qui ne laissent aucune place au doute que le rôle de la mission de combat tirait à sa fin.
Il a expliqué que les arguments selon lesquels les troupes afghanes n'étaient pas prêtes à être laissées seules et que le Canada pouvait participer à leur formation avaient du mérite.
"Si on regarde les faits, j'ai conclu avec réticence que c'est la meilleure décision", a affirmé le premier min istre. "Écoutez, je ne vais pas vous induire en erreur. Ma préférence serait et aurait été de voir la fin complète de la mission militaire", a-t-il assuré.
Jusqu'à ce jour, Stephen Harper avait insisté sur le retrait complet des Forces canadiennes en
Afghanistan d'ici juillet 2011. Mais depuis des mois, les pays de l'OTAN font pression sur M. Harper pour le persuader de revenir sur sa décision.
Mais hier, il a soutenu qu'il ne succombait pas à la pression, mais a décidé de reconsidérer son choix en se bas ant sur le fait que les Afghans n'étaient pas prêts à voir le Canada quitter leur pays.
"Je ne veux pas mettre en péril les gains pour lesquels les Canadiens se sont battus et ont fait des sacrifices en si grand nombre en se retirant trop tôt, je veux éviter cela", a-t-il soutenu.
Il a reconnu qu'il avait subi de la pression de la part de ses alliés de l'OTAN pour que le Canada continue d'assumer un rôle de combattant, mais a ajouté qu'un rôle de formation était le plus qu'il pouvait accepter.
Des source s ont indiqué à La Presse canadienne que le gouvernement envisageait d'envoyer de 600 à
1000 soldats à Kaboul jusqu'en 2014 pour soutenir les efforts de formation de l'OTAN.
Section: Editorial
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Headline: That wire is barbed
Page: A20
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Canada must step back in Afghanistan, but the suggestion that Canadian troops are to be safe
``inside the wire'' in Kabul is at best a clumsy bit of political subterfuge.
The need for a continued presence by Canadian Forces in Afghanistan beyond the end of the
Kandahar mission in 2011 is compelling. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday, ``I don't want to risk the gains that Canadian soldiers have fought for and that they have sacrificed in such significant numbers for by pulling out too early.''
Canada has already spent more time in Afghanistan than it did fighting the First World War.
Canadians are growing tired, understandably, of the seeming intractability of the conflict. There is a widespread sentiment that this is an Afghan War, that should be fought by Afghans. But to withdraw Canadian and NATO soldiers in 2011 would be tantamount to handing victory to the
Taliban. It is, as Mr. Harper says, ``too early.''
The Afghan National Security Forces are rapidly gaining strength, numerically and in terms of their professionalism. In the past year alone, the ANSF have grown by 33 per cent, to 255,506 soldiers and police. A national poll last month showed an overwhelming majority of Afghans had a favourable impression of the security forces. The Afghan National Police today are the most trusted public institution in the country. Increasingly, Afghans are in a position to fight their own war, but they are not there yet. President Hamid Karzai has said Afghan troops could provide for their security by 2014, and that year should mark the true end of Canada's mission.
To achieve that, however, coalition forces must meet their commitment to training the ANSF, and that responsibility cannot be constrained by soldier-in-a-bubble-type promises aimed at calming anxieties at home. An extension of Canada's military commitment to the country, in the form of a less-dangerous training role in Kabul, is necessary. Canadian casualties will be reduced, perhaps dramatically so. But to pretend that Canada can play a critical training role while remaining safely cocooned is an artifice. So long as there are Canadian soldiers in
Afghanistan, there will be a risk of casualties. Conservative and Liberal politicians owe it to
Canadians to be clear on this point.
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Lead: What took the Harper government so long?
Headline: Afghan mission remains vital
Page: 15
Byline: MICHAEL DEN TANDT
Outlet: The Calgary Sun
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
What took the Harper government so long?
Why all the strenuous denials, month after month, that such an outcome was even possible?
Because it was always likely, if not inevitable, given the situation on the ground and Canada's alliances, that we would keep an armed force of some kind in Afghanistan beyond July, 2011.
This is also, it so happens, the right thing to do.
The New Democrats will accuse the Conservatives of rank hypocrisy.
They'll repeat their long-standing assertion that the only responsible option for Canada is to pull every last soldier out of Afghanistan, pronto, and never mind the consequences.
The NDP may be well-intentioned. But when it comes to Afghanistan, they don't have a clue.
They speak from a position of ill-conceived anti-militarism that could not be less humanitarian, if translated into reality on the ground.
It's true that a majority of Canadians favour an absolute pullout now.
That's the Harper government's fault: They have never managed to articulate the subtleties of the mission or make it plain why we're there.
We're over there, it is worth reminding ourselves, because on Sept. 11, 2001, Islamist terrorists attacked the U.S., killing 3,000 innocent people -- including 24 Canadians.
Everything that has transpired since in Afghanistan flows from that.
Canada is a member of an alliance, a partnership of democracies, pledged to help each other in time of war.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization went into Afghanistan with the blessing of the UN.
We went and remain as part of NATO.
The pullout envisioned for 2011 always made sense, to a point.
That's because, after eight years of war, during which 40,000 Canadians soldiers have served, thousands been injured and 152 been killed, a pause is necessary and due.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has squandered most of the goodwill he once had in the West and Canadians are rightfully suspicious of claims that we can or should maintain a large combat force in Kandahar.
But that doesn't make it right or responsible to walk away completely.
This turnabout on Harper's part did not emerge from thin air.
It comes as a result of political and moral pressure being placed on senior government members by their counterparts in Europe.
Here's why keeping a small force of trainers in Afghanistan, post 2011, is right.
First, training of the Afghan National Army has been Canada's stock-in-trade for years now.
Following through, until we and our allies resolve that the Afghans can maintain basic security on their own, makes sense.
Second, it can be done within the parameters of the Parliamentary resolution: That resolution calls for an end to the combat mission in Kandahar.
It does not preclude training or humanitarian work in other areas of the country.
Third, they're talking about an "inside-the-wire" mission.
This likely means operating out of Camp Julien in Kabul, where Canada has long maintained a small ANA training program.
Operating inside the wire greatly reduces the risks of casualties.
Does it eliminate risk? No. Anyone who says so is lying.
If Canada maintains a force of several hundred, as has been reported, the Canadian Forces will continue to take casualties.
But the families of the soldiers who have died there, and all those who have been injured, and all those serving now and preparing to serve, will take comfort in knowing that this country didn't simply walk away from a difficult mission because it was no longer politically easy.
Section: News
Byline: Matthew Fisher
Outlet: Edmonton Journal
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News / A soldier stands in silent tribute on
Thursday remembering Canadians who have fallen in war, including the 152 Canadians who have died in Afghanistan.
Headline: Canadians in Afghanistan take time to reflect
Page: A12
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: KANDAHAR, AFGHANI
Source: Postmedia News
At strongpoints and fire bases across Kandahar's Panjwaii district -- everywhere where Canadian combat troops are deployed "outside the wire" to fight the Taliban -- solemn tribute was paid to fallen comrades on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
"Truly, this is a day to reflect. It is a significant day in our lives," said Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner, the task force commander, who led Remembrance Day ceremonies at his headquarters. In attendance Thursday were several hundred soldiers and the relatives of eight soldiers from
Quebec and New Brunswick who died as the result of service in Afghanistan.
Milner remarked that he had personally known some of the 152 Canadian soldiers whose images have been etched on a black marble memorial a few metres from where he spoke.
Denis Michaud was in Kandahar with his parents, Conrad and Gisele, to remember his "little brother," Master Cpl. Charles Michaud. An infantryman with the Quebec-based Royal 22nd
Regiment, he was killed by a homemade bomb on July 4, 2009.
The trip to Afghanistan to see where his brother fought and died was "a privilege" that had triggered a lot of memories of their youth together in Edmunston, N.B., said Michaud.
"All families with members abroad, we have a little bit of them with us today," Michaud said.
"I now have a little bit of an idea of the courage it takes for soldiers to say goodbye to their families. I sleep where he slept. I eat where he ate.
"We are here to better understand the mission. The soldiers are so proud to show us what they do when they serve their country. My brother loved what he did. In my heart my little brother is a hero."
After the service, soldiers and family members later paid personal tributes to those they had known by placing poppies beside their memorial plaques, as did journalists on a plinth commemorating Michelle Lang, a journalist with the Calgary Herald who died last December alongside four soldiers when the vehicle they were riding in struck an improvised explosive device.
Section: Canada
Byline: Jonathan Montpetit
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: Families travel to Kandahar for Nov. 11; 152 fallen soldiers remembered in airfield service
Page: B11
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - When Rene Allard was a boy cutting grass in a local cemetery he never thought much of the monuments to the soldiers who fought in the First World War.
"Nov. 11 wasn't a day I used to find special," he said.
But Remembrance Day was given new significance when he learned his son, Sapper Matthieu
Allard of Val D'Or, Que., had been killed by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar's Zhari district last year. "It changed my thinking a lot," Allard said, choking back tears.
He was among the families of eight fallen soldiers who made the trip to Kandahar Airfield to take part in what will likely be the last Remembrance Day ceremony with Canadian soldiers in combat in Afghanistan.
The families joined more than 200 soldiers and dignitaries to honour the 152 members of the
Canadian Forces who have died as part of the Afghan mission since 2002.
Canada will begin withdrawing troops next year. And while Ottawa has signalled it will extend the mission, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday soldiers won't be fighting insurgents in their new role.
During Thursday's ceremony, the commander of the Canadian mission in Kandahar told the crowd it is worth recalling that soldiers died here for the "common cause of freedom and human decency."
"It is important that we take the time to mark this day, especially here in Afghanistan," Milner said. "(It is) a place that is so close to the sacrifices made by the brave men and women who fought in this theatre."
The ceremony carried many of the hallmarks of similar ceremonies to be held across the country.
Last post was heard, flags were lowered to half-mast and the bag-pipes played their way through the Piper's Lament.
When it was over, soldiers removed the poppies from their uniforms and pinned them to the monument that sits outside Canadian military headquarters.
It was a subdued affair compared those of year's past. There were no visiting politicians and fewer Afghan officials were in attendance. In their place were friends and relatives who sobbed uncontrollably as they placed poppies on the cenotaph.
For them, Remembrance Day will never be the same.
"We can't forget why they fought, why they died," said Jean-Marc Gaudreault, whose son,
Trooper Richard Renaud, died following in 2008.
The family of MCpl. Charles Philippe Michaud, who was killed by an IED in Panjwaii district last year, said coming to Afghanistan has allowed them to better understand why he was so intent on deploying. "He's my little brother, but he's also a soldier," said Denis Michaud.
Section: News
Lead: OTTAWA -- Soldiers serving in Afghanistan were the first to receive the newly designed poppy coins on Remembrance Day.
Headline: Soldiers first to get poppy coins
Page: 4
Byline: MERCEDES STEPHENSON, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU
Outlet: The Calgary Sun
Illustrations:
photo
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
OTTAWA -- Soldiers serving in Afghanistan were the first to receive the newly designed poppy coins on Remembrance Day.
More than 3,000 troops stationed throughout Afghanistan were the first to receive the special 25cent memento from the Royal Canadian Mint, each batch delivered in velvet pouches.
About 14,400 poppy quarters in all were distributed to Canadians Forces members, including those deployed elsewhere in the region, such as the recently closed Camp Mirage.
The Canadian Mint also sent banners to Canadian troops overseas signed by mint employees in
Winnipeg and Ottawa to express their support.
"We are all extremely proud of them," said Christine Aquino, the mint's communications director. "This was a small way for us to express our appreciation, especially on Remembrance
Day."
