NATIONAL NEWS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / SOMMAIRE DES NOUVELLES NATIONALES
ADM(PA) / SMA(AP)
August 27, 2010 / le 27 aoüt 2010
MINISTER / LE MINISTRE
Northern Sovereignty: Comment
Susan Riley: Stephen Harper's Conservatives are not just changing the country's direction (which is their
right), they appear intent on reshaping reality. This week, for instance, we learned that the Cold War is
not, in fact, over and that Russia remains an active threat in the north. Mr. Harper's press spokesman,
noted Sovietologist Dimitri Soudas, explicitly turned the Russian flyby into an argument for a $16-billion,
sole-sourced upgrade of Canada's fighter-plane fleet. If the strongest justification for buying new planes is
the Russian threat, Mr. Soudas hasn't been doing his homework or following international news. We're
not at war with Russia; in fact, we're supposed to be friends. There was, for example, the 2009 briefing
note to defence minister Peter MacKay (who has also resorted to anti-Russian sabre-rattling in fundraising exercises). It said Russia's goals in the Arctic are similar to ours: socio-economic development
(read oil and gas) and military security. The truth is that Harper's government, while giving northern
sovereignty welcome profile, has promised much and invested little -- outside of annual photo ops like this
week's military ballet on ice and Harper's unexpected northern jig. As Gen. Walt Natynczyk (whose
candour is becoming refreshing) noted, the North is a more hostile and expensive environment for
Canadian forces than even Afghanistan (Ctz A14).
Politique internationale de l'Arctique
Dans un article du quotidien Le Soleil, le chroniqueur Raymond Giroud, traite de la politique internationale
de l'Articque. Il rappelle que suite au survol de deux avions russes dans la région, le premier ministre en
a profité pour faire de la propagande en faveur de l'achat de nouveaux appareils de façon un peu trop
belliqueuse. Quant à NORAD il rappelle la légalité pour le Canada ou la Russie aindiq ue les États-Unis
d'effetuer des essais aériens. Cependant, le ministère de la Défense, selon des documents internes
obtenus par la Canadian Press, rejette l'attitude belliqueuse du premier ministre et du ministre Peter
MacKay (Sol 7).
CDS / CEM
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
MILITARY POLICE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION / COMMISSION D'EXAMEN DES PLAINTES
CONCERNANT LA POLICE MILITAIRE
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
CANADA IN AFGHANISTAN / LE CANADA EN AFGHANISTAN
Panjwaii Operations Intensify
Worried villagers are packing up their belongings and fleeing unstable districts around Kandahar city as
Canadian, U.S. and Afghan forces intensify a long-planned campaign against insurgents in the area, local
sources have told the National Post. About 1,700 U.S. soldiers and Afghan army and police officers are
sweeping through a semi-rural corridor directly west of the city and have detained 116 suspected Taliban
insurgents since Wednesday, said Colonel Ghulam Farooq Parwani, deputy commander of the Afghan
National Civil Police in Kandahar. Villagers in Panjwaii feel pinched between the two sides. A Canadian
Forces spokesman at Kandahar Airfield said Canadian troops were behind no such initiative and could
not confirm if one exists. Panjwaii is the last remaining area of operations for Canadian troops in
Kandahar. Senior officers acknowledge insurgents move about some areas with impunity and villagers
say they are tired of the situation. The push west, deeper into Panjwaii and Zhari, represents the third
phase of a coalition operation dubbed Hamkari, Dari for co-operation (B. Hutchinson: NP A1, EJ A3, RLP
D11, VSun B5, VProv A40).
Operation Hamkari
Canadian soldiers are girding for what may well be their final fight in Kandahar as they expand their
counter-insurgency strategy this fall into a key district that has remained a stubborn Taliban stronghold
throughout four years of battle. The third phase of Operation Hamkari will get underway in the Panjwaii
district, where Canadian Forces are now concentrated, and neighbouring Zhari, which has been handed
over to the U.S. military. BGen Jonathan Vance said: "That challenge, on a military perspective, is felt by
the troops who wrestle every day with the encroachment of the insurgency into populated areas, the IED
threat, the threat against ourselves and Afghans." Operation Hamkari in Kandahar has been dubbed by
some American media as the most critical operation in the nine-year war (CP: HCH B6, MT&T C1).
Dernière opération
Les Forces canadiennes participeront à la prochaine phase de l'opération Hamkari, qui vise à déloger les
insurgés talibans du district de Panjwayi, au sud de Kandahar, ce qui pourrait être leur dernier combat.
Le commandant des Forces canadiennes à Kandahar, le brigadier général Jonathan Vance, a précisé
que l'objectif était de repousser les insurgés et de maintenir une présence dans les villages situés dans le
bastion des talibans. Certains médias américains considèrent l'opération Hamkari comme la plus critique
dans la guerre menée depuis neuf ans dans ce pays (Pr A14, Tr 14).
Taliban Storm Police Post in Kunduz
Taliban fighters overran a police post in northern Afghanistan yesterday, killing eight officers, a provincial
governor said, in an attack that underscores the widening of the insurgency. The fighters stormed the
post in Kunduz city, capital of the province of the same name, which has become increasingly restive as
the Taliban expand their footprint across Afghanistan's previously peaceful north (AFP: Gaz A21; AP:
FDG A12).
OTHERS / AUTRES
Col Williams Court Appearance
Col. Russell Williams, the former commander of CFB Trenton who is accused of two sex killings and two
sexual assaults, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday and has been committed to stand trial.
Michael Edelson, Williams's lawyer, told a packed courtroom that his client wanted to skip the preliminaryhearing step of the pre-trial process. At the end of his less-than-five-minute appearance, Williams uttered
a firm: "Thank you." He will next appear in court on Oct. 7, when a date will likely be set for trial. It is
expected he will appear in person at that time (E. Mauro: Ctz C1, CH A3, NP A6, EJ A6, Gaz A18, VTC
A9, VProv A28; J. Miller: TSun 35, OSun 3, ESun 56, KWS 6, LFP B1; T. Appleby: G&M A5; CP: HCH
B3, SJT C8, MT&T C9, HS A15; J. Rankin: TStar A8).
Procès du caporal Williams
Le colonel Russell Williams, ancien commandant de la base militaire de Trenton, en Ontario, subira son
procès le 7 octobre prochain, pour les accusations de meurtres, agressions sexuelles et introductions par
infraction qui pèsent sur lui. Le colonel Williams était une étoile montante des Forces armées avant
d'être accusé des meurtres de Jessica Lloyd, âgée de 27 ans, et de la caporale Marie-France Comeau,
âgée de 37 ans (Tr 9, Qt 25, Dr 9, Sol 12, AN 16, VE 17).
Northern Sovereignty
In Resolute Bay on Wednesday, Mr. Harper watched military training exercises, praised the Canadian
Forces for protecting this country's borders and cast a spotlight on how the government is investing in
new satellites to monitor things such as oil spills or the movement of dangerous "bad guys" in the Arctic or
anywhere else in the world (M. Kennedy: Ctz A4, CH A3, EJ A5, SSP C8, RLP D12, VProv A22).
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper touched down in the Yukon late Thursday, the Whitehorse Daily Star
was rolling off the presses with a front-page headline proclaiming an attack by the local MP -- Liberal
Larry Bagnell: "Caustic Uproar slammed: Interception of Russian bombers was a trumped-up international
incident." But Mr. Harper, hours earlier in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W. T, was having none of Mr. Bagnell's guff.
Harper told reporters in Tuktoyaktuk: "This was the testing of our airspace. We're not testing somebody
else's airspace… The Government of Canada, through the Canadian Forces, always responds when that
happens and we make no apologies for that" (D. Akin: TSun 30, OSun 12, ESun 18, WSun 10, CSun 10,
LFP B2, KWS 13).
Militarisation de l'Arctique
Le chef libéral, Michael Ignatieff, estime que le gouvernement conservateur accorde trop d'importance à
la militarisation de l'Arctique et pas assez aux problèmes sociaux. Le chef du PLC a critiqué la stratégie
de ses adversaires pour défendre la souveraineté canadienne dans le Grand Nord. Selon M. Ignatieff, les
conservateurs "utilisent" les soldats canadiens à des fins politiques. Depuis plusieurs jours, les Forces
armées canadiennes mènent des exercices dans le Grand Nord. M. Ignatieff critique également l'achaht
de 65 nouveaux avions de chasse au coût de 16 milliairs de dollars (Pr A12)
Northern Sovereignty: Comment
Montreal Gazette editorial: Asserting and maintaining sovereignty in the north involves hardware, and
while Mr. Harper has long since scuttled his 2006 campaign promise of a fleet of icebreakers, future
hardware figured in this week's five-day media-event tour at least as much as the existing planes and
vessels. We don't question the need for either of those hardware purchases, but we do wonder if Arctic
machismo is the best way to deal with the new interest a number of countries are taking in the Far North
these days. Melting ice and pressure to find more oil have combined to create visions of wealth -and also
of oil spills. It was no coincidence that one of the Canadian Forces exercises up there this week entailed
cleaning up a mock oil spill. But the government needs to put at least as much effort into legal preparation
and diplomacy, because ultimately those issues will be decided in southern conference rooms, not in the
north itself (Gaz A22).
John Ibbitson: Mr. Harper’s annual visits are helping refashion the Canadian North. The billions of new
investments are real, however slow the money flows. The blunt assertions of Canadian sovereignty are
as real as the now-regular troop exercises. Mr. Harper's fascination with the North reflects the growing
geopolitical reality that ice is melting; the region is becoming more navigable; the Russians - who, as
someone once said, are never as strong as they look nor as weak as they look - are once again trying to
expand their borders, and China has a polar icebreaker in the Arctic right now and thinks other nations
deserve a say in what goes on up there. If nothing else, Mr. Harper's five annual northern excursions
have focused our collective attention on the North, traditionally the most neglected part of Canada. The
region is not only growing geo-strategically in importance; increasingly it gives more to the Canadian
economy than it takes (G&M A4).
L. Ian MacDonald: Arctic sovereignty is a powerfully resonant theme, the components of which include
territorial sovereignty, sustainable development of the region's vast resources, and a concern for the
shrinking polar ice cap. If the Northwest Passage is going to be open water within a decade, Canada
needs to reinforce the case that these are our waters. Deep-water drilling in the Arctic isn't for tomorrow,
but when the day comes, any oil company applying for licences will need relief wells as part of its
operating plan (EJ A16).
Wikipedia Editing Policy: Comment
Ottawa Citizen editorial: Two incidents of Wikipedia vandalism that seem to come from Canadian
government computers raise an important question: Just how involved in the nuts and bolts of new media
should public servants be? The Department of Defence said recently it had traced one incident to a
computer in the air force headquarters in Winnipeg. Banning public servants from editing Wikipedia
altogether, though, wouldn't make sense. Government has no choice but to become more open as new
media evolve. Provided they follow certain ground rules, public servants can participate in the global
public conversation like anyone else (Ctz A14).
Travelling Flag Event
The biggest fear that families of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan have is that the public will forget them.
That's why Bev McCraw, the mother of one of the fallen, is bringing a symbol of enduring remembrance to
Hamilton on Sunday. It's a legacy in the form of a travelling Canadian flag bearing the names of this
country's soldiers killed in Afghanistan, and the signatures of all who wish to honour them. The flag, the
last of six to be filled, will be one of the highlights at the Hamilton event. People will also be able to send
messages to the troops via a written scroll, see a transport truck cab wrapped in memory of the fallen and
a video slide show of the troops in Afghanistan. There will also be fundraising to send children of those
killed in Afghanistan to special summer camps (C. Fragomeni: TStar GT2).
Standing Up for Veterans
London veterans' rights advocate Sean Wilson wants Londoners to stand up and be counted at a rally in
support of Canadian troops and veterans Sunday. The rally -- under the banner "Stand Up For Our
Troops" -- is set for noon Sunday at Victoria Park. Wilson's group, Remember November 11 Association,
has done other work to heighten awareness of veterans' concerns, including educational outreach for
young people (G. Turner: LFP A9).
Standing Up for Veterans: Comment
Sean McEvoy, CD CPL (Retired): I would invite all Canadians to join veterans throughout Canada on the
6th of November 2010, at 1100 hours in front of your local MP's office. We shall unite as brothers and
sisters, sing O Canada, respectfully present our petition to our local parliamentarians and provide him/her
an opportunity to address these issues in a public forum. Conservative, Liberal or NDP, it matters not, our
veterans need the support of all parliamentarians if we are to change the Veterans Charter through
legislation. Just as we, the veterans of Canada, need the support of all Canadians. Stand up for veterans.
Stand up for veterans as we have stood up for you (KWS 4).
