NATIONAL NEWS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / SOMMAIRE DES NOUVELLES NATIONALES
ADM(PA) / SMA(AP)
November 05 2013 / le 05 novembre 2013
MINISTER / LE MINISTRE
British Training in Alberta
The British Army will continue to send thousands of soldiers to train in southern Alberta, but wants a
better deal from Ottawa. Col. Jim Landon, commanding officer of the British Army Training Unit Suffield
(BATUS), said the United Kingdom and Canada have agreed to extend a training agreement first signed
in 1971. “The UK secretary of state, the Right Hon. Philip Hammond, has made it clear to the Canadian
minister of national defence, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, that we intend to seek savings in the
support costs of running BATUS,” Landon said in a speech at CFB Suffield. DND officials could not be
reached for comment (Staff: CH A7, RDA A3).
CDS / CEM
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
CAF OPERATIONS / OPÉRATIONS FAC
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
PROCUREMENT / APPROVISIONNEMENT
Shipbuilding: Comment
J.L. Granatstein’s column on the shipbuilding program was reprinted (WFP A7).
OTHERS / AUTRES
Nortel Campus Retrofit
Work by the federal government to prepare the former Nortel campus DND appears stalled, with only
about $1.3 million of an estimated $790 million refit budget spent so far. Public Works says it can no
longer provide information as to when any federal department will occupy the buildings, leading some
critics to question whether the Nortel project is now adrift. Public Works noted that plans for the
renovation and federal occupancy of the Carling campus are under review. DND originally hoped to move
into the site in 2015. That date was revised in 2012, with the department then noting that occupancy
would occur “within five years.” Cabinet has yet to approve DND's move into the campus. But NDP
defence critic Jack Harris said the move should be cancelled. Others have also questioned the move at a
time of cost-cutting, particularly because DND will still continue to occupy key buildings in Ottawa (D.
Pugliese: Ctz A1).
Problems Navigating VAC System
Government resources for dealing with past and present military personnel are so strapped that
employees are recommending alternative courses of action for people seeking information. Megan Young
of Springhill became ill while doing her basic training in November 2010. In September, she was
medically released. As she navigates the Veterans Affairs Canada system in an attempt to access
disability services, Ms. Young needs her military medical file. Following a request in September for the
documents, she received an email from DND staff suggesting it could take up to six months to process
her request. Ms. Young was informed that more focused requests for one to five items could be
processed more quickly, but that doesn't do much for her (Staff: HCH A9).
Office of the Veterans Ombudsman: Survey
Awareness of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman and what it does among its client group is low,
according to a survey done for Ombudsman Guy Parent's office. That's a key finding of the Corporate
Research Associates survey of 801 clients of Veterans Affairs Canada. Though three-quarters of those
surveyed knew there was an office that works to ensure that veterans, serving members of the Canadian
Forces and the RCMP, and other VAC clients receive fair treatment, only seven per cent could name the
office unprompted. The survey found that only a small minority of VAC clients has had contact with the
ombudsman's office, though three in 10 expect to contact it at some future point (D. Butler: Ctz A3).
Protest of Closure of VAC Office
Windsor has joined the growing number of Canadian municipalities protesting Ottawa's cost-saving
decision to close Veterans Affairs district offices. Windsor's downtown Veterans Affairs office, which lost
its CF recruitment function in February, is slated to close sometime before February (D. Scmidt: WStar
A3).
Veteran Protests VAC Cuts
Shane Jones, a military veteran who suffered multiple injuries when his vehicle rolled over in Afghanistan
says the Canadian government is failing former soldiers by not providing the care they need. He says he
has been assigned more than three Veterans Affairs case workers since June and has had about eight
since he was medically released from the Forces in 2008. A spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Minister
Julian Fantino said that the minister has asked ``to reach out to see what additional support and
assistance can be provided to Corporal Jones and his family.'' He insisted services standards would not
change as a result of the cuts (Staff: G&M A6, Ctz A8, CH A10, SJT C8, RDA A6, CG A5; M. Gorman:
HCH A1).
Last Post Fund
Despite changes made last spring to a federal fund meant to give impoverished veterans a dignified
burial, the agency is expected to spend less than a third of what it was allocated in the last budget. A new
report by the parliamentary budget office estimates that only $18.4 million of the $65 million set aside for
the Last Post Fund, which is overseen by Veterans Affairs, will actually be handed out. Joshua Zanin, a
spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, said 57 per cent of applicants will qualify for
the maximum benefit under the program (M. Brewster: TStar A10; CTV 11PM).