The new poppy quarter is the third coloured poppy coin produced by the mint since 2004. The original poppy coin was the first coloured circulation coin in the world.
This year's coin was designed in partnership with the Royal Canadian Legion.
The mint said 11 million of the quarters will find their way into circulation.
A special Remembrance Day collectors card is also being made available for all three coloured poppy coins through participating Canada Post outlets.
Five dollars from each $9.95 card sale is being donated to the Military Families Fund. mercedes.stephenson@sunmedia.ca
Section: Canada
Outlet: National Post
Illustrations:
Black & White Photo: /
Headline: Canadians pause to remember war dead
Page: A6
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: OTTAWA
Source: Postmedia News
Tens of thousands of people gathered across the country yesterday, including in Toronto, pictured, to remember and honour the sacrifice of soldiers who lost their lives in past wars and conflicts. Earlier, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in South Korea for a meeting of world leaders, attended a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Korean War Memorial. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. In Afghanistan, combat troops paused to remember their fallen comrades. In Ottawa Canadian Forces soldiers said they were proud to be in the country's capital on Remembrance Day, and that they were delighted to see the support from their fellow Canadians. In Memorial Hall at the Canadian War Museum, a narrow column of natural light made its slow march over the gravestone of the Unknown Soldier as
Remembrance Day was marked at 11 a.m.
Section: News
Lead: Amanda Anderson laid a cross gently into the ground Thursday near the Ainsworth Dyer
Bridge to remember her husband Cpl. Jordan Anderson, who died in Afghanistan almost four years ago.
Headline: A very special memorial Ceremony at Ainsworth Dyer bridge 'heartwarming and very genuine'
Page: 4
Byline: JASMINE FRANKLIN QMI AGENCY
Outlet: The Edmonton Sun
Illustrations:
photo by Tom Braid/Edmonton Sun Lt.-Col. Peter Dawe of PPCLI 3rd Battalion, salutes after he and wife, Sara Crowe, placed a memorial cross in honour of Dawe's younger brother, Capt.
Matthew Dawe, during a Remembrance Day service held at the Ainsworth Dyer Memorial
Bridge. Capt. Dawe was killed in July 2007 in Afghanistan. A total of 152 crosses, representing every Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan, were laid.
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Amanda Anderson laid a cross gently into the ground Thursday near the Ainsworth Dyer Bridge to remember her husband Cpl. Jordan Anderson, who died in Afghanistan almost four years ago.
Jordan was a friend of Dyer's, one of the original four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan in
2002 due to "friendly fire." He helped build Dyer's memorial near the Rundle Park footbridge.
Five years later he, too, died in Afghanistan, in 2007.
"It was harder to leave this year," said Amanda, 35, at the conclusion of the emotional ceremony.
Aart Van Sloten started the emotional Remembrance Day ceremony eight years ago in honour of
Dyer, who was engaged to his daughter.
"We started doing it as a family because we lost Ains and it kind of evolved to -- maybe we should do a little bit more and maybe other families would like to join," said Van Sloten.
"Eventually we started making the crosses."
Every year, a wooden cross is made for every Canadian soldier who has died in Afghanistan -- their names are etched into the cross and a poppy is attached.
Family, friends or complete strangers then put the crosses into the ground on Remembrance Day.
With the addition of 19 crosses this year, there were 152 in total put into the ground at the ceremony.
"Of all the ceremonies in town, I find this one particularly moving. It's heartwarming and very genuine," said Lt.-Col. Peter Dawe, a 20-year military man, who saluted his younger brother
Matthew, also killed in Afghanistan in 2007.
"As a serving Canadian member of the Canadian Forces I know a lot of the troops that we have lost over the past few years -- in particular I also lost my younger brother, so it's a very meaningful day."
Around 250 people gathered for the hour-long ceremony filled with tears, silence and a lingering feeling of appreciation and respect.
"I think that Edmontontians have much to be proud of in terms of the support they show for troops on a regular basis," said Dawe. "We as serving members in Edmonton are very grateful to belong to such a great community."
The project is a joint effort between organizer Van Sloten, a retired NAIT instructor who cuts the wood, and another individual who carves the names.
Van Sloten then finishes the wood and puts the spikes inside.
"Headspace wise, it takes a lot of time (to finish the crosses) because you think about each one," said Van Sloten.
Van Sloten said he will continue to do the ceremony as long as he's alive.
John Van Drunen, 83, and his wife Tony, 75, have attended the ceremony for the past eight years. John, a former Dutch military man, said he and his wife try to keep up their display of appreciation as much as possible.
"Canadian soldiers and all soldiers should be remembered that they do this for a very important cost: to be free is very important," said Tony. jasmine.franklin@sunmedia.ca
Section: News
Byline: Bruce Deachman
Outlet: Calgary Herald
Illustrations:
Photo: Wayne Cuddington, Postmedia News / A lone veteran salutes after laying a wreath during the National Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Cenotaph in Ottawa.
Photo: Wayne Cuddington, Postmedia News / A visitor at the National Remembrance Day
Ceremony in Ottawa on Thursday delivers a thank-you message to soldiers.
Photo: Andy Clark, Reuters / A piper from the Seaforth Highlanders plays a lament as the
Olympic Cauldron burns during Remembrance Day Ceremonies in Vancouver.
Photo: Bruno Schlumberger, Postmedia News / Ben Regalbuto of the Governor General's Foot
Guards takes part in the ceremonies in Ottawa.
Photo: Cpl. Keith Wazny, Department Of National Defence / Soldiers take part in a
Remembrance Day ceremony in the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan.
Headline: Canadians remembersacrifices of soldiers
Page: A4
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: OTTAWA
Source: Postmedia News
A s the clear notes of The Last Post echoed off the buildings surrounding the National War
Memorial in Ottawa on Thursday, Doug Perkins sat, watched, listened and remembered.
He recalled signing up to fight in the Second World War, on Nov. 5, 1942, just an 18-year-old at the time.
"That was the end of a 10-year depression," he recalled, "and a lot of older men joined because they didn't have jobs.
"I was young. I figured it was the thing to do. I did it for the sense of country."
In retrospect, he figures he should have stayed in school -- he'd only got as far as Grade 11 in his hometown of Toronto, where, at 86, he still lives.
But his country had called.
Tributes to those who answered the call for Canada were made Thursday around the country and from around the globe.
In Seoul, Prime Minister Stephen Harper honoured their sacrifices, while combat troops in
Afghanistan paused to remember their own fallen comrades.
In Ottawa, following The Last Post, a loud cannon blast marked the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the beginning of two minutes of silence, during which Canadians bowed their heads and remembered.
The moment of silence is timed to recall the official end of the First World War on that date in
1918.
With Gwen, his wife of nearly 60 years, sitting beside him, Perkins remembered sailing to
Europe aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam, the flagship of the Dutch fleet. He also recalled what one of his sergeants said to him when he landed in Europe. "Perkins," the sergeant said, "remember two things: Keep your head down and don't volunteer, and you might get home."
At Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, north of Quebec City, hundreds of soldiers gathered for an emotional ceremony in memory of their fallen comrades.
Children attending the two schools on the base released a flock of doves as the haunting sound of
Amazing Grace broke the silence.
Many members of the Canadian Forces from Valcartier have died while serving in Afghanistan.
Among them was Maj. Yannick Pepin, 36, who died Sept. 6, 2009. His wife Annie Roberge felt it was important to attend the ceremony with her two children.
"This day has taken a special meaning for me and I really want to pay tribute to him, to those who returned and to those that are leaving again," she said.
Harper, who was in South Korea for a meeting of world leaders, attended a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Korean War Memorial.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War -- a three-year conflict in which 26,791 Canadian soldiers participated and 516 Canadians died.
"Today, we honour and remember those members of the Canadian Forces who fought in one of the toughest wars in our history, to defend South Korea against an oppressive communist invader," Harper said in a written statement released by his office.
Harper paid tribute "to our brave men and women in uniform who continue the proud tradition of defending peace and freedom around the globe."
For many in Regina, the Remembrance Day ceremonies were a family affair.
Kaitlyn Radtke, 11, attended the event with her grandfather, Dave Burns, to remember her greatgrandfather, who fought in the Second World War, and died two years ago.
"He always taught us as kids that we should remember to wear a poppy on Remembrance Day and remember those who fought in the war," Burns said of his father. "So I'm trying to carry on the tradition."
Harry Wade was 17 when he joined the navy in Regina. The 85-year-old -- who says the best sailors are from the Prairies -- was glad to see so many children in the crowd Thursday at the
Jubilee in Calgary, where he now lives.
"They should know why they're living in a free world," he said, suggesting that Afghanistan has brought attention back to Remembrance Day.
Edmonton's Pattie Sidlick said the day is a time to think about the past -- and the future.
"It's for the troops that are -- and have been -- there," said Sidlick. "If we don't remember them, the next generation won't."
In Halifax, about a thousand people, including naval and merchant marine veterans and their families, gathered at the Sailors Monument on the shore of Point Pleasant Park. The crowd watched a Sea King helicopter fly past overhead, and then listened in silence to naval prayers and hymns, as heavy, windswept seas crashed onto the rocky shoreline.
Those who turned out to ceremonies in Winnipeg braved a biting wind and freezing rain. But those in attendance note it was nothing compared to the sacrifices of those they were honouring.
"It's a show of support and appreciation," said Rosalie Magne, who said her son served in
Afghanistan. "It's a time to remember and pay our respects." calgaryherald.com
Log on for videos, photos and an interactive map paying tribute to the fallen.
Section: News
Byline: Cheryl Chan
Outlet: The Province
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Nick Procaylo -- PNG / Honour guard stands Thursday at cenotaph during
Remembrance Day ceremonies in Vancouver.
Colour Photo: Jenelle Schneider -- PNG / Hundreds gather Thursday at Japanese Canadian
War Memorial in Stanley Park.
Headline: Fallen but not forgotten
Page: A3
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The Province
When the Olympic cauldron was ablaze in February, Pte. Benjamin Chau was in a faraway land, serving his country.
But Thursday, as part of Vancouver's Remembrance Day ceremonies, he was front and centre, next to the burning flames, to receive the Canadian flag from an older war veteran, symbolizing
John McCrae's immortal words: "To you from failing hands we throw the torch."
"It's quite the experience," said the 20-year-old Chau, who returned this year after a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan mentoring its budding army.
"I'm representing a lot of people by taking this flag," he said. "It means a lot to myself."
Handing Chau the flag was Cmdr. Bill Paull, who served in the navy for 37 years and helped keep the peace during the Cold War.
"I was serving from a previous era while we were still the Royal Canadian Navy," said Paull, who recalls being in an anti-submarine frigate off the Pacific Coast when the Cuban missile crisis broke out.
"Now we are handing the torch on to another generation and to another era."
Later that morning, at the main Remembrance Day ceremony at Victory Square, hundreds of people, poppies on their coats, braved the November cold to bow their heads to Canada's war dead and its returning veterans.
"We remember each Canadian who has made the ultimate sacrifice serving in emergencies and armed conflicts, past and present, and civilians lost or bereaved through conflicts," Rev. Paul
Beckingham said in the opening prayer.
The sombre ceremony honoured the more than 100,000 fallen Canadians who fought in the two world wars, the Korean War and various United Nations missions, including Afghanistan --
Canada's longest-running conflict, which has taken the lives of 152 soldiers and created a new generation of veterans.
Just before 11 a.m., the strains of a bugler playing "The Last Post" heralded the two-minute silence, which was then broken by the distant booms of the 21-gun salute from Portside Park.
The mournful wail of bagpipes followed.
Lt.-Gov. Stephen Point, Premier Gordon Campbell and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson were among dozens of dignitaries and groups who laid wreaths at the cenotaph.