Peter Worthington: The firing of retired colonel Pat Stogran as veterans ombudsman shows no sign of
simmering down and is sending more shock waves through the veterans community. The government
has erred in firing the one ombudsman who veterans, soldiers and the public trusted. It would be
reassuring if the PM were confident enough to change his mind. But that's not how government works
when it seeks to save money rather than face (OSun 11).
Veterans Affairs Minister Responds: Comment
Minister Pierre Blackburn: It is simply not true to say that Colonel Pat Stogran was fired as veterans'
ombudsman. While his term is not being renewed, this in no way diminishes all that he has done to help
improve the lives of our veterans. There has been a lot said about whether we are doing enough for
veterans. In truth, we can never do enough to pay back their sacrifices in defending Canada, but we can
take concrete action to make their lives a little bit better. Let's compare the actions of our Conservative
government to those of the Liberals (NP A13).
Veterans Affairs: Comment
Veterans Ombudsman.Col. (ret.) Pat Stogran: Since the news conference that I held last week to expose
the truth on veterans' issues, the grassroots outpouring of support from veterans and Canadians to fix the
problems and provide veterans with the support they need has been overwhelming. Veterans need your
support. Although much of what needs to be done is rooted in the legislative process, it is the culture of
the system that develops and implements legislation and regulations that really needs to be changed. The
only way this is going to happen is if Canada's parliamentarians realize that this issue is a significant and
urgent one that Canadians want addressed now. So what can you do? Get involved! Let your MPs and
Senators know how you feel. Write them, talk to them and make your views on how to support veterans
clearly known. Make them accountable. Our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters have sacrificed
themselves and their families in service of their country so that you can have the freedom to choose the
government and issues that need to be addressed. Our soldiers, sailors, air personnel and police have
stood up for us; it is now time for us to stand up for them (EJ A16, CH A5).
Obus retrouvé chez un ferrailleur
Un ferrailleur de Sainte-Ursule a découvert un obus de canon au fond d'un baril utilisé pour recueillir le
vieux fer des particuliers. Ce sont les membres des Forces armées canadiennes qui ont eu le mandat
d'aller récupérer l'engin au cours de la soirée. L'obus a ensuite été transporté dans une base militaire où
des expertises seront effectuées afin notamment de déterminer son origine et sa dangerosité. Une fois
ces analyses complétées, l'obus devrait être détruit. Hier, il a donc été impossible de savoir si l'engin était
toujours actif et dangereux (LN 2).
Politique étrangère
Le chef du Bloc québecois, Gilles Duceppe a publié une lettre dans le quotidien le Devoir, où il raite de la
politique értangère au Canada. Il estime que le Canada persiste dans une tendance militariste
inquiétante. Le gouvernement de Stephen Harper réitère sa stratégie militaire de défense de la
souveraineté canadienne en Arctique. Le Bloc québécois, nous craignons que l'inclusion d'une stratégie
essentiellement militaire pour le Nord, voie toujours favorisée par les conservateurs, accroisse les
tensions dans les régions arctiques (Dv A9).
Section: News
Byline: Susan Riley
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Headline: The Russians aren't coming
Page: A14
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
Stephen Harper's Conservatives are not just changing the country's direction (which is their right), they
appear intent on reshaping reality.
This week, for instance, we learned that the Cold War is not, in fact, over and that Russia remains an
active threat in the north.
When two Russian fighter jets strayed within 30 kilometres of Canadian airspace, they were turned back
by two CF-18s, dispatched from Cold Lake, Alta. The prime minister, on his annual tour of the Arctic,
reassured a northern crowd: "Thanks to the rapid response of the Canadian forces, at no time did
Russian aircraft enter Canadian sovereign air space."
To do what? Drop pamphlets advertising real estate deals in Siberia?
Harper's press spokesman, noted Sovietologist Dimitri Soudas, explicitly turned the Russian flyby into an
argument for a $16-billion, sole-sourced upgrade of Canada's fighter-plane fleet. Soudas said the new
Lockheed Martin F-35 "is the best plane our government could provide our forces and when you are a
pilot staring down Russian long-range bombers, that's an important fact to remember."
It's also a stretch worthy of a master yogi. If the strongest justification for buying new planes is the
Russian threat, Soudas hasn't been doing his homework or following international news. We're not at war
with Russia; in fact, we're supposed to be friends.
There was, for example, the 2009 briefing note to defence minister Peter MacKay (who has also resorted
to anti-Russian sabre-rattling in fund-raising exercises). It said Russia's goals in the Arctic are similar to
ours: socio-economic development (read oil and gas) and military security.
"There is nothing in their Arctic policy that is cause for alarm," the note said, adding Russia's military
functions "primarily as border guards."
Of course, that note came from public service "experts" and what do they know? However, the refrain was
picked up this week by NORAD, the joint U.S.-Canada continental defence agency, an organization not
known as a hotbed of weak-kneed appeasers.
"At no time did the Russian military aircraft enter Canadian or U.S. sovereign airspace," said NORAD's
statement. "Both Russia and NORAD routinely exercise their capability to operate in the north. These
exercises are important to both NORAD and Russia and are not cause for alarm." (In fact, the Russian
flights have become routine in recent years, and the latest coincides with a major military exercise in the
Canadian Arctic involving 900 Canadian troops and 600 Danish and American forces.)
If NORAD's reaction didn't throw ice water on Soudas' overheated rhetoric, a recent speech from Foreign
Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon should have. The minister suggested a more nuanced Conservative
policy on the north, a shift from confrontation to co-operation with all of Canada's northern neighbours -with renewed emphasis on science, the environment and economic development.
The truth is that Harper's government, while giving northern sovereignty welcome profile, has promised
much and invested little -- outside of annual photo ops like this week's military ballet on ice and Harper's
unexpected northern jig.
Meanwhile, a 2005 promise of three new icebreakers has been downgraded to one big ship and six patrol
vessels. There is still no sign of the promised northern deep-water port. And -- despite Harper's
announcement of three new surveillance satellites to keep an eye on "the bad guys" -- investment in
northern science, environmental protection and military presence has been slow in coming.
As Gen. Walt Natynczyk (whose candour is becoming refreshing) noted, the North is a more hostile and
expensive environment for Canadian forces than even Afghanistan. Now, if he could free up $16 billion
somewhere ...
On other fronts, too, Harper government deals in illusion. It refuses to release an RCMP report on the gun
registry, which reportedly nails the annual cost at less than $3.6 million and describes the much-maligned
database as a useful tool for police.
This, of course, undermines the Conservative argument that the registry is wasteful, useless and intrusive
-- as does a recent appeal from emergency physicians, with nothing to gain politically or financially, not to
abandon it. Facts be damned: you are either onside, an enemy, or invisible.
The same dynamic is at play with the Tory crusade to kill the mandatory long-form census. The enemies
list, which includes irreproachably conservative organizations, continues to grow, with two leading U.S.
scientists recently describing the decision as "mindless."
Ideology, illusion, will probably trump reality, evidence, in both these cases. The next challenge for Harper
is to convince Canadians, including deficit-shy Conservatives, that we really need those expensive fighter
jets -- not exactly tailored to fight home-grown terrorism, which seems a more immediate threat than a
replay of the Second World War.
But that's reality -- not this government's favourite theatre of operation.
Susan Riley writes on national politics.
E-mail sriley.work@gmail.com
Back to Top
Section: News
Byline: Brian Hutchinson
Outlet: National Post
Illustrations:
Headline: As offensive intensifies, villagers take flight
Page: A1
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: KANDAHAR, Afghanistan
Source: National Post
Worried villagers are packing up their belongings and fleeing unstable districts around Kandahar city as
Canadian, U.S. and Afghan forces intensify a long-planned campaign against insurgents in the area, local
sources have told the National Post.
About 1,700 U.S. soldiers and Afghan army and police officers are sweeping through a semi-rural corridor
directly west of the city and have detained 116 suspected Taliban insurgents since Wednesday, said
Colonel Ghulam Farooq Parwani, deputy commander of the Afghan National Civil Police in Kandahar.
"We have blocked all the exits and entrances to the area," he said.
"We have information that the Taliban are fleeing the area and are hiding their weapons, but we will
pursue them until we [capture or] drive them away completely."
Further west, villagers in Panjwaii district are watching Canadian troops try to clear walled residential
compounds and fields, and say the soldiers are meeting resistance from the Taliban.
"The foreign and Afghan troops are coming [up to] the villages, sometimes coming down to the fields
where they briefly engage with Taliban and then retreat back," said Muhammad Nazer, a farmer from
Chalghowr, an insurgent-heavy community in Panjwaii 20 kilometres west of Kandahar Airfield.
"They cannot stay or engage for longer, because of heavy improvised explosive devices in the fields and
gardens. The Taliban have planted countless IEDs on main roads. Many people have left the area."
This matches accounts from others in the area, including reporters.
Last weekend, two Canadian Griffon helicopters flew overhead and fired a hailstorm of bullets at
insurgents. A U.S. aircraft then dropped a bomb. Canadian soldiers watching and listening from a nearby
combat outpost cheered.
Mr. Nazer left the district and is seeking shelter in Kandahar city.
"Life is terrible," he said yesterday. "The Taliban want everything from us -- food, money and help -- and
we cannot reject them [out of fear]."
Villagers in Panjwaii feel pinched between the two sides. "The foreign troops distributed a letter that you
have to fill in with your name, your father's name [and your] village name." he said.
"They said when you carry the letter they won't arrest you. But we did not accept the letter due to the
Taliban. If they see the letter ... they would treat you as spying for [foreigners]."
A Canadian Forces spokesman at Kandahar Airfield said Canadian troops were behind no such initiative
and could not confirm if one exists.
But fear of Taliban retribution is legitimate. In the past two weeks, locals say, two men were hanged in
different locations just south of Kandahar city. A third man was found mutilated in Mehlajat, a village in
Dand district, the place U.S. and Afghan forces are now clearing.
Panjwaii is the last remaining area of operations for Canadian troops in Kandahar. Senior officers
acknowledge insurgents move about some areas with impunity and villagers say they are tired of the
situation.
"Every person is thirsty for peace and now everyone lost his hope, because we don't believe the current
administration will ever restore it," said Sharafat Khan, a taxi driver from Nakhonay.
The village has a large Canadian presence, with soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Royal Canadian
Regiment, holding down several combat outposts. The regiment's Oscar Company is positioned just to
the north and west, around villages such as Chalghowr.
"Security is getting worse day by day," Mr. Khan complained.
"We have to be at home before 6 o'clock. If not, we will be arrested by the Taliban or picked up by
someone else. We are not able to see our land because of IEDs and fighting. We are just alive. Our
children cannot sleep due to the sounds of aircraft and fighting. It's terrible being out there."
But more help is coming. Up to 10 Afghan National Army companies will soon join coalition soldiers in a
large co-ordinated effort to finally rid Panjwaii and Zhari of the Taliban, said British Major-General Nick
Carter, director of the International Security Assistance Force's Regional Command (South).
The push west, deeper into Panjwaii and Zhari, represents the third phase of a coalition operation dubbed
Hamkari, Dari for co-operation.
Phase One, launched this year, involved improving security and governance in and around Kandahar city,
the Taliban's former seat of power and a place they clearly covet. Insurgents have unleashed dozens of
suicide attacks in the city, and continue to target and kill government workers, sometimes at a rate of one
a day.
Phase Two was launched in July. It focused on clearing Arghandab district, another
Taliban hotbed, and opening its fertile agrarian belt so farmers can move their produce south to markets
in Kandahar city.
Word of the final phase has already spread.
"We've heard that the operation is on the way," Jilani Khan, a farmer, said yesterday as he was loading a
truck with his family's possessions.
"We are leaving our home and going to Kandahar city. Taliban are all around planting mines, and the
government and foreign troops are now taking action against them, so we are afraid of losing our family
members.
"This is very difficult for us in the month of Ramadan. We have left everything behind, and we don't have
shelter in the city."
Back to Top
Section: Canada
Byline: Dene Moore
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: Final fight: Canadians prepare for Panjwaii battle
Page: B6
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers are girding for what may well be their final fight in
Kandahar as they expand their counter-insurgency strategy this fall into a key district that has remained a
stubborn Taliban stronghold throughout four years of battle.
The third phase of Operation Hamkari will get underway in the Panjwaii district, where Canadian Forces
are now concentrated, and neighbouring Zhari, which has been handed over to the U.S. military. Hamkari
is the word for co-operation in Afghanistan's Dari language, but the initial stages of what's shaping up to
be Canada's final chapter will be anything but co-operative.
"We estimate that there are probably between 500 and a thousand insurgents who regularly operate in
the Arghandab and in the areas of Zhari and Panjwaii, and they will be a military challenge to resolve,"
said a report earlier this summer from NATO's military coalition, known as the International Security
Assistance Force.