The second wreath-layer was Sian Jones Lesueur, honoured as the Silver Cross mother representing the grieving families who have lost loved ones to conflict.
"I know the pain they've gone through and the suffering and what it does to the family after," said Lesueur, Silver Cross pinned on her coat, just above her heart.
"It's very heart-wrenching and exhausting, but I'm so honoured."
Lesueur's son, Pte. Garrett Chidley, 21, was one of five Canadians killed last December when a bomb blasted a Canadian Forces armoured vehicle off a muddy road outside Kandahar City.
Also killed was Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang of Vancouver.
Lesueur, whose ex-husband was in Ottawa for the national Remembrance Day ceremony, said she was touched by the huge turnout in Vancouver.
"I'm honoured they are here for the people who have died and served and people who are over there right now," she said.
"It's an amazing thing soldiers do for us, and I'm honoured to be here for them."
Margaret Panton brought her four godchildren, ranging in age from four to 11, from Surrey to the ceremony because she wanted them to learn the lessons of war and peace.
"I want to teach them the whole vast concept of war, of remembering, so there is an appreciation of the importance of preventing wars," Panton said.
"Our remember ing should motivate us to peace." twitter.com/cherylchan chchan@theprovince.com
Section: City
Byline: David Gonczol
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Julie Oliver, The Ottawa Citizen / Three-year-old Eliza St. Jacques places a poppy on the tomb of the unknown soldier Thursday with a hoist from father Peter. The pair were among the few visitors at an intimate Remembrance Day ceremony at the Canadian War
Museum.
Colour Photo: David Gonczol, The Ottawa Citizen /Pvt. David Pivato holds his two-week-old daughter, Isabella, for the first time after returning from Afghanistan on Thursday.
Headline: Poignant homecoming for brigade; It was a day to remember in more ways than one for about 50 Canadian soldiers who returned to the arms of their loved ones Thursday night, writes David Gonczol.
Page: D1 / Front
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
Remembrance Day was all the more memorable for CFB Petawawa's Pvt. David Pivato, who marked the occasion Thursday evening with a first, tearful embrace of his two-week-old baby daughter.
"She looks beautiful," beamed Pivato, who could hardly take his eyes off the newborn as the little family, along with about 50 other returning Afghanistan veterans, celebrated an emotional reunion in a base drill hall.
Wife Cheryl gave birth to Isabella while Pivato was away. He had the choice of being in Canada for the birth and returning to Afghanistan or missing the birth and coming home early.
The poignant Nov. 11 homecoming, which was aired live on national television, was the first of several for the 2,300 members of CFB Petawawa who will return home from their last combat mission to Afghanistan over the next 90 days.
The group, which arrived Thursday night, included fighting infantry, medics and other support personnel. A number of those returning home have been in Afghanistan more than once. All of the returning soldiers belonged to several regiments of the 2 Mechanized Brigade Group, based at Petawawa.
Those arriving home were coming from a two-day "decompression" stop in Cyprus, at a
Canadian facility designed to facilitate transition from war to home.
Tarwyn Hogan and husband Patrick Hogan were thrilled to be together again after his first tour of duty, but Nov. 11 is a bittersweet day for the couple.
Tarwyn's brother-in-law died serving in Afghanistan two years ago. "It was a sombre day because we lost my brother in Afghanistan two years ago, but it's a joyful day because (Patrick) is coming home."
Tarwyn's father, grandfather and uncle all served in the military, as did Patrick's father.
Pvt. Justin Bronzan was another proud dad who happily followed around his 15-month-old daughter, Gracie. The little girl learned to walk while her dad was overseas.
Lt.-Col. Kevin Cameron, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, said the Nov. 11 homecoming "put the right flavour to it."
One-hundred sixty of his 700-strong battalion will be returning from Afghanistan.
"They had a tough tour. It was a combat tour. Seven months right in it," said Cameron.
"Petawawa is no stranger to overseas missions, and the loss that goes along with that over the last eight years or so and before that," said Cameron.
He said that although the soldiers are happy to be at home, "without exception" all of the guys that come back would go back.
"They recognize what they are doing over there, and they are seeing progress. That's what they signed on the dotted line to do," said Cameron.
"The guys are keen to carry on what we started. Coming home is great, but most of them look forward to potentially going back again to carry on where they left off and carry on from the guys who came after them to finish what we started."
Cameron has commanded the battalion for about 18 months, and this is the second homecoming as the commanding officer.
"It's nice to have everyone back, especially when they are coming back safe and sound. The dynamic is interesting because the families reconnect and they do it in a public environment with everybody else around, and that brings the spirit up a little bit," he said.
Cameron said it's also good for the public, through the media, to be allowed to witness the reunions.
"It's nice to share that with the public, so they see there is a family side to each of us as well," said Cameron.
"We are just Canadian citizens doing what we do as a profession."
He said most of the returning soldiers will be on a "well deserved" leave until after Christmas.
Section: Sports
Byline: Iain MacIntyre
Outlet: Vancouver Sun
Illustrations:
Photo: Vancouver Canucks / The Vancouver Canucks cancelled a game-day morning skate in
Ottawa on Thursday so that they could take in the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National
War Memorial. Canucks' forward Alex Burrows (front) said a poem written by a 10-year-old girl who lost her father in Afghanistan 'really got me.'
Headline: Skipping a skate to stand proud; Remembrance Day poems, parades and prayers a chance to honour those who sacrificed
Page: F2
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: OTTAWA
Source: Vancouver Sun Columnist
Vancouver Canuck players were solemn spectators Thursday morning at the National War
Memorial as Canada honoured its soldiers on Remembrance Day.
Skipping their customary morning skate didn't make the Canucks better players, but coach Alain
Vigneault hopes it helps make them better people.
"Most definitely," Vigneault said of perspective gained from attending the 40-minute ceremony at the base of Parliament Hill. "Everybody thought this was a great idea. It was just the right thing to do."
Although a handful of players were required to skate at Scotiabank Place, most of the Canuck team mustered in the lobby of their hotel at 10:30 a.m. and made the short walk to the War
Memorial, where a small area of Elgin Street had been reserved for them.
Although they had no direct view of the ceremony, most players stood attentively through speeches and prayers and songs, watching the service on jumbo screens set up for the public.
Most applauded as Canadian Forces personnel, including many Second World War veterans, paraded past them at the end of the ceremony.
"To see generations of soldiers -- I can't imagine what they've gone through -- but to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice for Canada is a small gesture for us," Canuck Manny
Malhotra said. "The final parade, seeing generations going by and the pride they have in being a member of the armed services, that's the point that really hit home for me."
Canuck Alex Burrows said he'll never forget the poem, written by a 10-year-old girl after her father was killed in Afghanistan, that was read to the crowd of thousands.
"That part really got me," Burrows. "It was good to be there. We should give back to the people who have fought for what we have."
MANY WILLIAMS: The second-biggest gathering in Ottawa was for Darryl Williams' family reunion. The Canuck assistant coach, who spends most of the season separated by 7,000
kilometres from his wife and children in St. John's, is taking advantage of a week in Eastern
Canada to get his family together.
And not just his own. Williams' brother Glenn lives in Ottawa, and his sister travelled from
Portage la Prairie, Man., with her family. Parents, Eric and Nettie Williams, also flew in for the reunion. Their eight grandchildren were romping around the arena when the Canucks practised
Wednesday.
"We've really been looking forward to this," Williams said. "It's not an easy thing being away from your family. At the same time, I know I'm not the only one in this situation where you're away because of work. We're lucky that three or four times during the season, they'll come out to
Vancouver and I can see them."
Williams said he his wife, Nancy, decided the family would stay in St. John's while Darryl spends hockey seasons in Vancouver.
Their son, Ben, celebrated his seventh birthday in Montreal. His sister, Sophia, is 12.
"Their schedule works better in Newfoundland," Williams said. "They've got dance and music and hockey. And when we sat down and really looked at our [Canuck] schedule and how much
I'd be away, there was only going to be 30 or 40 nights during the season when we'd all be together for supper."
HURT, BUT NOT BADLY: Canuck winger Mason Raymond has been playing with what the team has called a "hand" injury. But it appeared to be his shoulder that absorbed the blunt of P.K.
Subban's check Tuesday in Montreal. Raymond was sore, but made it through Wednesday's practice and was back in the lineup against the Senators.
LINEUP DANCE: Defenceman Keith Ballard doubled his career total for healthy scratches as
Kevin Bieksa, who missed Wednesday's practice due to the flu, played against the Senators.
Up front, minor-league call-up Mario Bliznak made his season debut in the middle of the fourth line, moving Rick Rypien back to right wing and bumping Peter Schaefer out of the lineup.
It was disappointing for Schaefer, who spent four seasons at the peak of his career in Ottawa.
After making the Canucks on a tryout, the 33-year-old played in Vancouver's first 14 games, nearly entirely out of position on right wing or centre before getting scratched Thursday. imacintyre@vancouversun.com
Section: News
Byline: KEVIN DOUGHERTY
Outlet: Montreal Gazette
Headline: Charest calls for reflection; In Quebec City, premier urges Parliament to review
Canada's role in Afghanistan
Page: A7
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: QUEBEC
Source: The Gazette
A "collective, nonpartisan" reflection by Parliament on Canada's future role in Afghanistan is needed, Premier Jean Charest said yesterday.
Charest made his comments following a Remembrance Day ceremony in Quebec City, after
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada would remain in Afghanistan until 2014, in a training role.
Harper is in Seoul, South Korea, for a meeting of the G20 group of government leaders.
"It obviously won't be like the last mission," Charest said, referring to the active combat role by
Canadian Forces, which ends next year.
"But in my opinion, as the premier of Quebec, I expect the federal Parliament to do a collective reflection, and nonpartisan, on the follow-up to the present mission and the best way for Canada to continue to serve."
Charest, federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Josee Verner and Parti Quebecois leader
Pauline Marois were among the dignitaries at Quebec City's Remembrance Day ceremonies.
"The ceremony was very beautiful and very solemn," Charest said.
"We lose, unfortunately, soldiers, and it coincides with the departure of soldiers from Valcartier who are leaving soon for Afghanistan," the premier added, referring to Canadian Forces Base
Valcartier, north of the city.
"This testimony today touches thousands and thousands of Quebecers who serve for us at
Valcartier, for whom we wish to express our gratitude."
Members of the Royal 22e Regiment, the Naval Reserve and other military, as well members of the RCMP, the Royal Canadian Legion and other veterans' groups attended the ceremony, laying wreaths at the crucifix, near the walls of the Old City, that serves as Quebec City's war memorial. Diplomats representing the United States, France and the Netherlands, as well as
Huron Wendat Grand Chief Konrad Sioui, also laid wreaths.
The Silver Star mother, representing all mothers who have lost a child in war, was Celine
Lizotte; her son Jonathan Couturier, 23, was killed in September 2009 in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device blew up the armoured vehicle in which he was riding.
The family of Sebastien Courcy, a 26-year-old soldier from Beloeil who died after stepping on a land mine in Afghanistan, also laid a wreath.
A piper played Amazing Grace. Military bands and a children's choir also took part in the ceremony, which ended with Charest, Verner, Sioui and others releasing white doves to symbolize peace. kdougherty@montrealgazette.com
Section: City
Byline: Kristy Nease
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Headline: Shaft of light inspires quiet awe; Annual ceremony a tribute almost no one will ever see
Page: D1 / Front
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
While thousands gathered for the Remembrance Day ceremony at the War Memorial, a lucky few were inside Memorial Hall at the Canadian War Museum for a vastly different kind of observance.