It will be a difficult battle to win, and a difficult win to retain. In their four years in Kandahar, Canadian
Forces have cleared Taliban strongholds again and again, but lacked the personnel to remain in the
areas, maintain security and foster local development. "That challenge, on a military perspective, is felt by
the troops who wrestle every day with the encroachment of the insurgency into populated areas, the IED
threat, the threat against ourselves and Afghans," said Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, commander of
Canada's Task Force Kandahar.
"More forces are required in more concentration to deal with that more thoroughly, and more forces are
coming. They're arriving as we speak, but nonetheless it's a challenge."
With an end to the Canadian combat mission slated for next July, and a drawdown of U.S. troops
beginning that same month, pressure is on for the coalition to make speedy, tangible progress.
Operation Hamkari in Kandahar has been dubbed by some American media as the most critical operation
in the nine-year war.
The first phase of Hamkari began in the spring, aimed at improving security and government services in
Kandahar city. Security checkpoints have gone up, construction is booming and some time this fall the
city should have diesel generators to provide stable power until a massive hydro-electric project is
finished.
The second phase of the operation began in July, when U.S. and Afghan forces - some with their
Canadian military mentors - began a clearing operation in the Arghandab district.
Early reports indicated the coalition hoped to control all of Arghandab by the start of Ramadan, but three
weeks into the Muslim holy month the fight continues furiously in the lush river valley on Kandahar city's
northern doorstep.
"It's a tough fight," said American Brig.-Gen. Frederick Hodges, director of operations for the coalition's
Regional Command South, which includes Kandahar province.
Once the heavy fighting slows, the plan is to follow up with jobs, development, and an effective
government presence.
The U.S. military averaged two deaths a day in Afghanistan last month, but the hope is that a reinforced
coalition can yet gain the upper hand in Kandahar.
"It is from Kandahar that the Taliban attempt to control the hearts and minds of the Afghan people," Adm.
Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said. "It is my belief that should they go
unchallenged there and in the surrounding areas, they will feel equally unchallenged elsewhere.
"As goes Kandahar, so goes Afghanistan."
Hodges said that by late fall, there will be enough Afghan and international forces in the restive province with Kandahar city and the Arghandab having reached "a point of irreversible momentum" - that the
coalition can then set its sights on Panjwaii and Zhari. In Panjwaii, where Canada saw some of its
fiercest, deadliest battles in Afghanistan to date, the heavy lifting will once again fall to Canadian troops
and Afghan security forces.
Back to Top
Section: News
Outlet: Montreal Gazette
Illustrations:
police were killed in Kunduz yesterday.
Headline: Taliban kill 8 Afghan police, governor says; Attack underscores widening insurgency
Page: A21
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: KUNDUZ, Afghanistan
Source: AFP
Taliban fighters overran a police post in northern Afghanistan yesterday, killing eight officers, a provincial
governor said, in an attack that underscores the widening of the insurgency.
The fighters stormed the post in Kunduz city, capital of the province of the same name, which has
become increasingly restive as the Taliban expand their footprint across Afghanistan's previously
peaceful north.
"Taliban attacked a police post and killed eight policemen. There were nine people in the post, one of
them survived though he was injured," Kunduz Governor Mohammad Omar said.
Residents say some areas of Kunduz have come under Taliban control, and describe recruitment drives
that exploit high unemployment and disillusionment with a largely corrupt state security apparatus.
In the southern province of Uruzgan approximately two dozen militants and three other police officers
were killed during an Afghan government operation that is now in its third day, a police commander said.
NATO and the United States have 141,000 troops in the country, set to peak at 150,000 in coming weeks
as efforts to quell the insurgency escalate, especially in the south.
Most deployments under a 30,000-strong troop surge ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama are
heading to Kandahar and Helmand provinces in the south, though others are being sent north to reinforce
small bases run by NATO allies.
Afghan forces and their U.S.-led military backers have intensified a push to secure volatile regions in
recent weeks ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it had "killed and captured" about 2,750 insurgents
during the past 90 days, a period that coincides with the higher U.S. troop deployment.
Back to Top
Section: International
Headline: Attacks in north raise fears that Taliban is expanding; Fears | More violence outside of
traditional Taliban areas
Page: A12
Outlet: The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)
Byline: ROBERT H. REID The Associated Press
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan - Eight Afghan police gunned down at a checkpoint. Campaign workers kidnapped.
Spanish trainers shot dead on their base.
A spurt of violence this week in provinces far from the Taliban's main southern strongholds suggests the
insurgency is spreading, even as the top U.S. commander insists the coalition has reversed the militants'
momentum in key areas of the ethnic Pashtun south where the Islamist movement was born.
Attacks in the north and west of the country - though not militarily significant - demonstrate that the
Taliban are becoming a threat across wide areas of Afghanistan even as the United States and its
partners mount a major effort to turn the tide of the nearly 9-year-old war in the south.
The latest example occurred Thursday when about a dozen gunmen stormed a police checkpoint at the
entrance to the city of Kunduz, about 240 kilometres north of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Eight policemen
were killed, provincial police chief Abdul Raziq Yaqoubi said.
Also Thursday, a candidate in next month's parliamentary elections said 10 of her campaign workers
were kidnapped while travelling in the northwestern province of Herat, 725 kilometres west of the capital.
The candidate, Fawzya Galani, said villagers told her armed men had stopped the group Wednesday and
drove them off in their two vehicles.
Those incidents followed Wednesday's fatal shooting of three Spaniards - two police trainers and an
interpreter - at a training base in Badghis province about 370 kilometres northwest of Kabul.
The shooter, who was also killed, was a police driver who local officials said was a brother-in-law of a
local Taliban commander.
Earlier this month, 10 members of the Christian medical team - six Americans, two Afghans, one German
and a Briton - were gunned down in Badakhshan, a northern province that had seen little insurgent
activity. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
In an interview aired Monday by the British Broadcasting Corp., top U.S. and NATO commander Gen.
David Petraeus said NATO forces had reversed the momentum which the Taliban gained in recent years
in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar and in the Kabul area.
He said coalition forces would regain momentum in other areas later although tough fighting lies ahead.
Taliban influence in the north and west is not as pervasive as in the south, the insurgency has been
slowly expanding its presence in areas such as Kunduz, Faryab and Baghlan since 2007, mostly among
Pashtuns who are a minority in the north.
A member of parliament from Herat said security in the province could be worse but it's not ideal,
especially in remote villages far from the provincial capital.
"There are a lot of reasons - political reasons, factional reasons, tribal reasons - so together the situation
is not so good," the lawmaker, Ali Ahmad Jebraili, said.
"I hope the government puts professional and proper security measures in place to search vehicles and
people for attackers and bombers. When we travel to remote areas, we have to be careful."
In establishing a northern foothold, Afghan authorities believe the Taliban use veterans from southern
battlefields to help organize local groups, sometimes with help from the al-Qaida-linked Islamic Movement
of Uzbekistan, which provides recruits from among the Uzbek minority.
"The situation is very bad and dangerous in Kunduz but unfortunately the security officials keep saying
things are alright." said Mabubullah Mabub, chairman of the Kunduz provincial council. "Over the last two
years, the situation has been getting worse."
A study published last spring by the Afghan Analyst Network, an independent policy research
organization, said that expanding into the north and west strengthens the Taliban claim to be a legitimate
national government fighting on behalf of the Afghan people and not simply the Pashtun community.
It also enables the Taliban to threaten NATO supply lines coming south from Central Asia. Those routes
were established to reduce reliance on supply lines from Pakistan which come under attack from fighters
on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border.
"Furthermore, there is no doubt that the psychological impact of the north's destabilization upon Western
Europe and the U.S. would be considerable, overstretching resources as well as reducing the recruitment
pool of Afghan army and police by enabling the Taliban to intimidate the families of volunteers," the study
said.
The psychological impact was evident in the reaction in Spain to the killing of the two trainers and the
interpreter, a Spanish citizen of Iranian origin.
The leader of the small but important Catalan party - Convergence and Union - complained that Prime
Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has avoided appearing in parliament.
Back to Top
Section: City
Byline: Ellen Mauro, With files from Meghan Hurley
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Headline: Williams waives preliminary hearing; Ex-commander to stand trial on killings, sex assaults
Page: C1 / Front
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: BELLEVILLE
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
Col. Russell Williams, the former commander of CFB Trenton who is accused of two sex killings and two
sexual assaults, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday and has been committed to stand trial.
In front of a packed courtroom, Michael Edelson, Williams's lawyer, told the court that Williams wanted to
skip the preliminary hearing step of the pre-trial process. Preliminary hearings are held before trials to
evaluate the strength of the Crown's case against an accused.
The defence's decision effectively acknowledges there is enough evidence against Williams to head
directly to trial.
Crown prosecutor Lee Burgess also read out some minor adjustments to the charges.
Williams, who appeared via video link from the Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, stared directly into
the camera throughout the proceedings. Decked out in an orange prison jumpsuit, his expression was
emotionless.
The courtroom was not.
When Williams appeared on camera, one woman yelled out, "There he is!" Her voice was raw with
emotion.
At the end of his less-than-five-minute appearance, Williams uttered a firm, "Thank you."
He will next appear in Superior court in Belleville on Oct. 7, when a date for trial will likely be set. He is
expected to appear in person.
Andy Lloyd, the older brother of Jessica Lloyd, one of the women Williams is accused of killing, said he
hoped the decision to skip the preliminary hearing would mean a quicker end to the process.
"It has been long enough," Lloyd said. "It feels good the process is actually getting started now."
For the grieving older brother, just looking at Col. Williams is emotional.
"They say time heals all," he said. "Well it's going to take a very long time ... our wounds haven't closed
yet."
Thursday's court appearance was Williams' sixth since his Feb. 7 arrest.
Besides being accused of murdering Jessica Lloyd, 27, Williams is also charged in the death of Cpl.
Marie France Comeau, a 38-year-old flight attendant under his command at CFB Trenton.
Both women had been asphyxiated.
Williams also faces charges relating to two home-invasion sex assaults that happened within walking
distance of his lakeside cottage in Tweed.
In those cases, he is accused of breaking into the victims' homes, tying them naked to chairs, blindfolding
them, sexually assaulting and taking pictures of them.
In April, police added 82 charges surrounding a slew of break-ins in which women's lingerie was stolen in
Ottawa, Belleville and Tweed.
Williams and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Harriman, are also facing a lawsuit launched by one of the alleged
sex assault victims. In the statement of claim, the woman says she has battled severe depression and
addiction since the alleged attack. She also alleges Williams fraudulently transferred his Ottawa home to
his wife to protect it from legal action.
Back to Top
Section: News
Lead: Col. Russell Williams has waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
Headline: Colonel waives pre-trial hearing Alleged killer back in Belleville court in October
Page: 35
Byline: BY JASON MILLER, QMI AGENCY
Outlet: The Toronto Sun
Illustrations:
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: BELLEVILLE
Col. Russell Williams has waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
Williams, 47, appeared in a Belleville courthouse Thursday via video for what was supposed to be a pretrial hearing. Instead, Williams will be making his October appearance at the Belleville Superior Court.
Williams' Ottawa lawyer, Michael Edelson, the Crown and judge met behind closed doors for 15 minutes
before returning to the courtroom where Edelson told the court his client was waiving his right to a
preliminary hearing.
Williams will be in assignment court on Oct. 7.
Williams was on the video screen for about five minutes during the proceedings, which included some
"minor amendments" made to the charges at the request of Crown attorney Lee Burgess.
The former commander of CFB Trenton is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Cpl. MarieFrance Comeau, 38, of Brighton and Jessica Lloyd, 27, of Belleville.
Williams is also charged with two counts each of forcible confinement and break and enter, and sexual
assault stemming from two attacks on women in Tweed last September. He also faces 82 charges related
to break-ins in the Quinte and Ottawa areas.
Andy Lloyd, 30, Jessica Lloyd's older brother, attended court and spoke with media outside the
courthouse.
Lloyd said his family was briefed Thursday morning on what "possibly was going to happen. As far as we
understand it will shorten it."
Lloyd said anything that's going to bring "a quicker resolution" is a good thing. "We know it's going to be a
long process but at least it's actually starting now."
He said seeing Williams on the screen makes "everything comes back to you about what a tragedy this
was."
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation
Back to Top
Section: National News
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Byline: TIMOTHY APPLEBY
Headline: Accused colonel waives right to preliminary hearing; goes directly to trial
Page: A5
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
The former airbase commander accused of murdering two women, sexually assaulting two others and
committing dozens of bizarre break-ins has waived his right to a preliminary hearing and has been
committed to trial.
Colonel Russell Williams, who until his arrest was in charge of the sprawling 8 Wing CFB Trenton base
west of Belleville, will make his next court appearance Oct. 7 in Ontario Superior Court.
Whether a trial will get under way then is unclear.
The date was fixed following a pre-trial conference earlier in the day between prosecution, defence and
the presiding judge.