As the clock ticked past 11 a.m. and the nation stopped in silence to honour its fallen, a single narrow column of bright natural light made its solemn, steady, brilliant way across the simple headstone of our unknown soldier.
Children sat with their parents on the floor of the small green room, transfixed by the movement of light on the slab of stone, doing their utmost to keep quiet and still, great smiles of wonder on their faces.
Grown men and women sat beside them and wept.
The feeling inside the intimate space, designed specifically with this Nov. 11 phenomenon in mind, was one of awe and reverence. The gleam off the white stone, still bearing the stains of
French soil at its base, bathed everyone's faces in soft, shining light.
"A Soldier Of The Great War, A Canadian Regiment," the marker reads, and then below that,
"Known Unto God."
Alongside the 25 ticketholders were museum staff and architects Alex Rankin and Raymond
Moriyama, who came to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the museum they designed.
It was also the fifth anniversary of the quiet, powerful ceremony that only a few have been privileged to see.
One museum staffer, after patiently and respectfully turning away guests making inquiries about coming in just before 11 a.m., said that every year, he wishes he could let everyone inside.
The museum doesn't advertise the special observance because only about 25 people can fit inside the small room that boasts just one entrance, and it's popular enough already.
On her way out of the room after the ceremony, Miroslava Mossop had trouble speaking through her tears.
"I am an immigrant," she said. "I have a husband and I have two children, and I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to leave Europe."
Her family left Bulgaria in 1945, finally arriving in Canada in 1948.
Mossop was just a child then and doesn't remember much about the Second World War, but she said she knows that if her family had stayed in Bulgaria, her father would likely have been thrown into jail just for being well off and connected.
At the war museum on Thursday morning, and indeed every Nov. 11, feelings of gratitude overwhelm her.
"It's very moving," she said of her first light remembrance ceremony. "It's amazing how they have it just perfect."
Later in the day and further east off King Edward Avenue, John Blakely had just returned from the ceremony at the War Memorial.
The 61-year-old has been living under the care of the Shepherds of Good Hope for almost 20 years after spiralling into a deep depression in the early 1990s, losing his marriage and his career as an insurance agent.
The Ottawa man had been a soldier for three years, signing up in Ottawa in 1967, training in
Gagetown, N.B., and then joining CFB London.
Blakely's war story contains no battles, no feats of heroism and no medals, no trip overseas. He had just married before signing up, and in the end, that life called him away from the army just before a peacekeeping mission was set to begin in Cyprus.
Since his fall and years later, Blakely has found a lot to live for with the Shepherds of Good
Hope, the volunteers who care for him, his three sons and the countless other "walking wounded" he's met on the street, a few veterans among them.
"They carry a load by themselves and they don't speak very much about it. But I have a lot of compassion for them because it's like fighting a ghost -- you can't win against bad memories like that. And you can hear it in the disappointed voice of the veterans they interview now," Blakely said, speaking of those with post-traumatic stress and other war traumas, fighting for recognition and adequate compensation.
At the ceremony, Blakely was touched by 10-year-old Alexandria Grace Parker's poem, which asked, "Why can't we just hold hands?"
Her father, Col. Geoff Parker, was killed in Afghanistan in May in a suicide car bombing.
Blakely, who has read a lot about war, said while no one ever really wants war, sometimes bad things happen and make it necessary.
Maj. John Bradley, 86, served in the signal corps from 1943-45, and then again from 1948-71.
His experience was mainly peaceful, too, and he feels the same way.
"There's no future in being pro-war," he said. "Nobody wants to be in favour of war, that's a stupid position, but nobody wants to be trampled over, nobody wants to have no influence.
"But if you're going to be there," he said, speaking now of the mission in Afghanistan, "you bloody well better fight."
Section: National News
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Byline: Rod Mickleburgh
Headline: The 11th hour, the 11th day, the 11th month
Page: A4
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
QUEBEC CITY
As Ginette Fecteau walked up to the Croix du Souvenir and laid a wreath at the foot of the cross, her thoughts went out to her son Sébastien Courcy, who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country in Afghanistan.
Private Courcy of the Royal 22nd Regiment was 26 when he was killed during a firefight near
Kandahar city in 2009.
The presence of his family, and others who lost relatives in Afghanistan, is changing the face of
Remembrance Day in this country.
The ceremony rekindled memories for 87-year old Second World War veteran Léo Dionne, who fought in France with the Maisonneuve Regiment.
``On this day I go back on the beach with the guys for a couple of hours. But then I have to forget because I have to keep on living.'' - Rhéal Séguin
EDMONTON
In a room packed with current and former soldiers, Donald Ethell holds much sway.
A retired colonel who first joined the Canadian Forces in 1955, Mr. Ethell is a former member of
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, and now serves as Alberta's
Lieutenant-Governor.
Thursday, just before 11 a.m. local time, Mr. Ethell called on Edmonton residents and CF members to remember the sacrifices of those that came before all of them.
``The lessons learned from these terrible conflicts must never fade from our collective consciousness,'' Mr. Ethell told a crowd of more than 5,000 who packed into the University of
Alberta's Butterdome track and field facility. - Josh Wingrove
VANCOUVER
At Stanley Park, in a leafy glen overlooking Burrard Inlet, scores bowed their heads in remembrance during a special ceremony at the park's little-known Japanese Canadian War
Memorial, erected in 1920.
With no trace of bitterness over the community's Second World War interment, Roy Kawamoto brushed aside a tear, as he declared: ``We Shall Remember Them.'' Numerous wreaths were laid at the foot of the single-column memorial. Buddhist priest Rev. Tatsuya Aoki paid tribute to
those who died, reminding the audience that, despite their sacrifice, ``they continue to live in each of our hearts and continue to be part of our lives''. Fifty-four Japanese-Canadian soldiers died during the First World War.
Section: News
Lead: OT TAWA -- Canadians gathered by the thousands Thursday in a solemn ceremony at the
National War Memorial to recognize Canada's war dead.
Headline: Silence for our heroes Solemn ceremony of remembrance
Page: 13
Byline: ALTHIA RAJ PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU
Outlet: The Edmonton Sun
Illustrations:
photo by Andre Forget/Qmi Agency A veteran salutes after laying a poppydown on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during the National Ceremony of Remembrance in Ottawa Thursday. photo by Chris Roussakis/Qmi Agency Many veterans were among the more than 30,000 people who attended the ceremony at the National War Memorial.
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
OT TAWA -- Canadians gathered by the thousands Thursday in a solemn ceremony at the
National War Memorial to recognize Canada's war dead.
At 11 a.m., some 30,000 people stood still and silent for two minutes, remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
"This is where people that I knew are," said Charles Kelly, 89, pointing to the cenotaph. "In our days, they didn't last long."
An observer with the aircrew and bomber command during the Second World War, Kelly went overseas in May of 1941 and was shot down six months later, in November.
"I was a guest of the Third Reich for 3 1/2 years," he said.
Offered poem
After the reflective lull of the Last Post, a poem by 10-year-old Alexandra Grace Parker was read before a 21-gun salute and fly-past.
"Today, we face another war which no one understands," wrote Parker, whose father, Col. Geoff
Parker, was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in May. "Why can't we get along? Why can't we just hold hands?"
Rabbi Reuven Bulka said Canadians from all walks of life were being recognized.
"They are heroes because they went to to war war on our our behalf, behalf, putting their lives on hold and at risk, in order to eliminate tyranny, defend liberty and promote freedom for everyone," he said.
Edward Thompson, 92, said the gleaming autumn sun convinced him to brave the cold and drive up from Mitchell, Ont., to Ottawa for his first national Remembrance Day ceremony.
Hitler was a "complete idiot" who needed to be stopped, Thompson said, so as a young farm boy he volunteered.
'It was scary'
"They wanted air gunners, they were short of them, so I was a tail-end gunner in Lancaster bombers," he said.
"Anybody who said they weren't scared were lying ... It was scary. Scary, and I was as scared as anybody."
Montreal Liberal MP Marlene Jennings brought her 92-year-old uncle all the way from
Winnipeg for the event. Rene Garand fought in Europe with the Calgary Tanks.
A smile spread across his face as onlookers came by to shake his hand and say thank you.
Fifteen-year-old Thrane Cloutier layed laid wreath wreath to to remember her grandfather and great-grandfather, who served in the Second World War, and her great-great-grandfather, who served in the First World War.
Cloutier said she was there to remember their fight for freedom. althia.raj@sunmedia.ca
Section: News
Lead: Four years after her son was killed in Afghanistan, Diane Dallaire reserved a gentle kiss for a young man who paid the ultimate price.
Headline: Fallen but not forgotten
Page: 5
Byline: SHAWN LOGAN, CALGARY SUN
Outlet: The Calgary Sun
Illustrations:
photo
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Four years after her son was killed in Afghanistan, Diane Dallaire reserved a gentle kiss for a young man who paid the ultimate price.
As she knelt down to place a wreath honouring her son, Pte. Kevin Dallaire, at Thursday's
Remembrance Day ceremony at the Military Museums, Diane said goodbye with a light brush of her lips -- a farewell that has not become any easier since the fateful August day in 2006 when her son was killed.
"I was giving him a kiss, his last kiss and telling him I miss him," she said after the ceremony that saw some 12,000 Calgarians pay their respects to veterans, both the living and those, like Dallaire, who sacrificed all for their country. "I can't hug him anymore -- it's like going through hell again."
Throughout the city, thousands more gathered at Remembrance Day ceremonies -- including at the Jubilee Auditorium, which was forced to turn some away, and at the cenotaph at Central
Memorial Park in the Beltline.
The city fell silent on the 11th hour. The strains of Last Post from a lone trumpet player echoed on the crisp fall day.
Dallaire's father, Gaetan, said while it's always a bittersweet day, the heartfelt support of
Canadians, decked out in red poppies in honour of those who have fallen, is gratifying. "After four years you think you'd get used to it, but every year the tears come out," he said.
"It's amazing the people who come here every year -- it's a way that they'll never be forgotten."
Ernie Bagstad, 86, served with the Seaforth Highlanders 1 Canadian Infantry during the Second
World War and said Remembrance Day always evokes a swirl of emotions for friends who didn't return with him.
"It's very important we try to remember the guys who didn't make it back home," he said, noting many of his close friends have their names emblazoned on the white crosses that line Memorial
Dr.
"It kind of hurts because they were guys I went to school with -- it would be nice to sit down and have a cup of coffee or a beer with them and reminisce about school days, but I can't of course."
Bagstad said he's glad to see the con-t inually swelling crowds who honour veterans of all of
Canada's conflicts. shawn.logan@sunmedia.ca
Section: CityPlus
Byline: Andrea Sands
Outlet: Edmonton Journal
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Rick Macwilliam, The Journal / Veterans lay wreaths during a Remembrance
Day ceremony at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre on Thursday.
Colour Photo: Rick Macwilliam, The Journal / Cpl. Mike Polegi, cenotaph guard during a
Remembrance Day event at the University of Alberta
Headline: 'Peace, hope and freedom'; Remembrance Day ceremony highlights widow's wish for the world
Page: B1
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: EDMONTON
Source: Edmonton Journal
As Sherry Clark laid the silver cross wreath Thursday on behalf of mothers whose children have died in military service to Canada, she kept thinking one thing: "I can't believe I'm actually doing this."
Clark's 22-year-old son, Pte. Joel Wiebe, died with two other soldiers in June 2007 in a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan.
"While all the soldiers are always in my heart and in my thoughts and prayers, Joel is closest to my heart," Clark said tearfully after the Remembrance Day ceremony in the University of
Alberta Butterdome. "I have to say, I wish I wasn't doing it, but I'm honoured to have been asked. ... It was a beautiful service today. I think Joel would be honoured, and he'd probably be saying, 'Mom, don't cry.'"