As well, some minor adjustments to the charges were read out by Crown attorney Lee Burgess. Also
present was Col. Williams's Ottawa lawyer, Michael Edelson, making his first court appearance on his
client's behalf.
At earlier hearings he was represented by a local lawyer. Thursday's short hearing marked Col. Williams's
sixth court appearance and his fifth by video link, since his Feb. 7 arrest. Gazing at the camera from the
Quinte Detention Centre, clad in an orange jump suit, his hair thicker than at his last appearance five
weeks ago, he was his usual impassive self, listening intently and saying ``thank you'' as the hearing
wrapped up.
He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of sexual assault and unlawful
confinement and more than 80 house burglaries involving the theft of women's underwear.
The alleged break-ins, most of which occurred a short distance from Col. Williams's homes in Ottawa and
Tweed, north of Belleville, date back to September, 2007.
The two sex attacks, in which both victims were blindfolded, tied to chairs, stripped and photographed,
took place in Tweed last September, 13 days apart.
The first murder charge alleges that he killed Corporal Marie-France Comeau, a 38-year-old flight
attendant under his command at CFB Trenton, found dead in her Brighton home in November.
The second alleges that in January he also murdered Belleville resident Jessica Lloyd, 27, who worked
for a school-bus company in Napanee.
Ms. Lloyd's body was discovered the day after Col. Williams's arrest, in thick woods on the outskirts of
Tweed.
Both women had been asphyxiated.
Outside court, Ms. Lloyd's brother Andy said he and his family are relieved the judicial process is moving
along.
``It's nice to see the steps in motion, and know that it is going forward and that there is a future to this. It
does feel kind of good that it's not going to take forever.''
Back to Top
Section: Canada
Byline: Allison Jones
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Illustrations:
Headline: Colonel will stand trial for murder, sex assault
Page: B3
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: The Canadian Press
BELLEVILLE, Ont. - The former commander of Canada's largest military airfield was committed Thursday
to stand trial on murder, sex assault, and break and enter charges.
Col. Russell Williams was a rising star in the military before being charged in February with first-degree
murder in the deaths of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 37.
On Thursday the former commander of CFB Trenton waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which is
held to determine whether there's enough evidence to move forward to trial.
His next appearance is set for Oct. 7 in Ontario Superior Court.
Lloyd's brother, Andy Lloyd, 30, said after months of brief video appearances that are just adjourned, he's
glad there is some movement in the case.
"It feels kind of good, actually, to know the process is actually starting now," he said outside court.
Lloyd said he has faith in the police and the Crown.
"I have a good feeling that something good is going to come out of it," he said.
Williams appeared Thursday via video from the detention centre where he's being held. He squinted at
the camera and all he said was, "I can, thank you," when the judge asked if Williams could hear him.
In addition to the murder charges, Williams faces various charges in sex assaults against other women,
and 82 other charges related to break and enter, some of which reportedly involved lingerie. The Crown
made some minor amendments to six charges, including changing one count from attempted break and
enter to break and enter.
Comeau was found dead in her home in Brighton, Ont., last November. She was a flight attendant at CFB
Trenton and served aboard the same military VIP flights Williams piloted for much of the 1990s, ferrying
the governor general, the prime minister and other dignitaries on domestic and overseas trips.
Court documents show Williams is alleged to have burglarized Comeau's home some 10 days before she
was found dead on Nov. 25. The information does not specify what was allegedly stolen.
It's alleged Williams burglarized the Tweed home of the first alleged sexual assault victim twice after the
Sept. 17 assault. The court documents also show police believe he robbed the home of his second
alleged assault victim twice before the Sept. 30 attack in the woman's home.
Some break-and-enter charges centred around the Ottawa neighbourhood where Williams once lived.
A man whose house was among those burglarized said he and his wife came home one day to find family
pictures on their bed and underwear drawers of his wife and daughters open.
Back to Top
Section: News
Headline: Accused sex killer waives pre-trial hearing; Ex-commander Russell Williams chooses to go
straight to trial
Page: A8
Byline: Jim Rankin Toronto Star
Outlet: Toronto Star
Illustrations:
ca Lloyd, speaks to reporters.
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Accused sexual predator and killer Russell Williams has waived his right to a preliminary hearing and will
head directly to a higher court for trial.
With his client's face filling a courtroom closed-circuit video monitor, lawyer Michael Edelson told Justice
Stephen Hunter that Williams wished to skip a preliminary hearing and proceed directly to the Superior
Court of Justice.
Typically, such a move signals that the accused has agreed that there is sufficient evidence for a trial to
be held. There has been no indication if Williams intends to plead guilty or stand trial.
The air force colonel's next appearance is set for Oct. 7 at the higher court, just around the corner from
the Ontario Court of Justice where he has been making near-monthly video appearances since his arrest
in February. It's believed Williams will make his next appearance in person.
Williams, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, stared straight into the camera during the brief video
appearance Thursday. He appeared healthy and his hair was longer than the short brush cut style he
wore during his days as commander of CFB Trenton. He is being held in the Quinte Detention Centre in
Napanee.
After minor amendments to five of 82 fetish break-and-enter charges laid against Williams, Justice Hunter
committed the case to trial.
In minutes, the hearing was over, and a packed courtroom, filled mostly with media, police and other
lawyers, filed out the courtroom doors. There, too, was Andy Lloyd, brother of Jessica Lloyd, whom
Williams is accused of killing.
Outside court, Lloyd said he was happy the case is moving directly to trial. "It's good to know that it's not
going to take forever," he said. The move by Williams means evidence aired at a preliminary hearing will
not have to be heard by family and victims again at trial.
Preliminary hearings are held to test the strength of the Crown's case against an accused and are subject
to publication bans.
Edelson left court without speaking to reporters but there had apparently been an earlier pre-trial hearing
between the Crown and the defence, during which discussions were held about how the case would
proceed.
It was the first time Edelson, an Ottawa lawyer, appeared in person on behalf of his client.
The former commander of CFB Trenton is charged with killing Marie-France Comeau, 38, of Brighton,
and Lloyd, 27, of Belleville. He is also charged with two home-invasion sex assaults on women in the
Tweed area and a slew of break-and-enters in Ottawa, Tweed, Belleville and Brighton, in which women's
lingerie was stolen.
Williams, 47, was arrested Feb. 7. Asked by reporters if seeing Williams in court opens wounds, Lloyd
"The emotions never really go away."
Back to Top
Section: News
Byline: Mark Kennedy
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
world's largest stocks of beluga whales. They go there to feed, socialize and raise their calves.
Headline: PM names Beaufort Sea haven for belugas; Plan 'strikes balance' between protecting
mammals, Inuit hunting, oilexploring
Page: A4
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: TUKTOYAKTUK, N.W.T.
Source: Postmedia News
Fresh from dancing his way into the hearts of some northerners, Prime Minister Stephen Harper didn't let
up on the populist touch Thursday: jumping on an all-terrain vehicle to race around Arctic roads, and
declaring his government will protect beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea.
Harper was on his fourth day of his week-long trip to the North, and the focus was on protecting mammal
life and the environment in the sensitive waters of the Arctic. He visited Tuktoyaktuk, home to nearly
1,000 people, which is the northernmost community on the Canadian mainland.
Harper said his government will establish the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area, which will cover
about 1,800 square kilometres and is located at the mouth of the Mackenzie River in the Beaufort Sea.
The move is designed to conserve one of the world's largest seasonal populations of beluga whales.
Harper said the whale is as much a part of the northern Canadian character as the polar bear, the kayak,
the caribou, the igloo and the dogsled.
During the summer, the Beaufort Sea is home to one of the world's largest stocks of beluga whales. They
go there to feed, socialize and raise their calves.
"Today we are ensuring these Arctic treasures are preserved for generations to come," said Harper.
The prime minister said plans for the preservation area were worked out in consultation with aboriginals,
private industry and the territorial governments.
He said the plan strikes a balance between protecting the whales while ensuring the Inuit are able to
carry on their traditions of "harvesting" the animals, as well private companies exploring the "enormous
potential" of oil explanation.
"We will always take the long view of prosperity: Understanding that if we look after our land, our land will
look after us."
Harper's focus Thursday on protecting the traditions of the Inuit came the morning after he surprised a
gathering of aboriginals in Inuvik by agreeing to participate in their dance. The prime minister, known as a
cerebral economist who isn't a natural campaigner, joined the dancers swaying to the beat of a traditional
drum.
His involvement was a hit with the aboriginals.
As he left Tuktoyaktuk on Thursday, Harper turned away from the official schedule once again. When he
arrived at the airport, with dozens of aides and journalists waiting at the military Hercules aircraft, he
decided to jump on an ATV and take it for a ride alone.
Harper donned a helmet and took off down the runway, and then disappeared down some gravel airport
side roads. Within a few moments, someone jumped into a pickup truck, while another person jumped on
another ATV, and both raced away to try to catch up to Harper.
When he got back several minutes later, with the cameras rolling, Harper joked that he hadn't seen any
speed signs and that while it would be nice to have an ATV at his official country residence at Harrington
Lake, the roads aren't straight enough.
Harper wraps up his annual Arctic trip today in Whitehorse.
Back to Top
Section: News
Lead: As Prime Minister Stephen Harper touched down here late Thursday, the Whitehorse Daily Star
was rolling off the presses with a front-page headline proclaiming an attack by the local MP -- Liberal
Larry Bagnell: "Caustic Uproar slammed: Interception of Russian bombers was a trumped-up international
incident."
Headline: PM fires back at Liberal bomber guff
Page: 30
Byline: BY DAVID AKIN
Outlet: The Toronto Sun
Illustrations:
Tuktoyaktuk, N.T.W., on Thursday. "It was good fun" for the PM, who outraced RCMP guards in a pickup,
and didn't have to worry about getting a ticket -- there was no speed limit on the strip.
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: WHITEHORSE, Yukon
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper touched down here late Thursday, the Whitehorse Daily Star was
rolling off the presses with a front-page headline proclaiming an attack by the local MP -- Liberal Larry
Bagnell: "Caustic Uproar slammed: Interception of Russian bombers was a trumped-up international
incident."
But Harper, hours earlier in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T, was having none of Bagnell's guff.
"This was the testing of our airspace. We're not testing somebody else's airspace," Harper told reporters
in Tuktoyaktuk. "The government of Canada, through the Canadian Forces, always responds when that
happens and we make no apologies for that."
A Russian "Bear" bomber came within miles of Canada's airspace earlier this week as Harper began his
week-long Arctic tour. It turned around after Canadian Forces CF-18 fighters showed up to shadow the
Bear back to Russia.
The incident gave the Harper government a PR boost for its $16-billion plan to buy new fighters, a plan
the Liberals have opposed.
"We have ensured and will continue to ensure that the Canadian Forces have the equipment necessary
to do that job and the range of things we call upon them to do in Canada and throughout the world,"
Harper said.
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation
Back to Top
Section: Editorial
Outlet: Montreal Gazette
Headline: Northern tour symbolic, but not much more; Stephen Harper's annual northern tour this week
had all the elaborate staging, shiny props and strikingly dressed extras a movie director could want. And
yet the storyline still seemed a little vague.
Page: A22
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: The Gazette
A Zodiac boat, CF-18 fighters, a Coast Guard ship, a refuelling tanker, the chief of defence staff, and
several hundred Canadian Forces members were all on hand as Harper and a gaggle of southern-based
reporters took part in the ritual annual message that Resolute Bay, and everything around it, is Canadian
turf.
Asserting and maintaining sovereignty in the north involves hardware, and while Harper has long since
scuttled his 2006 campaign promise of a fleet of icebreakers, future hardware figured in this week's fiveday media-event tour at least as much as the existing planes and vessels. The $487-million purchase of
advanced Radarsat surveillance satellites, to be up by 2015, means "we will be able to see what the bad
guys are up to" around the world. And a $16-billion bill for planned new F-35 fighter jets got a nice boost
this week when a couple of Russian bombers came within 55 kilometres or so of Canadian airspace.
We don't question the need for either of those hardware purchases, but we do wonder if Arctic machismo
is the best way to deal with the new interest a number of countries are taking in the Far North these days.
(Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, too, was in chilly waters this week, in a Zodiac-type boat off
Russia's east coast. There he fired arrows at a grey whale; imagine the uproar if Harper had done
anything so politically incorrect.)
There is something of a gold-rush mentality among circumpolar states these days. Melting ice and
pressure to find more oil have combined to create visions of wealth -and also of oil spills. It was no
coincidence that one of the Canadian Forces exercises up there this week entailed cleaning up a mock oil
spill.
The north, as a concept, has become an enduring part of the Canadian psyche. John Diefenbaker first
enunciated a "northern vision" and the notion has been firmly entrenched in Canadian politics ever since.
But ultimately diplomats, not soldiers, will settle coming northern issues such as Northwest Passage
access and resource extraction. Harper acknowledged as much this week when asked about Hans
Island, a one-kilo-metre piece of rock claimed by both Canada and Denmark.