Clark walked with Kitty Elliott, 88, to the base of the ceremonial cenotaph, where each woman laid a wreath. Elliott has marked Remembrance Day this way for the past 31 years. Her husband, brother and cousin all died in the Second World War.
"My one big wish for today is that there would be peace, hope and freedom for all the world,"
Elliott said, her eyes filling with tears.
It was a wish echoed by many during the poignant service that drew more than 4,000 people together to contemplate the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers. At one point, master of ceremonies
J'Lyn Nye seemed to struggle with her own emotions as she addressed relatives of soldiers killed overseas.
"Very few of us can comprehend your loss, but we are very proud of your loved ones and those who came before and after," Nye said. "In those hours when you are struggling with your loss, remember the faces here today, and remember you have the support of your city and your country."
Over the past eight years, 152 Canadian soldiers, one Canadian diplomat and one journalist have died in Canada's mission to Afghanistan, Nye said.
"In all, 116,000 Canadians have given their lives in the last 100 years. They are buried in 74 countries around the world. Today, we remember them, and by remembering their service and their sacrifice and that of all veterans and their supporters, we cherish the freedom that they fought to preserve."
Spectators applauded warmly as master warrant officer Tim Turner led the march of hundreds of uniformed representatives from Edmonton's military and paramilitary organizations, including veterans' groups, RCMP and city police, the Knights of Columbus, cadets, scouts and Brownies.
Alberta Lt.-Gov. Donald Ethell, one of Canada's most decorated peacekeepers, said Canadians have a duty to be strong advocates for peace and freedom. "Let us never forget our fallen heroes who sacrificed everything so that we can move forward to build a more peaceful world," Ethell said. "Let us continue their work and let us never abandon the principles they died to defend."
Ethell joined Mayor Stephen Mandel and Comrade Audrey Ferguson of the Royal Canadian
Legion Alberta-Northwest Territories Command to light the peace torch.
After a prayer of remembrance, a trumpeter from the Royal Canadian Artillery band played the
Last Post as a tribute to the dead. The trumpet solo was followed by a two-minute silence broken when a bagpiper played The Lament.
The poem, In Flanders Fields, was recited in English and French before Alberta's lieutenantgovernor laid the first of about 70 wreaths at the ceremonial cenotaph that read "Lest We
Forget."
After the service, Cpl. Grant McKenzie, 23, said he felt proud to be in the military.
The service helped remind people that, although 152 soldiers have died in Afghanistan, the toll of past conflicts such as Vimy Ridge, the Second World War and Korea were much worse,
McKenzie said.
"It's a good time to reflect on what our forefathers have done and a good way to put into perspective what we've done," said McKenzie, who has been with the military for six years and went to Afghanistan in 2008. "It's important to ensure our youth and kids are taught remembrance and to continue that. As time goes on, it's easy to start to forget, but it's very important that we continue services like this." asands@edmontonjournal.com
Section: Westcoast News
Byline: Doug Ward
Outlet: Vancouver Sun
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Andy Clark, Reuters / Members of the 15th Field Royal Canadian Artillery fire a gun during Remembrance Day ceremonies on Vancouver's waterfront Thursday.
Colour Photo: Pte. Garrett William Chidley embraces his mother, Sian Jones LeSueur. Chidley was killed by a bomb in Afghanistan last year.
Headline: Tragedy brings soldier's mom to cenotaph; Silver Cross Mother from Langley lays wreath for all Canadian women who have lost children in battle
Page: A3
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: Vancouver Sun; with files from Postmedia News
She looked far too young to be a Silver Cross Mother.
But Sian Jones LeSueur, 49, knows the anguish of losing a son in war -- and the toll it takes on those who loved him.
LeSueur, whose soldier son died last year in Afghanistan, was chosen to lay a wreath Thursday during Remembrance Day ceremonies in Vancouver on behalf of all Canadian mothers who have lost children in battle.
"I know the pain that they've gone through and the suffering," said LeSueur, a Langley resident, in an interview at Victory Square.
"And what it does to the family after. It's very heart-wrenching and exhausting."
LeSueur's son Pte. Garrett William Chidley, 21, died on Dec. 30, 2009, when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device four kilometres south of Kandahar City.
Four other Canadians died in the blast: soldiers Cpl. Zachery McCormack, Sgt. George Miok,
Sgt. Kirk Taylor and Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang.
When LeSueur walked up to the cenotaph and laid her wreath, applause broke out in the crowd of several thousand people who filled Victory Square and the streets around it.
It was the first time LeSueur has attended the Remembrance Day ceremony at Victory Square.
She typically worked on the day -- usually at Canadian Tire or Sears -- but she would always observe the 11 o'clock two-minute silence. Tragedy brought her this year to the cenotaph.
"It's a great honour," said LeSueur, about being selected as the Silver Cross Mother.
"It means a lot. This week has been very, very hard for our family. The full 10 months have been hard, but this past week has been very difficult, very emotional."
LeSueur said her son had attended Remembrance Day ceremonies in Shilo, Man., where he had been based while serving in the military.
She was struck by the huge turnout at Victory Square.
"Everyone who comes here today -- I'm honoured that they are here for the people who died and the people who are over there right now."
The annual event drew Second World War veterans, members of the military, relatives of war dead and people who simply wanted to pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice or put themselves in harm's way.
Jennifer Payandeh, a student from Little Flower Academy in Vancouver, read a poem she wrote about an 18-year-old Canadian boy who fought in the First World War.
The narrator in the poem, recited by Payandeh in a clear voice, was another 18-year-old soldier who saw his unnamed comrade fall in battle.
"My best friend is now dead, Killed by the war, A single shot took him, A life no more."
Lorraine Gurney, 67, posed for a photograph in front of the cenotaph with her children and grandchildren to honour the father she never really knew.
Her dad, Kim Gurney, died at age 21 while fighting with the Seaforth Highlanders at Ortona,
Italy, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles faced by Canadian troops in the Second World
War.
"I was not quite two years old when he died. And my dad was a wonderful person from everything I've ever heard."
Lorraine Gurney regularly attends Remembrance Day ceremonies either at Victory Square or at other communities in British Columbia.
"My grandchildren here know everything about what happened to my dad," she added.
Claudia Bikadoroff, 43, stood at Victory Square, remembering her grandfather, a Russian
Cossack who fought in the Second World War.
"He was only 16 and I remember [hearing] that he marched in the snow for days in what was then the U.S.S.R. He ended up leaving and came to Montreal where he met my grandmother and fell in love."
Bikadoroff brought her son Oscar, 10, to "show him the bravery of the men and women who died and what the soldiers represent to us -- the freedom that we now have."
In Ottawa, Second World War veteran Doug Perkins sat, watched, listened and remembered as the notes of The Last Post echoed off the buildings surrounding the National War Memorial. He remembered signing up to fight in the war on Nov. 5, 1942, when he was 18.
"That was the end of a 10-year Depression," he recalled, "and a lot of older men joined because they didn't have jobs.
"I was young. I figured it was the thing to do. I did it for the sense of country."
In retrospect, he figures he should have stayed in school -- he'd only got as far as Grade 11 in his hometown of Toronto, where, at 86, he still lives.
But his country had called.
Tributes were made earlier halfway across the world, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper honoured those sacrifices in Seoul, South Korea.
In Ottawa, a loud cannon blast marked the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the beginning of two minutes of silence, during which Canadians everywhere bowed their heads and remembered. With Perkins remembers what one of his sergeants said to him when he landed in
Europe. "Perkins," the sergeant said, "remember two things: Keep your head down and don't volunteer, and you might get home."
In Memorial Hall at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, a small group of spectators watched as the only light source -- a narrow column of natural light -- made its slow march over the gravestone of the Unknown Soldier as Remembrance Day was marked at 11 a.m. dward@vancouversun.com
Section: News
Byline: Jeanette Stewart
Outlet: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Richard Marjan, The StarPhoenix / About 7,500 attended the Remembrance
Day services at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon
Colour Photo: Richard Marjan, The StarPhoenix / Navy League Cadets were among those involved in the Remembrance Day services Thursday at Credit Union Centre
Colour Photo:Richard Marjan, The StarPhoenix / Navy League cadets were among those presenting crosses and wreaths,...
Colour Photo: Richard Marjan, The StarPhoenix / ...while a soldier quietly stands guard
Headline: We remember; Soldier's story unique
Page: A1 / Front
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The StarPhoenix
Capt. Brendan Clancy stands as just one of thousands of Canadian soldiers who have served in conflicts around the world, but his story, like those of all other veterans, is unique.
Clancy was one of an estimated 7,500 people who attended the indoor ceremony Thursday at
Credit Union Centre. Clancy, 27, has been deployed on two missions with the Canadian military as part of the North Saskatchewan Regiment. He spent six months in Afghanistan in 2006 and time fighting wildfires in Kelowna, B.C., in 2003.
Clancy's own grandfather served with the North Saskatchewan Regiment and as a youth Clancy knew he wanted to serve. He was 18 years old when he enlisted and was completing his courses just after 9/11. The level of Canada's commitment overseas was not yet known.
"We didn't really recognize the full potential, full commitment to the forces in Afghanistan," he said.
His memories of time in the country have not left, and though Remembrance Day is a chance to gather to honour these experiences, they are continually part of his life.
"I reflect every day on my tour overseas, and the friends lost," he said.
The seats of CUC were full of people who gathered to pay their respects to those who fought for their freedom and to observe two minutes of silence for those fallen.
The audience ranged from schoolchildren carrying floppy, handmade paper wreathes to politicians and delegates, joined to remember the commitment of the Armed Forces and to celebrate, according to the ceremony's leader Rev. Sandy Scott, "a nation that honours diversity, loves God and lives in peace."
For Clancy, the most moving part of the ceremony was watching his wife stand as the spouses of veterans were called upon.
"I've been taken away from her for anniversaries, birthdays, on deployments here in Canada, on exercises," he said. "I'll be gone for months at a time . . . for the last nine years."
They were engaged while he was overseas and throughout postings and teaching assignments away from home, she's always understood his commitment.
Clancy's stories of his time in Afghanistan are dotted with technical terms such as "operations" and "management."
Clancy processed requests for air support and MediVac for injured soldiers, and managed troops moving through his area, working with American and Dutch soldiers, as well as the newly formed itAfghan National Army, which was two years old at the time.
"I'm often told I speak alphabets and people don't necessarily know what I'm saying, unless they're army people," he said. As military technology has advanced, so have military techniques.
That's why, Clancy said, it's important to honour the country's oldest veterans and collect their stories.
"We have a lot more technological advances and capabilities than what they had. There wasn't really mechanized infantry in the Second World War. To tell them we can reach out and engage at distances we did shocks them," he said.
Clancy planned to spend Thursday visiting veterans in seniors' homes and legions, sharing stories he hopes can be passed on to generations to come.
"It's important that we take the time now to talk to these people," he said. "Especially on days like today."
Clancy is no longer with the military and works as a Saskatoon firefighter. jstewart@thestarphoenix.com
For more photos from Thursday's events at Credit Union Centre, go to our photo gallery online at thestarphoenix.com
FOR MORE STORIES, PHOTOS, SEE C11 AND C13
Section: City & Region
Byline: Jen Gerson And Lea Storry
Outlet: Calgary Herald
Illustrations:
Colour Photo: Gavin Young, Calgary Herald / Soldiers march past the cenotaph after laying a wreath in Memorial Park on Thursday.
Colour Photo: Colleen De Neve, Calgary Herald / Four-year-old Orianna Millwater admires her grandfather Don Millwater's medals during the Remembrance Day ceremony at theMilitary
Museums. Millwater served for 30 years with the Princess Patricia's Light Canadian Infantry.
Colour Photo: Gavin Young, Calgary Herald / One Calgarian walks among the crosses in the
Field of Remembrance along Memorial Drive on Thursday.
Colour Photo: Gavin Young, Calgary Herald / A soldier stands silently during the ceremony at the Memorial Park cenotaph.
Photo: Gavin Young, Calgary Herald / Second World War and Korean War veteran Floyd
Rourke, 87, attends ceremonies at theMemorial Park cenotaph.
Headline: Crowds honour 'those who never came back'; Memorials attract ever-larger audiences
Page: B1
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: Calgary Herald
V eterans and civilians gathered Thursday in great numbers to remember those who died serving their country.
Attendance at Remembrance Day ceremonies in Calgary is swelling as the war in Afghanistan and the passing of the country's Great War generation has inspired thousands of Calgarians to don poppies and attend memorials of respect.
Canada's last First World War veteran died earlier this year, and at the Military Museums on
Crowchild Trail S.W., curator Rory Cory said more people are becoming conscious of the fading memories of the men and women who served.
He said ceremonies at the museum in the late '90s would draw about 2,000 people. The crowd at
Thursday's ceremony was estimated at about 13,000.
"A lot of that has to do with our commitment in Afghanistan. Very few people haven't been touched by that conflict, it's really brought it home for people," he said.
"It's also because of the passing of the World War II generation."
As the grandfathers and grandmothers -- who once told tales of rations, nighttime raids and lost comrades -- are dying, more people are visiting the museum, he added.
One of those was Dex Roberts, 36, a school curriculum specialist who brought her son to listen to bagpipes and observe a moment of silence.
Roberts said she was trying to give the tot an understanding of his history.
"I like to be able to tell him, not so much about war, but about the soldiers and the veterans and people who died to keep him safe," she said.
Despite the chilly weather, four-year-old Kyle seemed to appreciate the moment.
"Mommy, do we have to not talk now?" he asked at quarter to 11 a.m.
"Remembrance Day is really important because we wear special things like this," he said, pointing to an enamel poppy pin on his turtleneck. "And poppies.
"If you don't wear poppies it means you are running out of Remembrance."
The day remains a solemn affair for those who experienced war.
Klaus Rimke served in the forces for 20 years and saw action in Yugoslavia and Kosovo.
Decorated with a leather vest, he's now part of a nationwide motorcycle club comprised of veterans who protest, lobby and help raise money for their peers.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common problem among veterans, said one former soldier.
"Coming from Canada, you don't expect to see mass graves and the kinds of atrocities we saw out there," he said, recounting a time a call to his wife was cut off by a sudden artillery shell.
"She thought I had been blown up."
Stories of war, camaraderie and of hope burn in every veteran's heart.
"I always come (to the service)," said Harry Wade, a Second World War navy veteran, at the
Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
"I have lots of memories and I'm going to pay my respects to my shipmates, who never came back."
The 85-year-old Wade was just 17 when he joined the navy in 1942. He did escort duty in the
North Atlantic and remembers battling a vicious ocean, in addition to the enemy.
"We were in on attacks on U-boats, but they fool you. They sink and send up oil to make you think you got one."
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Canadian navy, said Mayor Naheed Nenshi in his speech at the Jubilee. It is also the centennial for three Calgary-based army reserve units.
Nenshi spoke about the 3,000 men and women from the city who have died in military duty around the world.
Officials read aloud the names of Calgarians who died in Afghanistan in the past year. The last name to be read was Michelle Lang, the Calgary Herald reporter killed while reporting in
Afghanistan last December.
Three generations of the Mahar family were at the ceremony. Dave Mahar, a Second World War veteran, was joined by his son Mike, 54, and grandson Dana, 21.
Mahar was with the combat engineers and specialized in demolitions during the war. He has shared his experiences in Europe; moving through the devastated fields of France, Belgium and
Holland.
Father and son travelled to the Netherlands for the 60th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland in 2005. Mike said the country has undergone a drastic change since his father fought there.
"It was beautiful," said Mike. "We had an amazing reception. They couldn't do enough for
Canadian veterans there." jgerson@calgaryherald.comlstorry@calgaryherald.com
Section: Capital & Van. Isl.
Byline: Kim Westad
Outlet: Times Colonist (Victoria)
Illustrations:
Photo: Debra Brash, Times Colonist / Blanche Agostinone, 87, whose husband is buried at
Veterans' Cemetery in Esquimalt, talks about the handsome Canadian soldier who asked her for directions in her hometown in Belgium 66 years ago.
Photo: Debra Brash, Times Colonist / Veteran Robert Smith, 90, weepsfor his lost brother.
Photo: Debra Brash, Times Colonist / The first person to lay a wreath at the cenotaph in front of the legislature was Sheila Fynes, here with her husband, Shaun.
Headline: Love found in midst of war's terror; Remembrance Day
Page: A3
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: Times Colonist
Blanche Agostinone was 17 when she fell in love with a young Canadian soldier during the liberation of her Belgian hometown of Ghent.
But she wouldn't marry Louis Agostinone for another 50 years, after he returned to Europe for the 50th anniversary of the
D-Day landing at Normandy and then spent months tracking down the young woman he had never forgotten.
He was still as handsome in 1994 as he was in 1944, Blanche said yesterday, as she stood at the
Remembrance Day ceremony at Veterans' Cemetery in Esquimalt, where her husband is now buried.
The two met when the Canadian stopped to ask directions of Blanche and her mother in 1944.
They invited him to their home for coffee the next day. Blanche and Louis fell in love and he asked her to marry him. But, soon after, he shipped out to Japan and the two lost touch. "There were no phones or faxes or computers," she said.
Each carried on with life until the day Louis knocked on Blanche's door in 1994. She still lived in Ghent. Both were widowed. They married July 7, 1996 and moved to Nanaimo. Louis died seven years ago.
Blanche was one of thousands of people who gathered at cenotaphs throughout the region yesterday, publicly acknowledging the sacrifices of millions.
"I'm imagining them all as 20-year-olds and thinking of the horror they went through," Jennifer
Coldwell, a 25-year-old student, said as she watched the parade of largely veterans march to the legislature in downtown Victoria.
Robert Smith, 90, wept through the Last Post as it sounded out over the Inner Harbour. He was remembering his older brother, Frederick. The two grew up together in an orphanage north of
London until they were conscripted in the Second World War. Frederick was killed on his 21st birthday during the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.
George survived the war "without a scratch" and moved to Victoria in 1969. He doesn't often speak of the war. He remembers the air raids in London during the Blitz, when civilians went to the raid shelters. Soldiers didn't. "We had to show we were brave." Asked if he was, Smith said,
"I was terrified."
About 3,500 people of all ages attended the service. The first person to lay a wreath at the cenotaph at the legislature was Sheila Fynes, named Victoria's Silver Cross mother.
The Silver Cross mother is chosen annually by the Royal Canadian Legion as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice on the part of widows and mothers of Canadian sailors and soldiers who died for their country.
Fynes's son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge, 28, developed symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and depression upon returning from Afghanistan after a decade of exemplary service. In March 2008, he hanged himself.
In Ottawa, following the Last Post, a cannon blast marked the 11th hour of the 11th day of the
11th month and the beginning of two minutes of silence. kwestad@timescolonist.com
Section: News
Lead: Toronto remembered--by the thousands.
Headline: T.O. Ceremony Solemn, Still
Page: 8
Byline: JONATHAN JENKINS CITY HALL BUREAU
Outlet: The Toronto Sun
Illustrations:
photo by ALEX UROSEVIC,TORONTO SUN Second World War veteran William
Whiteside, centre, lays a wreath during Remembrance Day service at the Old City Hall Cenotaph in Toronto, yesterday.
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Toronto remembered--by the thousands.
Solemn, silent -- many in uniform and almost all wearing poppies-- a massive crowd packed the intersection of Queen and Bay Sts. Thursday for Remembrance Day services.
The throngs spread out before the cenotaph in front of Old City Hall courthouse and stood rapt in the bright sunshine as bands, flags and honour guards passed by.
Mayor David Miller addressed the crowd, saying while he was proud to attend his seventh and last Remembrance Day as mayor, the occasion was tinged with sadness.
"In the year since we last gathered here, another 19 Canadian soldiers are among the men, women and children killed in wars and conflicts all over the world," Miller said.
"That's 19 more Canadian families torn apart -- their lives changed forever."
The mayor, who later observed via Twitter he had never seen a larger crowd before the cenotaph, said it's also likely that more Canadian forces will be mourned by the time Remembrance Day
2011 comes around."
Four sentries dressed in the uniforms worn during different conflicts, from Afghanistan to the
Boer War, stood by as the ceremony went on, utterly still.
At Queen's Park, Premier Dalton McGuinty told the crowd of his recent visit to Sai Wan cemetery, where Canadians who died in the defence of Hong Kong in the Second World War are buried.
Then, he addressed the veterans of that war directly.
"I want to tell you something, from all of us here today: The generations that follow you will never forget the sacrifice your generation made," McGuinty said.
Section: Actualités
Outlet: Le Droit
Headline: Le jour du Souvenir célébré sobrement à Kandahar
Page: 4
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: KANDAHAR, Afghanistan
Source: LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
Les familles de huit soldats canadiens qui ont perdu la vie lors de la mission en Afghanistan ont fait le voyage à Kandahar pour prendre part aux cérémonies du jour du Souvenir.
Elles se sont jointes aux près de 200 soldats rassemblés mercredi matin au cénotaphe de l'aérodrome de
Kandahar.
Et lors de la cérémonie, le commandant de la mission canadienne à Kandahar, le brigadier général Dean
Milner, a affirmé à la foule présente qu'il était essentiel de se rappeler que les soldats morts au combat en Afghanistan avaient perdu la vie pour la "cause commune de la liberté et de la décence humaine".
"Il est i mportant que nous prenions le temps de marquer cette journée, particulièrement ici en
Afghanistan, a-til dit. C'est un endroit qui est très près des sacrifices faits par les braves hommes et femmes qui se sont battus dans ce théâtre".
La cérémonie dans ce pays a ressemblé à celles se tenant aux quatre coins du Canada, avec le son des cornemuses jouant le célèbre poème Piper's Lament en arrière-plan. Les drapeaux étaient en berne et des gerbes de fleurs ont été déposées en l'honneur des 152 Canadiens qui ont perdu la vie en
Afghanistan depuis 2002.
Lorsque la cérémonie a pris fin, les soldats ont retiré les coquelicots de leur uniforme et les ont accrochés au monument de granit noir devant les quartiers généraux des Forces canadiennes.
Émotion
L'événement a été moins marqué qu'au cours des années précédentes, aucun politicien ne s'étant déplacé et peu de généraux ayant assisté à la cérémonie. Mais les mondanités et autres démonstrations politiques ont cédé le pas à l'émotion vive des amis et des familles qui ont parcouru des kilomètres pour assister à cette journée particulière sur la terre où leurs proches ont vécu leurs derniers moments.
Le Québécois de Val-d'Or René Allard, dont le fils Matthieu a été tué l'an dernier par un engin explosif improvisé, affirme que le jour du Souvenir aura désormais une toute nouvelle signification pour lui. "Le
11novembre n'était pas une journée que je trouvais spéciale", a-t-il témoigné, ajoutant qu'aujourd'hui, avec le décès de son fils, elle change tout.
Pour M.Allard
, visiter Kandahar lui permet de mieux comprendre ce que Matthieu a vécu avant de mourir.
Le début du retrait des troupes canadiennes en Afghanistan est prévu pour 2011. Mais Stephen Harper a confirmé hier, alors qu'il se trouvait à Séoul, en Corée du Sud pour le G-20, que la mission serait allongée mais uniquement pour des fins de formation.