As decisions on more important northern issues draw closer, it can't be bad for Canada to have, and to
show, capability and determination to maintain our sovereignty.
But the government needs to put at least as much effort into legal preparation and diplomacy, because
ultimately those issues will be decided in southern conference rooms, not in the north itself.
Back to Top
Section: Column
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Byline: JOHN IBBITSON
Headline: Stephen Harper's frisky northern renaissance
Page: A4
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
jibbitson@globeandmail.com
The photo-op of Stephen Harper helping to haul an oil boom to contain an imaginary spill was over, and
the Prime Minister's handlers started herding everyone back to the cars and buses. But Mr. Harper had
other ideas.
He began searching for a flat stone on the rocky shoreline near Resolute, and sent one skipping across
the Arctic water. Then another. Then another.
There were moments like this one scattered throughout this week's trip across Canada's north: the Prime
Minister stomping his feet and waving his arms among Inuvialuit dancers in Inuvik; jumping onto an ATV
and leading his astonished security detail on a wild chase down an airport runway Thursday in
Tuktoyaktuk.
Mr. Harper appears to genuinely love the North. It's a tourist's love - exotic glimpses of its beautiful,
barren lands; carefully prepared conversations with local dignitaries.
And it's a Boy's-Own-Stories love of an Arctic taught to generations of schoolchildren: Inuit struggling
against a harsh and barren land; remote outposts flying the Canadian flag; the night sky bedazzling with
Northern Lights.
``This annual visit has become a tradition,'' he said in Inuvik. ``It is something I look forward to all winter
long, and is the highlight of my summer.'' This rings true. But whatever the well from which that love
springs, it is helping refashion the Canadian North. The billions of new investments are real, however
slow the money flows. The blunt assertions of Canadian sovereignty are as real as the now-regular troop
exercises.
The marine refuge for beluga whales that Mr. Harper announced in Tuktoyaktuk Thursday was real, part
of an expanding net of protected areas aimed at preserving the Arctic environment while still promoting
economic growth.
And the politics, of course, is real, as the Conservatives seek to exploit Canadians' own romantic
attachment to a place that virtually none of them will ever set foot in, and to exploit as well their
increasingly bullish insistence that the North is Canadian territory, that its waters are our waters, and that
Canada is willing to spend what it takes to back up those claims.
If there is a new nationalism emerging in this country, if the rising generation of Canadians are casting off,
or simply ignoring, the ancient animosities and insecurities that have bedevilled the Canadian psyche for
so long, and are singing instead the unparallel possibilities of the future, then, a Northern renaissance
may be part of this new myth.
In which case, there are votes in it, votes to be found down south. Mr. Harper's fascination with the North
reflects the growing geopolitical reality that ice is melting; the region is becoming more navigable; the
Russians - who, as someone once said, are never as strong as they look nor as weak as they look - are
once again trying to expand their borders, and China has a polar icebreaker in the Arctic right now and
thinks other nations deserve a say in what goes on up there.
If nothing else, Mr. Harper's five annual northern excursions have focused our collective attention on the
North, traditionally the most neglected part of Canada. The region is not only growing geo-strategically in
importance; increasingly it gives more to the Canadian economy than it takes. Diamonds have made the
Northwest Territories so wealthy - though the wealth is not evenly spread - that if the territory were made
a province it would be ``have'' rather than ``have not'' on the equalization scale. Yukon led the country in
growth last year and Nunavut will this year.
Speaking with the people of the region, you sense their frustration at how the potential of oil and gas
exploration to unlock the economy is being hindered by southern environmental concerns. They badly
want and need a year-round road between Inuvik and Tuk. The government is studying a report on how
much it would cost.
Canada needs a High Arctic Research Station; Canada needs an Arctic deepwater port; Canada needs to
match at least the Chinese in the polar icebreaker race. Canada needs a new generation of fighter
aircraft, to chase away the Russian bear.
These commitments cost tens of billions of dollars and previous governments have been loath to commit
the funds. The Conservatives, though they are staggering the investments over a decade and more, are
not.
It will be fascinating to watch whether and how the Conservatives are able to parlay these commitments
into increased political support. Will Canadians celebrate and support a more robust presence along
Arctic shores and on Arctic islands? Or will they insist that the money be spent on streetcars and
hospitals and schools down south? Is the New Canada entirely multicultural and urban, or does it still
have frontiers?
If nothing else, the Arctic gives the federal government something to do. So much control over social
policy now lies with the provinces that it is fair to ask what it is Canadians get for all of the money they
send to Ottawa. In that sense, asserting Arctic sovereignty is like proposing a national securities
regulator. It affirms the continuing relevance of the federal government within the federation.
Stephen Harper no doubt balances all of these calculations as he promotes his northern strategy. But
there is something else there, something positively bordering of friskiness when he is up here.
This is simply another of his many contradictions.
***
ARCTIC SANCTUARY
Beluga whales and other Arctic marine wildlife will receive added protection within a new conservation
area in the Mackenzie Delta and estuary in the Beaufort Sea, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has
announced.
The Tarium Niryutait Marine Protection Area, the first of its kind in the Canadian Arctic, will encompass
1,800 square kilometres. The area ``is home to an abundance of Arctic sea life, including one of the
world's largest summer populations of beluga whales,'' Mr. Harper said Thursday in Tuktoyaktuk, a village
near the Mackenzie River delta that is the most northern community on the Canadian mainland.
During the summer, belugas use this area to feed, socialize and raise their calves. The protected area will
not be entirely off-limits to hunting or development. Mr. Harper said the agreement to create the preserve
``balances the beluga harvesting traditions of the Inuvialuit with the protection of a species that is
threatened or endangered in other parts of the world.`` John Ibbitson in Tuktoyaktuk
Back to Top
Section: Opinion
Byline: L. Ian MacDonald
Outlet: Edmonton Journal
Illustrations:
Headline: Harper's northern tour the Tory version of the Liberal Express; PM making up for three weeks
of lost time he spent on family vacation
Page: A16
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: MontrealGazette
The advantages of incumbency are nowhere more apparent than Stephen Harper's summer tour, which
has kicked into high gear with a weeklong northern swing intended to promote Arctic sovereignty.
On Monday, a Canadian Forces Airbus flew him to Churchill, Man., where he made an announcement. By
week's end, Harper will have visited all three northern territories on what his office calls "his fifth annual
northern tour."
There will be no shortage of visuals: today at Resolute, in Nunavut, the Canadian Forces will put on a
training exercise along with U.S. and Danish ships. You want a great photo op? The navy can do that.
Arctic sovereignty is a powerfully resonant theme, the components of which include territorial sovereignty,
sustainable development of the region's vast resources, and a concern for the shrinking polar ice cap.
If the Northwest Passage is going to be open water within a decade, Canada needs to reinforce the case
that these are our waters. Deep-water drilling in the Arctic isn't for tomorrow, but when the day comes,
any oil company applying for licences will need relief wells as part of its operating plan.
Harper's northern tour caps off a late-starting three-week summer swing that began on the West Coast,
took him through area code 905-land in suburban Toronto last week, and then Down East for three days
in the Maritimes. All along the way, he's been having photo ops in venues that are beneficiaries of federal
largesse. In Vancouver, he visited the aquarium, upgraded with infrastructure money and had his picture
taken with a beluga whale.
In Cranbrook, B.C., he announced improvements to the airport to which flights are diverted when
Vancouver is fogged in.
In Mississauga last week, he reminded voters of government funding for a bus transportation corridor to
Toronto. He went to a furniture factory, where workers had participated in job sharing in the recession.
Then he attended a Tory golf tournament in Ajax, where the Conservatives hope Chris Alexander, a
former ambassador to Afghanistan, can win a seat from the Liberals. In Barrie, he dropped a puck at a
hockey game for a charitable event.
This is a reminder that all politics is local. Not one of these events was in downtown Toronto, where the
Conservatives have no expectations of winning anything in the 416 area code south of Highway 401. But
the suburban 905 belt, from Mississauga to Oshawa, is key to any Tory prospects of picking up seats in
what is known as vote-rich Ontario (as in oil-rich Texas).
As for Harper's Maritime swing, there is no downside in Nova Scotia to the PM having his picture taken in
front of the Bluenose II, refitted with federal funds. Nor are there votes to be lost in visiting the Michelin
tire factory, which has an iconic stature as one of the first multinationals to set up shop there.
Similarly, in New Brunswick, there was nothing to be lost for Harper in visiting the King's Landing historic
theme park near Fredericton, to say nothing of his announcement of a federal pay centre in Miramichi.
What culture of dependency? That was then, this is now. All is forgiven. Besides, Harper's dad was from
New Brunswick.
In Prince Edward Island, Harper attended a big summer parade in Charlottetown and did a photo op at a
wind farm. Did someone mention infrastructure funding, as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan?
While all these events were of a regional character, they also played into Harper's overarching message
of staying the course for economic recovery.
His own polling -- known as "internals" -- tells him the same thing that he could find out down at Tim
Hortons: voters are a lot more concerned about the economy than they are about census forms.
Harper lost the better part of a month this summer by going off the air for three weeks. He was certainly
entitled to family time at Harrington Lake after hosting the G8 and G20, and accompanying the Queen on
most of her Canadian tour. But when the prime minister is off the radar for that long, and the government
has no other message, the vacuum can be filled by the opposition and the agenda can be hijacked by the
media and other third parties.
Case in point, Michael Ignatieff has been on his own tour, the Liberal Express, for the last six weeks, and
it's been a very good investment of his time.
He's been meeting the Liberal rank and file, who didn't know him any better than other Canadians. His
entourage is coming together as a team, he's been getting good regional coverage and Ignatieff himself
has been finding his voice.
That can only help him, going down the road.
www.lianmacdonald.ca
Back to Top
Section: News
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Headline: Reckless editing
Page: A14
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Two incidents of Wikipedia vandalism that seem to come from Canadian government computers raise an
important question: Just how involved in the nuts and bolts of new media should public servants be?
Neither of the two incidents in question was an official government action. In one case, an article on the
Joint Strike Fighter was edited to remove information that was critical of the Conservative government
and to insert insults about Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.
Wikipedia traced the IP addresses used to make the edits to an agency within the Department of National
Defence, and a Citizen search using software that tracks the geographical location of IP addresses found
a connection to the Cold Lake air force base in Alberta. The Department of Defence said recently it had
traced the incident to a computer in the air force headquarters in Winnipeg.
In the second case, someone renamed Canada's Official Languages Act as "Quebec's Nazi Act" and
added an unsophisticated bit of editorializing: "The law gives Frenchspeaking Canadians more
opportunity than english (sic) speaking Canadians in the government of Canada ... It allows Quebecers to
have preferential treatment in jobs over people who already live in Ontario."
That edit was traced to a computer at the Correctional Service of Canada in Ottawa.
The open nature of Wikipedia is what makes it vulnerable, but it is also what ensures that obvious
vandalism is identified and never lasts long. So the damage to Canada and its government, in these two
cases, didn't go much beyond embarrassment.
But more subtle and legitimate changes to Wikipedia might last longer and could shift the way Canada or
its government is perceived. Is it appropriate for public servants to make edits in their own fields of
expertise? A spokesman for the Treasury Board of Canada says there is no prohibition on public servants
editing Wikipedia on their own time and using their own computers, provided they act in accordance with
the public service rules of ethics.
Indeed, the government has an interest in making sure information about Canada is accurate. Public
servants might know the material better than anyone. And if they do it on their own time and using their
own computers, they can't be accused of wasting public money.
But there are good ways of editing Wikipedia and not-so-good ways. Would-be editors should understand
the culture and the ground rules, and they should at least be aware of the implications of their actions.
And, of course, any edits that reflect a partisan bias would be inappropriate -- and would probably not last
long on the site anyway.
Banning public servants from editing Wikipedia altogether, though, wouldn't make sense. Government
has no choice but to become more open as new media evolve. Provided they follow certain ground rules,
public servants can participate in the global public conversation like anyone else.
And nervous government managers can take comfort in knowing that nothing is forever on Wikipedia, and
the smallest thing is scrutinized. The site's "lamest edit wars" (catalogued on Wikipedia itself and, of
course, hotly debated) include the use of "betwixt" rather than "between" and the exact diameter of the
Death Star. No detail escapes the attention of the Internet hive mind for long.
Back to Top
Section: News
Headline: 'Travelling flag' event honours the fallen; Mother of soldier killed in Afghanistan is intent on
ensuring war dead are never forgotten
Page: GT2
Byline: Carmela Fragomeni Hamilton Spectator
Outlet: Toronto Star
Illustrations:
plays one of the travelling Canadian flags bearing the names of soldiers kllled during
the Afghan mission. McCraw's son, Sgt. ShawnAllen Eades, was killed on Aug. 20, 2008, during his third
Afghan tour. Sgt. Shawn Allen Eades was killed in August 2008. RON ALBERTSON/HAMILTON
SPECTATOR
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
The biggest fear that families of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan have is that the public will forget them.