Section: Actualités
Byline: Valérian Mazataud
Outlet: Le Devoir
Illustrations:
Sur la photo: Marcel Champagne, vétéran décoré de la guerre de 39-45 en Italie.
Headline: Jour du Souvenir - A Ottawa comme ailleurs, on se souvient
Page: A5
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Les cérémonies du jour du Souvenir, en commémoration de l'armistice de la Première Guerre mondiale, ont eu lieu à travers le Canada et le reste du monde.
A Ottawa, des dizaines de milliers de personnes se sont réunies autour du Monument commémoratif de guerre du Canada. Aux traditionnelles deux minutes de silence ont succédé le passage de quatre chasseurs CF-18, puis 21 coups de canon.
Le gouverneur général, David Johnston, qui présidait pour la première fois la cérémonie, a ensuite déposé plusieurs gerbes de fleurs au pied du monument. Le nouveau ministre de l'Environnement, John
Baird, représentant le premier ministre, a ensuite imité son geste.
Le chef national de l'Assemblée des Premières Nations, Shawn Atleo, a accompagné une délégation d'anciens combattants afin de souligner la participation des Premières Nations dans les Forces canadiennes. A Séoul, où s'ouvre aujourd'hui le G20, Stephen Harper a assisté à une cérémonie à l'extérieur du Musée de la guerre de Corée, en compagnie de David Cameron et de la ministre française de l'Économie, Christine Lagarde. Ensemble, ils ont rendu hommage aux 500 soldats canadiens morts dans cette «guerre oubliée».
Près de 100 000 militaires canadiens sont morts dans des guerres ou des missions militaires à l'étranger.
A Kandahar, les familles des soldats canadiens tués en Afghanistan ont fait le long voyage pour prendre part à une cérémonie à l'aérodrome de Kandahar au son des cornemuses, alors qu'à Québec, le premier ministre Jean Charest et le maire Régis Labeaume ont déposé une couronne de fleurs devant le monument de la Croi x du sacrifice. En France, le secrétaire d'État aux Anciens Combattants, Hubert
Falco, a rendu hommage aux 100 000 combattants musulmans morts pour la France, «Algériens,
Marocains, Tunisiens, ou tirailleurs sénégalais».
En Angleterre en revanche, on a débattu afin de savoir s'il était correct de twitter ou d'envoyer des courriels durant la minute de silence.
***
Avec La Presse canadienne, l'AFP et Reuters
Section: Actualité
Outlet: La Voix de l'Est
Illustrations:
"Je ne veux pas mettre en péril les gains pour lesquels les Canadiens se sont battus et ont fait des sacrifices en si grand nombre en se retirant trop tôt, je veux éviter cela", dit Stephen Harper.
Headline: Harper explique sa volte-face
Page: 22
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: Séoul, Corée du Sud
Source: LAPRESSE CANADIENNE
Le premier ministre Stephen Harper affirme qu'il a décidé avec réticence de revenir sur sa décision de retirer les militaires canadiens d'Afghanistan l'an prochain.
M. Harper, qui a tenu ces propos en marge du sommet du G20, qui se déroule à Séoul, en Corée du
Sud, a affirmé qu'il avait dit à ses alliés de l'OTAN en des termes qui ne laissent aucune place au doute que le rôle de la mission de combat tirait à sa fin.
Il a expliqué que les arguments selon lesquels les troupes afghanes n'étaient pas prêtes à être laissées seules et que le Canada pouvait participer à leur formation avaient du mérite.
"Si on regarde les faits, j'ai conclu avec réticence que c'est la meilleure décision", a affirmé le premier ministre. "Écoutez, je ne vais pas vous induire en erreur. Ma préférence serait et aurait été de voir la fin complète de la mission militaire", a-t-il assuré.
Jusqu'à ce jour, Stephen Harper avait insisté sur le retrait complet des Forces canadiennes en
Afghanistan d'ici juillet 2011. Mais depuis des mois, les pays de l'OTAN font pression sur M. Harper pour le persuader de revenir sur sa décision.
Mais hier, il a soutenu qu'il ne succombait pas à la pression, mais a décidé de reconsidérer son choix en se basant sur le fait que les Afghans n'étaient pas prêts à voir le Canada quitter leur pays.
"Je ne veux pas mettre en péril les gains pour lesquels les Canadiens se sont battus et ont fait des sacr ifices en si grand nombre en se retirant trop tôt, je veux éviter cela", a-t-il soutenu.
Il a reconnu qu'il avait subi de la pression de la part de ses alliés de l'OTAN pour que le Canada continue d'assumer un rôle de combattant, mais a ajouté qu'un rôle de formation était le plus qu'il pouvait accepter.
Des sources ont indiqué à La Presse canadienne que le gouvernement envisageait d'envoyer de 600 à
1000 soldats à Kaboul jusqu'en 2014 pour soutenir les efforts de formation de l'OTAN.
Section: Actualités
Headline: Une foule record à Fredericton; Le cénotaphe a été restauré, après avoir été vandalisé l'année dernière
Page: 4
Outlet: L'Acadie Nouvelle
Byline: Murat, Phillippe
Illustrations:
Le lieutenantgouverneur, Graydon Nicholas, a déposé une couronne de fleurs au pied du cénotaphe, au cours des cérémonies du jour du Souvenir, hier, à Fredericton.
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Dateline: FREDERICTON
C'est au pied d'un cénotaphe entièrement restauré qu'ont eu lieu les cérémonies commémorant le jour du
Souvenir, hier, dans la capitale.
Pour le président de la filiale 4 de la Légion royale canadienne, Jean-Guy Perreault, les citoyens de
Fredericton ont ainsi voulu démontrer leur attachement envers ce symbole.
Au moins 2000 personnes étaient présentes, selon certaines estimations.
Il s'agissait, selon M. Perreault, d'une foule record pour un 11 novembre dans la capitale.
"C'est phénoménal, ça n'a jamais été vu ici", a-t-il déclaré.
L'an dernier, des vandales avaient lourdement endommagé le cénotaphe de la capitale l'avant-veille du jour du Souvenir.
Mais pour JeanGuy Perreault, cette année, "les gens ont dit le cénotaphe, ça appartient aux soldats, ça appartient à nos grands-pères, nos oncles, nos frères, nos soeurs. Ça leur appartient. Touchez-y pas".
Parmi les dignitaires qui ont pris part aux cérémonies se trouvaient le lieutenant-gouverneur, Graydon
Nicholas, le député de Fredericton-Lincoln et ministre de l'Énergie, Craig Leonard, ainsi que le ministre national du Revenu et député fédéral de Fredericton, Keith Ashfield.
M. Leonard a indiqué que c'était pour lui un "honneur" de pouvoir représenter le gouvernement provincial afin de rendre hommage à ceux et celles "qui ont tout sacrifié afin que nous puissions vivre dans un pays comme le Canada".
Notons également la présence du député de Fredericton-Silverwood, et secrétaire parlementaire responsable des "Affaires militaires", Brian Macdonald, qui ne se trouvait pas sur la tribune des dignitaires, mais qui a participé d'une façon toute particulière à l'événement en prenant part au défilé (lire notre carnet).
Il va sans dire que pour les vétérans, le 11 novembre est une journée dont la signification revêt une dimension qui échappe au commun des mortels.
Pour ceux qui ont servi la nation en uniforme militaire, en temps de guerre comme en temps de paix, il est question du sacrifice qu'ils ont accepté pour défendre la mère patrie.
Le sergentmajor à la retraite Bill Gillen a servi en Corée dans les troupes de maintien de la paix en 1956 et 1957. Il a passé près de 32 ans au sein des Forces canadiennes.
Il a connu des compagnons d'armes qui sont morts au combat.
Les soldats canadiens sont pour lui "de fiers représentants de notre nation et de ses idéaux".
Pour lui, toute personne qui porte ou qui a porté l'uniforme "connaît intimement la signification profonde" du jour du Souvenir et "l'ampleur du sacrifice" consenti par ceux et celles qui sont morts en le portant.
L'importance de la foule rassemblée au centre-ville de Fredericton est pour lui la preuve de la reconnaissance des citoyens envers leurs Forces armées. philippe.murat@acadienouvelle.com
Section: News
Byline: John Gormley
Outlet: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Headline: Canadians hold torch high
Page: A2
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: Special to The StarPhoenix
As another Remembrance Day passes, it seems the face of this national day of commemoration is changing.
A decade ago, only a handful of veterans remained from the First World War, and the vets of the
Second World War, Korea and peacekeeping were on our minds at each Remembrance Day. But the public expressions of support and understanding of the significance of the day seemed to be aging as fast as our veterans.
In recent years, in part motivated by the events of 9/11 and the ensuing nine-year war in
Afghanistan, as a Canadian people we've seen the changing face of service, sacrifice and a grateful nation.
The signs are everywhere: The goose bump-inducing Highway of Heroes in Ontario where hundreds of ordinary people line the 401 to pay their respects to fallen soldiers, a run on poppies this year that caused shortages and record attendance at Remembrance Day events around
Canada.
There is a new, well-informed generation of teens and young adults increasingly focused on what our role as citizens should be in remembrance.
A friend of mine frequently rants about the politically correct ninny of a principal at a local
Saskatoon public school who has decreed the required singing of environmental songs at the
"winter pageant" and last year banished Christmas, and even Santa Claus, as being inappropriate.
So imagine my pal's surprise when elementary-aged kids at this school were tracing and cutting out white crosses, making construction-paper poppies and writing about "Lest we forget."
From wars of a century ago to today, it is humbling to watch kids, teens and young parents take up the challenge of not only respecting those who have gone before but showing an enduring gratitude and remembrance for today's veterans.
In the iconic poem In Flanders Fields, Canadian physician and Lieut.-Col. John McCrae wrote,
"To you, from failing hands, we throw/The torch: be yours to hold it high."
It seems it has been caught and is being held high.
- - -
It's been a week in politics of some confusion and tea leaf reading with the release of a Sigma
Analytics public opinion poll.
Basking, in part, on a popular potash position, Premier Brad Wall now enjoys a 73 per cent approval rating. His negative reading -- or the "I'll never vote for you" factor -- is 20 per cent.
In contrast, NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter's approval rating is 16.7 per cent, with an astonishingly high negative of 60 per cent.
When these leader positives and negatives are superimposed over party preference, 29 per cent of people will vote NDP and 57 per cent will support Wall's Saskatchewan Party. This tells the story that Lingenfelter is less popular than his party and Wall is more popular than his, but Wall even has New Democrat-inclined voters preferring his leadership.
Confusion, I'm told by political insiders, comes from the apparent disconnect between these numbers and Lingenfelter's personal pollster, who has supposedly assured NDP caucus members that they're only five per cent behind in 40 of Saskatchewan's 58 constituencies. It would appear that several NDP MLAs now have their own seats to fear for.
Although the only poll that ultimately counts in politics is on election day, several historic facts are being closely watched: The NDP has never lost more than two elections in a row, every NDP leader has become premier, no non-NDP party has won three elections in a row since premier
Walter Scott in 1905 and the NDP has never dumped a leader after just one election.
One or more of these historic rules is about to be broken.
- - -
For those of us whose knowledge of the Mafia comes from film director Martin Scorsese and is informed by Hollywood -- think The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino and, of course, the hit TV series the Sopranos -- the death of Montreal crime boss Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto is strangely life imitating art imitating life.
It is a particularly brutal mob takeover when the 86-year-old patriarch of the crime family was shot through a window of his plush Montreal home by a hitman with a rifle.