That's why Bev McCraw, the mother of one of the fallen, is bringing a symbol of enduring remembrance to
Hamilton on Sunday. It's a legacy in the form of a travelling Canadian flag bearing the names of this
country's soldiers killed in Afghanistan, and the signatures of all who wish to honour them.
The flag, the last of six to be filled, will be one of the highlights at the Hamilton event. People will also be
able to send messages to the troops via a written scroll, see a transport truck cab wrapped in memory of
the fallen and a video slide show of the troops in Afghanistan.
There will also be fundraising to send children of those killed in Afghanistan to special summer camps.
When the flags are filled with signatures and the war in Afghanistan is over, the flags will be donated to
the National War Museum, said McCraw.
Her Hamilton-born son, Sgt. Shawn Allen Eades, was killed on Aug. 20, 2008, on his third rotation in
Afghanistan. He was just two weeks away from returning home.
McCraw felt compelled to bring the flag to Hamilton as part of a tribute called "A Bond Never Broken - The
Travelling Flag," to keep the memory of Shawn and the others alive.
"I'm so proud of him and what he has done for his country," the Hamilton woman said, "and I don't want
people to forget him or any of the other fallen . . . It's one of the biggest things we fear, that they'll go by
the wayside and be forgotten.
"My son used to say, 'If I don't go and fight on their territory, our kids will be fighting on ours.' "
The flag is "a remembrance of all of our fallen soldiers and all they've done for us, and to give people a
chance to sign it, remember and show they appreciate what they've done."
The flag will be displayed at Bayfront Park in Hamilton from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Back to Top
Section: City & Region
Lead: Sean Wilson has heard enough words.
Headline: Rally is way to show support for troops
Page: A9
Byline: BY GEOFF TURNER
Outlet: The London Free Press
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Sean Wilson has heard enough words.
Now the London veterans' rights advocate wants Londoners to stand up and be counted at a rally in
support of Canadian troops and veterans Sunday.
"For anyone who has that yellow-ribbon magnet that says 'Support our troops,' on their car, this is your
chance to prove you mean it," said Wilson, an organizer with the Remember November 11 Association.
"I talk to veterans and they're saying 'We need Canada to stand up for us right now.'"
The rally -- under the banner "Stand Up For Our Troops" -- is set for noon Sunday at Victoria Park.
Wilson's group has done other work to heighten awareness of veterans' concerns, including educational
outreach for young people.
Last year the group helped stage a play -- performed by and for students at London's Central High School
-- based on the life of George Fortnum, a former Central student who fought in the ill-fated Dieppe raid of
1942 before spending nearly 1,000 days in a Nazi P.O.W. camp. Wilson wrote the play himself.
Wilson insists the rally is an apolitical affair, but it's clear some recent issues have lent some political
focus to the event.
The decision of the federal government to not re-appoint retired colonel Pat Stogran as veterans'
ombudsman has rankled many in the military community, said Wilson.
"They trust him," said Wilson of the outspoken Stogran, who was the first commander of Canadian forces
in Afghanistan.
The retired soldier has been popular with veterans since he was appointed in 2007 as part of the muchballyhooed introduction of the new veterans' charter, designed to renew the government's relationship
with veterans.
In recent months, Stogran has been vocally critical of the government, complaining of a veteran-affairs
bureaucracy more interested in pinching pennies than in looking out for the interests of veterans.
Wilson echoed that view in his assessment of Minister of Veterans Affairs Jean-Pierre Blackburn, whom
he described as "a guy on a mission to cut a budget," ahead of all else.
"They (veterans) don't have a choice of who speaks for them, because they're always appointed by the
government."
Wilson says in his recent conversations with veterans, he's heard "a laundry list of horror stories,"
especially concerning health care and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Locally, the announcement in April of the impending closure of 72 beds at Parkwood Hospital angered
critics who say the move disregards injured veterans who have served since the Korean War.
"We have young men and women coming back from Afghanistan with terrible injuries and they went off to
war because their country asked them," said London-Fanshawe MP Irene Mathyssen.
Mathyssen said that while the government believes veterans can be treated elsewhere in the health
system, only dedicated hospitals can deal with the special needs of veterans.
"The reality is that in places like Parkwood there's camaraderie. Our veterans deserve that extra attention
and that special care."
Mathyssen said the bed closures at Parkwood are part of a national policy of cost-cutting in response to
declining numbers of Second World War and Korean War veterans.
"It's not an angry thing," insists Wilson -- no relation to Trooper Mark Wilson, who died in Afghanistan in
October 2006. "It's just about supporting our veterans."
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation
Back to Top
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Lead: Last week, retired Col. Pat Stogran, commanding officer of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light
Infantry battalion that led Canada's deployment to Afghanistan, was informed by the Canadian
government that his services as the Veterans Affairs Canada ombudsman would be no longer required.
Headline: Join us in standing up for our veterans
Page: 4
Outlet: The Kingston Whig-Standard
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Last week, retired Col. Pat Stogran, commanding officer of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
battalion that led Canada's deployment to Afghanistan, was informed by the Canadian government that
his services as the Veterans Affairs Canada ombudsman would be no longer required.
Veterans across the nation were appalled, fearing the important issues championed so vigilantly by Col.
Stogran would be ignored or delayed beneath the guise of Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn's claim of need
for a new vision. I can assure all Canadians, there is nothing wrong with Col. Stogran's vision; the issues
he has identified and condemned during his tenure are very, very real. Furthermore, during the past three
years he has truly earned the trust of our veterans through action and word, a refreshing source of
support for many who are living with the debilitating consequences of war and peace.
Many Canadians are unfamiliar with the hardships young and old veterans are confronting. I would like to
clarify this situation with the sincere hope that once you understand how veterans are being mistreated,
you might be inclined to support them at 1100 hours, Nov. 6, 2010, when we assemble in front of our
MP's offices to respectfully ask for support redressing five principle areas of concern.
One area is the widow's, also known as "death", benefit tax. Sadly, the families of the fallen, already
deeply grieving the loss of loved ones are subject to a great deal of financial hardship through this unjust
taxation policy. Veterans Affairs Canada is not an insurance company and the pension/awards they
provide are specifically for pain and suffering, not income replacement. We believe that the families of the
fallen deserve the same standard and should be provided a tax exception on all Veterans Affairs Canada
death benefits.
Lump Sum Award: Sadly, hundreds of Canada's sons and daughters have sustained grievous wounds in
action and/or suffer from a variety of service-related physical and physiological issues. We have borne
witness to the struggle of the armless, the legless, blind, deaf ... hundreds of veterans are returning to
Canada from Afghanistan with serious health problems. Financially, the New Veterans Charter is
particularly deficient. I will demonstrate by comparing the two systems. Hypothetically, two veterans are
severely wounded, age 25, wife, child. One receives a lump sum payment of $276,000. The other
receives the standard before the New Veterans Charter implementation, roughly $3,000 a month. Both
live to the age of 85. The new veteran receives $276,000 during this period, about $380 a month. His
colleague, on the pre-New Veterans Charter, receives more than $2 million and includes an additional
supplement for his wife and each child till they reach the age of 18. This vast disparity, particularly when
one considers the consequences of modern combat, is obscene.
Clawback of Veterans Affairs pension/Maritime Life SISIP program: Canadians might well imagine how
difficult, if not impossible, it is for a soldier to find life insurance. We participate through a governmentapproved program administered by Maritime Life called the SISIP program. This is a standard long-term
disability insurance policy that, if necessary, subsidizes soldiers' other pensions to a percentage based on
severity of injury. Prior to the New Veterans Charter, Maritime Life deducted the veterans government
award from this payment even though it quite clearly states that the Veterans Affairs Canada pension is
for pain and suffering and not to be considered income replacement. The New Veterans Charter rectified
this injustice through legislation but inexplicably, not for all veterans. Today, 6,500 airmen, sailors and
soldiers continue to be adversely affected, a fact that is prejudicial and grotesquely unfair. We have all
served this nation, there should be only one standard, inclusive of the financial considerations promised
when we have Tread in Harms way on Canada's behalf.
Reduction of service pension at age 65: Imagine, you served you entire career, dutifully paying into your
pension fund only to discover that the government is arbitrarily going to reduce your service pension the
moment you hit 65. This is fundamentally unfair, particularly in the sense that all governmental offices,
only the RCMP and the Canadian Armed Forces are adversely affected by this financial hardship. We
believe that this is a burden for veterans and Mounties; this discriminating policy must be repealed.
Agent Orange/PTSD: We respectfully request that a comprehensive program be implemented to assist
those who were affected by Agent Orange chemicals at CFB Gagetown for many years. The current
settlement covers only those affected over the course of one, even though it has been proven that
hundreds, if not thousands of veterans through time may have been exposed. The consequences are
fatal, cancers inherent with great discomfort and pain. Many veterans have already died. To deny
responsibility and care for those suffering a terminal disease yet provide for others similarly affected, but
only during the one-year period, is morally wrong. Post-traumatic stress issues have also become an
urgent issue as more and more of our veterans find it difficult coping with their wartime experiences after
repatriation.
With these facts in mind, I would invite all Canadians to join veterans throughout Canada on the 6th of
November 2010, at 1100 hours in front of your local MP's office. We shall unite as brothers and sisters,
sing O Canada, respectfully present our petition to our local parliamentarians and provide him/her an
opportunity to address these issues in a public forum. Conservative, Liberal or NDP, it matters not, our
veterans need the support of all parliamentarians if we are to change the Veterans Charter through
legislation. Just as we, the veterans of Canada, need the support of all Canadians.
Stand up for veterans. Stand up for veterans as we have stood up for you.
Sean McEvoy, CD CPL (Retired) Kingston
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation
Back to Top
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Lead: The firing of retired colonel Pat Stogran as veterans ombudsman shows no sign of simmering
down and is sending more shock waves through the veterans community.
Headline: Vets fight to keep 'invaluable' Stogran
Page: 11
Byline: PETER WORTHINGTON
Outlet: The Ottawa Sun
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
The firing of retired colonel Pat Stogran as veterans ombudsman shows no sign of simmering down and
is sending more shock waves through the veterans community.
Ray Kokkonen, president of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association, has written Veterans
Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, expressing "anxiety and regret" that Stogran's mandate is not
being renewed.
Kokkonen notes that while Stogran was "strongly opposed by government functionaries," he was proven
right in the end and "has been the ideal ombudsman for veterans and should continue to make an
invaluable contribution in the position."
He urges that government rethink the situation and "retain" Stogran as ombudsman. Kokkonen speaks
not only for veterans, but for serving soldiers who know and trust Stogran as a commanding officer in
Afghanistan, and who themselves will someday be veterans.
Kokkonen is a bit dismayed that other veterans groups have been slow on the issue -- namely the Royal
Canadian Legion which, oddly, seems unaware. Spokesman Bob Butt has been quoted as saying the
Legion hadn't heard much from vets -- "no groundswell of any comment or anger."
OLDER VETS
Vince Courtenay, publisher of Koreavetnew.com,wonders if this is because the Legion's membership and
interests are largely Second World War and Korean, and these vets are dying off. Also, they are probably
more generously treated as their numbers decline than they were when they left the Forces.
In any event, the Legion doesn't take up veterans' causes as aggressively as, say, Cliff Chadderton's
National Council of Veteran Associations.
Courtenay's assessment makes sense. The estimated 150,000 surviving veterans from the Second World
War and Korea mostly have aging debilities that need care. Their days of fighting for added benefits are
mostly over.
It's today's crop of veterans from service in the Balkans and Afghanistan who have special needs.
It's damn difficult to get a number from DND as to how many Canadians have been wounded in
Afghanistan. In the Second World War, for every Canadian killed in action, two were wounded. In Korea,
for every man killed, four were wounded.
In Afghanistan, for every Canadian killed, likely eight or nine are wounded -- some of them with injuries
that would have been fatal in the past.
While DND won't give estimates, perhaps 1,000 Afghanistan veterans have war wounds -- and unknown
numbers with stress disorders that may haunt them ever after. Afghanistan is especially hard on nerves.
Once outside the wire, roadside bombs and ambushes are a constant threat. Every soldier knows the law
of averages is not friendly.
FLAWED CHARTER
The big veterans issue of the moment is the government's desire to save money. A lump sum of up to
$270,000 for a severely wounded soldier is supposed to replace lifelong insurance as a vet.
Many young soldiers feel money in the hand is better than promises for later. The new Veterans Charter
is flawed and needs revision -- as Stogran insisted.
One who supports Stogran is Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk.