According to those who know such things, it is the height of disrespect to whack a mobster in his own home near his loved ones. Usually such unpleasantries are reserved for the office, while eating or drinking in some joint or while walking down the street.
But, then again, it must say something in the Mafia etiquette handbook when a guy's grandson gets iced first -- Nick Rizzuto Jr. was popped last year in broad daylight -- and two other members of Rizzuto's crew were gunned down this past summer.
It also doesn't help that Rizzuto's son-in-law and consigliore Paolo Renda hasn't been seen since being kidnapped in May. Whether he's doing a Luca Brasi with the fishes or propping up a cement column is anyone's guess.
As the Rizzuto family is now literally wiped out, there is only Nick's son, Vito, remaining, and he is doing a 10-year bit in a U.S. prison for his role in a triple hit in 1981. If this carnage follows central casting, he's likely not long for this world, either.
Mafia watchers believe Vito's extradition and a clampdown on the Montreal mob left a power vacuum around the Rizzutos. And we all know what happens when rival crime families see weakness, in the movies and in real life.
Gormley can be heard Monday to Friday at 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on NewsTalk 650
Section: Editorial
Outlet: National Post
Headline: A day to remember, not to relax
Page: A16
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: National Post
Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod has put forward a private member's bill calling for Ontario to make Remembrance Day a statutory holiday (as is already the case in other provinces). More specifically, she would like the meaningless February holiday of "Family Day" dropped and replaced by the Nov. 11 date.
Ms. MacLeod's heart is clearly in the right place, and every option to honour and support veterans is worth considering. But in this case, there are better ways to serve those who have served us all. Nov. 11 should not be made a holiday.
For all Canadians who enjoy the freedoms and safety secured for us by the sacrifice of over
100,000 lives and the suffering of millions more who served and lived, Remembrance Day is a rare opportunity for a united, collective thank you. At most workplaces and in all schools, at 11 a.m., work pauses and people can reflect. It provides an opportunity for organized displays, the reading of poems, the recounting of veterans' tales of courage and pain, and most importantly, the solemn education of the youngest generation in the facts of war and how much our prosperous and free society has truly cost. For one day a year, for only a few minutes at a time, we take the steps needed to ensure that for at least one more year, the sacrifices made on our behalf will not be forgotten.
Making Nov. 11 a day off would not only make it harder for Ontarians to share this time of contemplation and sobriety in a collective milieu, but would also fundamentally change the meaning of the day.
Even the best-intentioned citizen, one fully mindful and respectful of the costs of war, would soon have to fight the urge to look forward to Remembrance Day. A day off with the kids, a chance to sleep in or take the dog for a long walk, are things rightly relished, and it would be wrong to deliberately associate Nov. 11 with relaxation and pleasure. The meaning of the day, something that we have maintained for 91 years, would be forever lost.
For those reasons, Ms. Mac-Leod's well-intentioned idea should be voted down. Remembrance
Day is a sad time for many Canadians, including a whole new generation of Afghan war veterans and the loved ones our fallen have left behind. Let's never turn the day we set aside to honour their efforts into a chance to relax amongst the comforts of home.
Section: News
Lead: The world could have been a different place if Canadians opted to don anti-war white poppies instead of stepping up, says a federal cabinet minister.
Headline: Red poppy a symbol we fought for peace
Page: 5
Byline: SHAWN LOGAN
Outlet: The Calgary Sun
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
The world could have been a different place if Canadians opted to don anti-war white poppies instead of stepping up, says a federal cabinet minister.
Calgary-Southeast MP and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told those gathered for a
Remembrance Day ceremony at the Military Museums Thursday that Canada played key roles in some of the world's largest conflicts because the nation did its part in fighting for freedom.
He said if Canada had stayed home during the Second World War, it would have sent a message of surrender.
"We could have stopped fighting. We could have put on the white poppy and stayed home,"
Kenney said. "Unfortunately, the only way to stop fighting them would be to surrender to Nazi fascism."
Anti-war protesters in Eastern Canada evoked the ire of war veterans and the Royal Canadian
Legion by donning white poppies, prompting some consideration of legal action against the controversial symbol. In Ottawa Thursday, some protesters laid wreaths adorned with white poppies at the National War Memorial.
Kenney said Canadians should honour not only those who gave their lives in past conflicts, but those who have died and continue to risk their lives in Afghanistan. "Let us not forget so their sacrifices have not been in vain."
Section: Westcoast News
Byline: Sandra McCulloch
Outlet: Vancouver Sun
Illustrations:
Photo: LYLE STAFFORD/Postmedia / Jason Sample of Victoria, who spent 13 years in the military, now works for the Commissionaires. He says the firm's agreement to hire wounded military personnel will help give them stability. news
Headline: Security firm guarantees jobs for injured military personnel
Page: A2
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: Postmedia News
The relationship between the Canadian Forces and the Commissionaires is about to get a lot closer with a formal agreement that ensures military personnel injured in the line of duty can find new employment with the security company.
The Return to Work memorandum, signed earlier this month, is the first formal agreement between the Commissionaires and the Department of National Defence.
It is intended to assist the recovery of forces personnel injured on military service. Once recovered, they may choose to go after other civilian jobs or return to active service.
Jason Sample of Victoria left the forces last year after 13 years service, and now works for the
Commissionaires. A former member of the Royal Canadian Regiment, and then the Princess
Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Sample served in Kosovo, the United Arab Emirates and
Afghanistan. While he returned to civilian life in good health, he lauds the new agreement and says it will benefit service people who are not as lucky.
"Even though the Commissionaires and DND have always worked together and we have a close relationship, this agreement is going to benefit the soldiers who are releasing from the military," said Sample, 36.
"It's going to give them that stability, knowing the Commissionaires will hire them. They don't have to worry about what they're going to do afterwards, especially the injured vets."
The commitment will attract more veterans to jobs as commissionaires on Vancouver Island, said branch CEO Stan Verran. There have been commissionaires in Victoria since 1937 and the organization's mandate has always been to provide security jobs for veterans, Verran said.
"We really are an enduring organization but we've always had the same purpose," said Verran.
"This is our passion, to find employment for veterans of the military and we include the RCMP."
Commissionaires are a familiar sight at DND establishments. It was not a major adjustment for
Sample to change jobs. "The soldiers who are medically released or have had enough don't have to quit cold turkey," he said.
"You still have that family, that closeness, and the guy next to you is now your brother -- it's that close. To just break away from [military life] can be an injury itself."
Sample's job with the Commissionaires is split between a response-centre dispatcher and mobile patroller. He checks security at military establishments, commercial buildings and the homes of people who hire the Commissionaires to keep watch.
"I like the action, I like the adrenalin," he said.
"I have big shoulders and I like that whole aspect of making sure people are safe and helping the person next to you."
Sample said there are aspects of military life he misses but it's good to know, for his family's sake, he won't be deployed any more. His next goal is to become a police officer and he has applied locally. His wife is still in the military. The couple have a young daughter.
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Byline: Jean-Pierre Blackburn
Outlet: The Windsor Star
Headline: New Veterans Charter represents turning point
Page: A8
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: Special to The Windsor Star
It has been said that every day is Remembrance Day for families and friends who have lost a loved one in service to our great country. In my 10 months as minister of Veterans Affairs, I have come to understand this more profoundly than ever.
If there is any comfort in our country's tragic loss, it may be in knowing that such sacrifice has never been in vain, and especially, that they will never be forgotten. We are a blessed nation built on the shared values that these heroic men and women have fought for and defended: Freedom.
Democracy. Human Rights. The Rule of Law.
And, as our nation's attention is focused on our veterans this month, it is also appropriate that we should take the time to discuss the issues that are so important to them and their families.
In doing so, I would like to re-assure all Canadians that our government has been listening to our veterans. We recognize that they have legitimate concerns. The New Veterans Charter, which was adopted unanimously by all political parties in 2005, represented a fundamental change -- and it was not perfect. There were gaps in the care and support we provided, and we have acted to correct them.
Over the past seven weeks, our government has unveiled a series of new measures totalling more than $2 billion for our veterans and their families.
We have made all of these changes for only one reason: because it was our duty to do so. Our government is committed to making sure our Canadian Forces personnel, veterans and their families have the support they need -- when they need it.
This is why we recently announced another $2 billion to provide our seriously wounded veterans with adequate monthly income. We also announced $52.5 million to establish a "Legacy of
Care" for our seriously injured men and women in uniform and their families.
And we have announced immediate changes to the support received by veterans with
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS. At the same time, we are working behind the scenes to solve other problems, such as wait times that are too long and complicated red tape that too many of our veterans must contend with.
All these measures are part of our agenda for transforming Veterans Affairs Canada to better support the men and women who have served Canada so well.
I feel obliged, however, to draw one line in the sand. There are those who insist that Canada should abandon its lump-sum payments and the ongoing financial supports that come with them.
They want us to turn back the clock and fully restore the previous system of disability pensions. I believe this would be a serious error. And, quite frankly, I believe those advocating such changes probably are not familiar with all the details of the Charter.
The New Veterans Charter was unanimously passed by Parliament in 2005 because Canadians recognized it was time for a new, modern social contract with the men and women serving our nation.
While disability pensions had worked well following the two Great Wars, they had run their course. We had to correct a pension system that encouraged increasingly younger veterans to focus on proving their health was deteriorating while receiving very limited benefit from doing so. After all, the average disability pension from Veterans Affairs was about $600 per month, and it came with few services and only partial medical care.
Unfortunately, many people appear unaware that the New Veterans Charter is about far more than its Disability Awards.
The sole intent of the lump-sum payment is to recognize and compensate our injured men and women for their pain and suffering. It is important to note that we also provide other monthly financial supports to recognize the ongoing economic impact of an injury or illness. One example is the monthly Earnings Loss Benefit. It provides eligible veterans with up to 75 per cent of their pre-release salary.
While these new measures were a solid foundation, veterans told us they weren't enough. That is why we are proposing a minimum annual income of $40,000 for Veterans receiving the Earnings
Loss Benefit.
As well, we are proposing our most severely injured Veterans receive a supplementary $1,000 a month - on top of the existing Permanent Impairment Allowance, which can already reach up to
$1,609 per month. This would ensure that a seriously wounded Veteran would receive at least
$58,000 per year.
As these latest changes indicate, our government is convinced that the New Veterans Charter can keep pace with the varied needs of the men and women it serves. Our Veterans have earned this.
They deserve this.
And, on behalf of our grateful nation, our government will continue to improve this Charter.
Jean-Pierre Blackburn is the federal minister of Veterans Affairs.
Section: Forum
Byline: Vice-Admiral Bruce Donaldson
Outlet: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Headline: Assaults treated seriously
Page: A13
Date: Friday 12 November 2010
Source: The StarPhoenix
Re: Unnecessary risks (SP, Nov. 8). We appreciate the conclusion of this reprinted Ottawa
Citizen editorial that, "It may be impossible to get the number of sexual assaults in the Canadian military down to zero."
We acknowledge that like elsewhere in society, such assaults, unfortunately, do happen.
But we challenge the editorial's assertion that we are "silencing complaints" and that we are unprepared to talk about assault and harassment. This could not be further from the truth.
The Canadian Forces treats harassment and sexual assault very seriously. Not only are our members encouraged to report harassment of any kind, they receive instruction throughout their careers on our progressive harassment policies -- policies that are diligently applied.
Every reported sexual assault is independently investigated. While the military community has a lower incidence of crime overall than Canadian society at large, our community is nevertheless a reflection of Canada.
We hold ourselves to the highest standards of conduct and we encourage open discussion of these important issues in the Canadian Forces.
Vice-Admiral Bruce Donaldson
Vice-Chief of Defence Staff
The Canadian Forces
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