While refusing to comment directly on the firing, Natynczyk did say that points raised by Stogran "are
absolutely correct issues." Natynczyk succeeded Gen. Rick Hillier in the CDS job, but is more chary about
voicing opinions or plunging into controversy. So his endorsement of Stogran's concerns is significant.
The government has erred in firing the one ombudsman who veterans, soldiers and the public trusted. It
would be reassuring if the PM were confident enough to change his mind.
But that's not how government works when it seeks to save money rather than face.
peter.worthington@sunmedia.ca
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation
Back to Top
Section: Letters
Byline: Pierre Blackburn
Outlet: National Post
Headline: Veterans Affairs Minister responds
Page: A13
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: National Post
Re: Our Veterans Deserve Better, Rob Oliphant, Aug. 24.
It is simply not true to say that Colonel Pat Stogran was fired as veterans' ombudsman. While his term is
not being renewed, this in no way diminishes all that he has done to help improve the lives of our
veterans. There has been a lot said about whether we are doing enough for veterans. In truth, we can
never do enough to pay back their sacrifices in defending Canada, but we can take concrete action to
make their lives a little bit better. Let's compare the actions of our Conservative government to those of
the Liberals.
The Liberals eliminated benefits for Allied veterans in 1995; we reinstated them. The Liberals ignored the
issue of compensation for Agent Orange victims; we took action to provide compensation. The Liberals
dithered about their priorities while Veterans Affairs Canada languished; we have injected nearly $2billion into that department. The sad reality is that many of our heroes from the Second World War are
passing on at a rate of 1,700 each month. By 2015, modern veterans such as peacekeepers and those
who served in Afghanistan will outnumber Second World War and Korean veterans by three to one. We
are transforming to address that change and the way services are delivered. It is not about "keeping
bureaucrats busy" -- rather it is about ensuring we do what is right for our veterans.
Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs, Ottawa.
Back to Top
Section: Opinion
Byline: Pat Stogran
Outlet: Edmonton Journal
Illustrations:
issues challenging Canada's veterans' community in Ottawa on Aug. 17.
Ottawa Citizen / Former army medic Paul Franklin listens to Pat
Stogran on Aug. 17.
Headline: Time we stood up for thenation's veterans; Ottawa won't change its attitude until citizens light a
fire under them
Page: A16
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Source: Postmedia News
Since the news conference that I held last week to expose the truth on veterans' issues, the grassroots
outpouring of support from veterans and Canadians to fix the problems and provide veterans with the
support they need has been overwhelming.
This is the same grassroots response that united Canadians to create the Highway of Heroes, to have
Red Fridays and to individually step out, thank and support our service personnel. Canadians may not
agree on why their sons and daughters are fighting in far-off lands, but there is no lack of fervour when it
comes to their support for the troops and their families.
The silence has been broken. Veterans are speaking out after years of silently fighting with a system that
is not effectively meeting their needs, and they are being heard. The fact that so many Canadians have
become engaged in this debate shows that veterans' issues matter deeply to them. Today, Canadians are
watching and listening intently to what happens next. It is time for government action.
Veterans are intricately woven into the fabric of Canadian society. It is important how they are treated, not
only because of our obligation to them, but also because of the associated long-term social and national
security implications. If military members are not effectively reintegrated into society after their service, it
can have significant impact on our social, health and justice systems. In addition, if Canadians see that
veterans aren't being treated fairly, they may hesitate to join the military. An effective military needs the
country's best and brightest to be its members.
Many veterans are struggling to get the services they need. It is widely recognized that the system is
broken. We send our military and police into harm's way and when they come back sick, injured and
wounded, the system makes them jump through hoops to get benefits, and often treats them as if they
are trying to get something that they do not deserve. This has to stop.
The system controls access to all information, adjudicates in secret, communicates infrequently and in a
language that only a government lawyer can understand and then sets up an equally convoluted and
secretive appeal process to address unfair departmental practices.
There is no impetus to change the system from within. The original design of the ombudsman's office was
set up to address complaints, not to address systemic issues. No wonder the Office of the Veterans
Ombudsman has had so little success in trying to make substantive changes, and no wonder veterans
are speaking out. Now is the time for change.
Veterans need your support. Although much of what needs to be done is rooted in the legislative process,
it is the culture of the system that develops and implements legislation and regulations that really needs
to be changed. The only way this is going to happen is if Canada's parliamentarians realize that this issue
is a significant and urgent one that Canadians want addressed now.
So what can you do? Get involved! Let your MPs and Senators know how you feel. Write them, talk to
them and make your views on how to support veterans clearly known. Make them accountable.
Our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters have sacrificed themselves and their families in service of
their country so that you can have the freedom to choose the government and issues that need to be
addressed. Our soldiers, sailors, air personnel and police have stood up for us; it is now time for us to
stand up for them.
Col. (ret.) Pat Stogran is Canada's veterans ombudsman.
Back to Top
Section: Actualités
Byline: Giroux, Raymond
Outlet: Le Soleil
Headline: Difficile de chasser le naturel
Page: 7
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: Ottawa
Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop. La semaine dernière, le fédéral peaufinait sa politique
internationale sur l'Arctique dans un document à la fois ouvert et intelligent, loin du noir ou blanc habituel
des conservateurs.
Les louanges du moment auront été brèves, faut-il constater. Une fois rendu sur place, dans le Grand
Nord, Stephen Harper a ressorti les tambours et les trompettes de la guerre froide, comme s'il n'avait
même pas lu la politique de son gouvernement, pourtant énoncée dans une langue claire et limpide.
La semaine dernière, donc, Ottawa avait compris qu'il n'y avait aucune menace militaire quelconque dans
l'Arctique et que l'avenir de la région se déclinerait dorénavant sur le thème de la coopération
internationale.
Puis subitement apparaissent dans l'air deux bombardiers russes. Réaction du premier ministre : l'ennemi
nous provoque, sortons nos armes, défendons notre souveraineté.
Et au passage, donnons un petit coup de pouce à la propagande en faveur de l'achat de nouveaux
appareils sans appel d'offres, pour une note totale de 16 milliards $, entretien compris.
Élus pour mettre fin à la gabegie libérale avec des promesses de transparence et de respect des règles
du jeu, les conservateurs, quatre ans plus tard, sont retombés dans les mêmes ornières.
Cette semaine, le bureau de M. Harper a ainsi alerté les médias sur le présumé incident aérien avec les
Russes :
"Le CF-18 est un aéronef extraordinaire qui permet à nos forces armées de faire face à tout défi russe
dans le Nord", écrit son directeur des communications, Dimitri Soudas. "Cette fière tradition continuera
d'être honorée après le retrait du parc de CF-18, puisque ce dernier sera remplacé par le nouveau F-35,
un aéronef à grandes capacités et à technologie évoluée."
"C'est le meilleur avion que notre gouvernement pouvait procurer à nos forces armées; lorsque vous êtes
pilote et que vous surveillez des bombardiers russes à long rayon d'action, il s'agit d'un fait important à se
rappeler."
En trois paragraphes, deux idées maîtresses. Un, il faut se protéger des méchants russes. Deux, nos
avions sont les meilleurs, les prochains le seront encore plus. Fin du message.
Du côté du NORAD, responsable de la défense de l'Amérique du Nord, vient un tout autre son de cloche,
en parfaite contradiction avec les propos du bureau de M. Harper.
Il s'agit là d'opérations de routine importantes et parfaitement légales pour la Russie comme pour le
Canada et les États-Unis, signalent en effet les militaires.
Autre indice du contraste entre les mots et les actions, les trois pays ont tenu au début du mois un
exercice aérien commun dans l'éventualité du piratage d'un avion dans le ciel nord-américain.
Même le ministère de la Défense nationale, selon des documents internes obtenus par la Canadian
Press, rejette l'attitude belliqueuse du premier ministre et du ministre Peter MacKay.
Selon les analystes canadiens, la politique russe relative à l'Arctique ressemble étrangement à la nôtre et
ne doit soulever par conséquent aucune inquiétude.
A notre passage du Nord-Ouest correspond leur passage du Nord-Est, et chacun des deux pays réclame
la souveraineté sur ces eaux. Nous sommes alliés sur le fond et non, les hordes de Poutine ne
débarqueront pas sur la terre de Baffin de sitôt.
En accentuant aussi ouvertement la pression pour faire avaler par l'opinion publique l'achat d'une
nouvelle flotte aérienne, M. Harper annule les bénéfices d'une politique arctique autrement louable.
Son ton belliqueux et son attitude d'une autre époque ne font que brouiller les cartes dans un dossier aux
ramifications internationales délicates.
Pour joindre notre chroniqueur : rgiroux@lesoleil.com
Back to Top
Section: Monde
Outlet: La Presse
Headline: Un dernier combat pour les soldats canadiens?
Page: A14
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: KANDAHAR
Source: LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
Les soldats canadiens se préparent en vue de ce qui pourrait bien être leur dernier combat à Kandahar,
en Afghanistan, où leur stratégie devrait s'élargir au cours de l'automne.
Les Forces canadiennes participeront à la prochaine phase de l'opération Hamkari, qui vise à déloger les
insurgés talibans du district de Panjwayi, au sud de Kandahar.
Le commandant des Forces canadiennes à Kandahar, le brigadier général Jonathan Vance, a précisé
que l'objectif était de repousser les insurgés et de maintenir une présence dans les villages situés dans le
bastion des talibans. Le plan envisagé pour Panjwayi constituera probablement la dernière opération
importante du Canada avant la fin de sa mission de combat en Afghanistan prévue pour le mois de juillet
2011.
Certains médias américains considèrent l'opération Hamkari comme la plus critique dans la guerre
menée depuis neuf ans dans ce pays.
La phase suivante consistera à déloger les insurgés de Panjwayi et de Zhari, où les Canadiens ont passé
le relais aux troupes américaines.
Back to Top
Section: Actualités
Byline: Allison Jones
Outlet: La Tribune (Sherbrooke, Qc)
Headline: Le colonel Williams subira son procès pour meurtres le 7 octobre
Page: 9
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: BELLEVILLE, Ont.
Source: Presse Canadienne
Le colonel Russell Williams, ancien commandant de la base militaire de Trenton, en Ontario, subira son
procès pour les accusations de meurtres, agressions sexuelles et introductions par infraction qui pèsent
sur lui.
Williams a renoncé hier à son droit à une enquête préliminaire, qui a normalement lieu afin de déterminer
si les preuves sont suffisantes pour intenter un procès. Il reviendra devant le tribunal le 7 octobre
prochain en Cour supérieure de l'Ontario.
Le colonel a comparu hier, via vidéo, devant un tribunal de Belleville, en Ontario. L'homme est accusé du
meurtre prémédité de deux femmes, d'agressions sexuelles, et de 82 autres crimes reliés à des
introductions par effraction.
La Couronne a apporté des modifications mineures à six chefs d'accusation, y compris en changeant un
chef d'accusation de tentative d'introduction par effraction en un chef d'introduction par effraction.
Le colonel Williams était une étoile montante des Forces armées avant d'être accusé des meurtres de
Jessica Lloyd, âgée de 27 ans, et de la caporale Marie-France Comeau, âgée de 37 ans.
Le corps de la première victime a été découvert le 8 février dernier à Tweed, en Ontario, deux semaines
après qu'elle ne se soit pas présentée à son travail. Le frère de Mme Lloyd, Andy Lloyd, s'est montré
satisfait que le dossier avance, après des mois de brèves comparutions par vidéoconférence. "J'ai le
sentiment que du bon sortira de cette histoire", a-t-il dit.
Marie-France Comeau, quant à elle, a été retrouvée morte à son domicile de Brighton, en Ontario, en
novembre dernier.
Des documents de la cour indiquent que Williams est soupçonné d'avoir vandalisé la maison de MarieFrance Comeau quelque 10 jours avant que son cadavre ne soit découvert, le 25 novembre dernier.
Williams est également soupçonné d'avoir cambriolé les domiciles d'au moins deux autres de ses
présumées victimes d'agression sexuelle au mois de septembre dernier.
De plus, Williams et sa femme, Mary-Elizabeth Harriman, font face à une poursuite de 2,45 millions $
intentée par l'une des présumées victimes d'agression sexuelle de Williams, uniquement identifiée sous
le pseudonyme de "Jane Doe".
Mme Harriman, qui n'a pas fait de déclaration publique depuis que les accusations ont été portées contre
son conjoint, a indiqué être dévastée dans une déclaration.
Ces allégations n'ont pas été prouvées en cour et Williams n'a pas encore fourni une défense dans cette
affaire.
Section: Actualités
Headline: "Ça surprend pas mal"
Page: 2
Outlet: Le Nouvelliste (Trois-Rivières)
Byline: Massicotte, Nancy
Illustrations:
 C'est dans la ferraille amassée par Réjean Saint-Pierre que se trouvait l'obus.
 Réjean Saint-Pierre, de Sainte-Ursule, discute avec un agent de la Sûreté du Québec de sa trouvaille
pour le moins surprenante.
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: Sainte-Ursule
Un ferrailleur de Sainte-Ursule a eu toute une surprise hier matin lorsqu'il a découvert un obus de canon
au fond d'un baril utilisé pour recueillir le vieux fer des particuliers.
"Disons qu'on ne s'attend pas à ça dans la rang Fontarabie à Sainte-Ursule. Ce n'est pas une balle de
carabine: c'est un obus de canon de 18 pouces de long par quatre pouces de diamètre! Ça surprend pas
mal", a confié hier Réjean Saint-Pierre.
Depuis quelques années, celui-ci recueille le fer par le biais de barils installés dans des endroits ciblés,
accessibles à la population. C'est en faisant le tri du fer contenu dans ces barils qu'il a fait la découverte
de l'obus hier vers 11 h 30. "Je me trouvais alors dans mon garage. Quand j'ai vu ça, j'ai appelé la police.
On m'a demandé s'il y avait un numéro sur l'obus. J'ai donc sorti l'obus du baril et je l'ai manipulé pour
l'examiner. Je l'ai ensuite déposé devant la porte de mon garage. Plus tard, on m'a dit que l'obus était
probablement encore actif et qu'il pouvait exploser. J'ai commencé à avoir un peu peur; les nerfs m'ont
pogné", a-t-il raconté.
La Sûreté du Québec s'est évidemment rendue sur place pour s'assurer qu'il n'y avait aucun danger
imminent. Un périmètre de sécurité a été érigé autour du garage mais sans plus puisqu'il n'y avait
personne à proximité. Aucune évacuation n'a donc été nécessaire.
Ce sont les membres des Forces armées canadiennes qui ont eu le mandat d'aller récupérer l'engin au
cours de la soirée. L'obus a ensuite été transporté dans une base militaire où des expertises seront
effectuées afin notamment de déterminer son origine et sa dangerosité. Une fois ces analyses
complétées, l'obus devrait être détruit. Hier, il a donc été impossible de savoir si l'engin était toujours actif
et dangereux.
Selon Stéphane Boivin, officier aux affaires publiques à la Défense nationale, il n'est pas rare que pareils
engins explosifs (obus, grenades, cartouches, etc.) soient retrouvés. "En 2009, il y en a eu 46 au
Québec. Cette année, nous en sommes déjà rendus à 40. Il peut s'agir par exemples de cartouches
datant de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale retrouvées lors du décès d'un vétéran, d'obus provenant
d'exercices militaires ou d'un champ de tir. Il est fréquent aussi d'en retrouver sur les berges par temps
sec, lorsque le niveau des cours d'eau baisse", a-t-il expliqué.
Dans le cas présent, la découverte de l'obus par un ferrailleur ne le surprend guère. "Les gens ne savent
pas trop quoi faire lorsqu'ils trouvent un obus ou une grenade. Comme ils considèrent que c'est du vieux
fer, quelques-uns vont s'en débarrasser chez un ferrailleur", a-t-il précisé.
Toutefois, il rappelle que ce n'est pas la chose à faire. "Il n'est jamais arrivé d'incident où un obus a
explosé soudainement, mais la prudence est de rigueur. Il ne faut pas y toucher. Il faut plutôt s'en
éloigner et contacter le poste de police local", a-t-il conclu.
Section: Actualités
Headline: "Harper joue à la guerre froide"; Michael Ignatieff reproche aux conservateurs la "militarisation
" de la question de l'Arctique
Page: A12
Source: Presse Canadienne
Outlet: La Presse
Byline: Cameron, Daphné
Illustrations:
 De passage dans une résidence pour personnes âgées de Longueuil, le chef du Parti libéral du
Canada, Michael Ignatieff en a profité pourcritiquer l'achat, par les conservateurs, de 65 nouveaux avions
de chasse, au coût de 16 millions de dollars
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Le chef libéral, Michael Ignatieff, estime que le gouvernement conservateur accorde trop d'importance à
la militarisation de l'Arctique et pas assez aux problèmes sociaux.
Alors que Stephen Harper poursuivait sa tournée de l'Arctique canadien, hier, L'Express libéral était de
passage à Longueuil. Lors d'un arrêt dans une résidence pour personnes âgées, le chef du PLC a
critiqué la stratégie de ses adversaires pour défendre la souveraineté canadienne dans le Grand Nord.
Les conservateurs "ont militarisé la question de l'Arctique, mais il y a des questions sociales qu'il faut
aborder d'abord", a expliqué M. Ignatieff. "J'étais à Iqaluit il y a deux semaines, et tout le monde parlait de
la crise dans le système de justice, de celle dans le système de logement et des problèmes de
scolarisation. Les Inuits sont l'avenir de l'Arctique. Si nous voulons nous assurer de la souveraineté dans
la région, il faut faire beaucoup plus que des manoeuvres militaires."
Selon M. Ignatieff, les conservateurs "utilisent" les soldats canadiens à des fins politiques. Depuis
plusieurs jours, les Forces armées canadiennes mènent des exercices dans le Grand Nord.
"Ils le font sans aucune hésitation depuis des années, mais hier (mercredi), c'était pour moi le comble, at-il affirmé. Pour une séance photo de 30 secondes, ils ont déployé des hélicoptères, un navire de la
Garde côtière, des hommes-grenouilles, des soldats, des sous-marins et des avions de chasse. Qu'estce que tout cela a coûté aux contribuables?" Selon ses estimations, cette campagne d'image aurait coûté
plus de 1 million de dollars.
Un achat injustifié
Mercredi, Stephen Harper est arrivé dans la région de Resolute, au Nunavut, quelques heures après
qu'on eut dépêché deux avions de chasse canadiens (CF-18) pour escorter deux bombardiers russes qui
s'étaient approchés à une cinquantaine de kilomètres de l'espace aérien du Canada.
M. Harper a alors réitéré la pertinence de l'achat de 65 nouveaux avions de chasse, au coût de 16
milliards de dollars. "Nous sommes dans un déficit de 54 milliards de dollars, alors 16 milliards, ce n'est
pas de petits sous", a déploré M. Ignatieff.
"Les Russes font des tournées près de notre espace aérien depuis plus de 60 ans. Et depuis 60 ans, les
conservateurs essaient de nous faire peur de l'ours russe qui nous menace, a-t-il ajouté. Les Russes sont
là. Ils sont là depuis toujours. Il faut se défendre, mais ce n'est pas en soi une justification pour faire cet
achat... On joue à la guerre froide dans un contexte où la guerre froide est terminée depuis 20 ans."
Section: Idées
Byline: Gilles Duceppe
Outlet: Le Devoir
Headline: Arctique - Les conservateurs font fausse route
Page: A9
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Le gouvernement conservateur, par son énoncé de la politique étrangère du Canada pour l'Arctique
rendu public le 20 août dernier, persiste dans une tendance militariste inquiétante. En effet, malgré les
belles paroles du ministre des Affaires étrangères, Lawrence Cannon, qui parle d'une approche plus
diplomatique, le gouvernement de Stephen Harper réitère sa stratégie militaire de défense de la
souveraineté canadienne en Arctique.
Au Bloc québécois, nous craignons que l'inclusion d'une stratégie essentiellement militaire pour le Nord,
voie toujours favorisée par les conservateurs, accroisse les tensions dans les régions arctiques.
Double langage
Le Bloc québécois estime que les conservateurs doivent cesser leur double langage, renoncer à une
stratégie militaire et s'en tenir uniquement aux voies diplomatiques et à celles garanties par le droit
international pour faire valoir les prétentions territoriales canadiennes. D'autres principes de base
devraient également guider l'action canadienne dans le développement de l'Arctique.
Ainsi, toute action dans les régions arctiques devrait tenir compte des populations qui y vivent,
notamment les Inuits. Il faudrait également s'assurer que la région ne soit pas livrée à un pillage éhonté
de ses ressources grâce à un encadrement strict. De plus, le gouvernement devrait s'engager plus
fermement à lutter contre les changements climatiques, qui ont des conséquences majeures pour
l'Arctique, de même qu'à protéger adéquatement l'extrême fragilité de ses écosystèmes.
Dans cet esprit, le gouvernement doit revenir sur sa décision et accorder le financement à la Fondation
canadienne pour les sciences du climat et de l'atmosphère, qui permettra notamment au centre PEARL
situé sur l'île d'Ellesmere de poursuivre ses importantes activités.
Développement durable
Enfin, nous croyons que le gouvernement conservateur devrait multiplier ses efforts afin d'entretenir de
bonnes relations avec les pays ayant une frontière avec l'Arctique. En ce sens, le gouvernement doit tenir
parole et favoriser sans tarder les modes de gestion coordonnés, notamment grâce à sa participation au
Conseil de l'Arctique et à sa coopération avec le Conseil circumpolaire inuit. Nous lui enjoignons dès
maintenant à oeuvrer activement afin d'assurer le développement durable et pacifique de l'Arctique.
***
Gilles Duceppe - Chef du Bloc québécois
Back to Top
Section: Actualités
Byline: Giroux, Raymond
Outlet: Le Soleil
Headline: Difficile de chasser le naturel
Page: 7
Date: Friday 27 August 2010
Dateline: Ottawa
Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop. La semaine dernière, le fédéral peaufinait sa politique
internationale sur l'Arctique dans un document à la fois ouvert et intelligent, loin du noir ou blanc habituel
des conservateurs.
Les louanges du moment auront été brèves, faut-il constater. Une fois rendu sur place, dans le Grand
Nord, Stephen Harper a ressorti les tambours et les trompettes de la guerre froide, comme s'il n'avait
même pas lu la politique de son gouvernement, pourtant énoncée dans une langue claire et limpide.
La semaine dernière, donc, Ottawa avait compris qu'il n'y avait aucune menace militaire quelconque dans
l'Arctique et que l'avenir de la région se déclinerait dorénavant sur le thème de la coopération
internationale.
Puis subitement apparaissent dans l'air deux bombardiers russes. Réaction du premier ministre : l'ennemi
nous provoque, sortons nos armes, défendons notre souveraineté.
Et au passage, donnons un petit coup de pouce à la propagande en faveur de l'achat de nouveaux
appareils sans appel d'offres, pour une note totale de 16 milliards $, entretien compris.
Élus pour mettre fin à la gabegie libérale avec des promesses de transparence et de respect des règles
du jeu, les conservateurs, quatre ans plus tard, sont retombés dans les mêmes ornières.
Cette semaine, le bureau de M. Harper a ainsi alerté les médias sur le présumé incident aérien avec les
Russes :
"Le CF-18 est un aéronef extraordinaire qui permet à nos forces armées de faire face à tout défi russe
dans le Nord", écrit son directeur des communications, Dimitri Soudas. "Cette fière tradition continuera
d'être honorée après le retrait du parc de CF-18, puisque ce dernier sera remplacé par le nouveau F-35,
un aéronef à grandes capacités et à technologie évoluée."
"C'est le meilleur avion que notre gouvernement pouvait procurer à nos forces armées; lorsque vous êtes
pilote et que vous surveillez des bombardiers russes à long rayon d'action, il s'agit d'un fait important à se
rappeler."
En trois paragraphes, deux idées maîtresses. Un, il faut se protéger des méchants russes. Deux, nos
avions sont les meilleurs, les prochains le seront encore plus. Fin du message.
Du côté du NORAD, responsable de la défense de l'Amérique du Nord, vient un tout autre son de cloche,
en parfaite contradiction avec les propos du bureau de M. Harper.
Il s'agit là d'opérations de routine importantes et parfaitement légales pour la Russie comme pour le
Canada et les États-Unis, signalent en effet les militaires.
Autre indice du contraste entre les mots et les actions, les trois pays ont tenu au début du mois un
exercice aérien commun dans l'éventualité du piratage d'un avion dans le ciel nord-américain.
Même le ministère de la Défense nationale, selon des documents internes obtenus par la Canadian
Press, rejette l'attitude belliqueuse du premier ministre et du ministre Peter MacKay.
Selon les analystes canadiens, la politique russe relative à l'Arctique ressemble étrangement à la nôtre et
ne doit soulever par conséquent aucune inquiétude.
A notre passage du Nord-Ouest correspond leur passage du Nord-Est, et chacun des deux pays réclame
la souveraineté sur ces eaux. Nous sommes alliés sur le fond et non, les hordes de Poutine ne
débarqueront pas sur la terre de Baffin de sitôt.
En accentuant aussi ouvertement la pression pour faire avaler par l'opinion publique l'achat d'une
nouvelle flotte aérienne, M. Harper annule les bénéfices d'une politique arctique autrement louable.
Son ton belliqueux et son attitude d'une autre époque ne font que brouiller les cartes dans un dossier aux
ramifications internationales délicates.
Pour joindre notre chroniqueur : rgiroux@lesoleil.com
Back to Top
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