NDP on Veterans: Letter
Peter Stoffer and Sylvain Chicoine, NDP MPs: Last month, Veterans Ombudsman Guy Parent identified
serious shortcoming in the supports available to injured veterans and their families. In his words: “We
either deal with these issues now or we are going to have to deal with the cost later.” We could not agree
more. That is why we were disappointed to hear Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino say that with
respect to meeting the needs of veterans' and their families, his government “is also being mindful of our
responsibility to the Canadian taxpayer.” We know that Canadian taxpayers support better benefits and
services for veterans and their families. They do not want this Conservative government to balance the
books on the backs of veterans and their families. It is time that this government restore its sacred
obligation to veterans and their families and make immediate improvements in benefits and support
(WStar A4).
Memorial at Hockey Game
A unique memorial, forged from the wreckage of a tank that hit an improvised explosive device in
Afghanistan, will be centre ice at Friday's Kingston Frontenacs' Ontario Hockey League game at the
Rogers K-Rock Centre. The memorial, on which poppies taken from the last remembrance ceremony in
Kandahar in 2011 have been placed, was a project taken on by WO Renay Groves, from 21 Electronic
Warfare Regiment on CFB Kingston. Each poppy represented a Canadian serviceman or woman who
died in Afghanistan. Justin Chenier, executive director of business operations for the Frontenacs, said
there will be two games to show support for the CF (M. Lea: KWS 1).
Speech by RAdm Jennifer Bennett
Coverage reported on a speech by RAdm Jennifer Bennett, Canada’s first female admiral. There's still a
scarcity of women in the military's highest leadership positions – RAdm Bennett is still the only Canadian
woman to ever achieve the rank of admiral. But she said she doesn't think that will be true for long. She
said she thinks flexible human resources policies for service people who want to take leaves will help the
military attract and retain more women (C. Brownell: WStar A2).
PM’s Book on Hockey
Coverage of the release of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s book A Great Game noted that all author
royalties from the work will go to Canadian military families. Proceeds will be funnelled through the
Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support Services to support the Military Families Fund, which
provides emergency financial assistance (S. Chase: G&M A13; M. Kennedy: Ctz A6, EJ A10, Gaz A17,
CH A9, SSP A10, VSun B1; R. DiManno: TStar S1).
Section: News
Outlet: Calgary Herald
Illustrations:
 Medicine Hat News, The Canadian Press, Files / U.K. troops will continue to train in Alberta,
but their commanding officer is looking at ways to reduce costs.
Headline: U.K. troops staying put
Page: A7
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Dateline: MEDICINE HAT, Alta.
Source: The Canadian Press
The British Army will continue to send thousands of soldiers to train in southern Alberta, but
wants a better deal from Ottawa.
Col. Jim Landon, commanding officer of the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS), said
the United Kingdom and Canada have agreed to extend a training agreement first signed in 1971.
“The UK secretary of state, the Right Hon. Philip Hammond, has made it clear to the Canadian
minister of national defence, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, that we intend to seek savings in
the support costs of running BATUS,” Landon said in a speech at Canadian Forces Base Suffield
Monday.
“Minister Nicholson has recognized this concern and undertaken to work with us to identify
ways to save money.”
Department of National Defence officials in Ottawa could not be reached for comment.
Landon said the British military considered moving the training unit to a base in Germany.
But he said after a review, senior officers determined that the base in Suffield, Alta., is the best
place to conduct large-scale training with live ammunition.
The base trains thousands of soldiers each year, which pumps lots of money into the local
economy.
Some businesses in southeastern Alberta were concerned the British were planning to close their
training unit.
Back to Top
Section: Columns
Outlet: WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Headline: Porky, pricey and late Page: A7
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Canada has national interests, the same as every other nation. Lists may vary, but everyone puts
maintaining the security of the Canadian people and their territory at the top of the list. Close
behind is a strong and well-managed economy that provides good jobs for skilled and unskilled
workers. But what happens when interests collide? The massive shipbuilding program now
getting underway for the navy and the coast guard may provide a clear example. The Royal
Canadian Navy is a small, highly professional force that helps to protect Canada's coasts and
serves Canada abroad in a multiplicity of roles. The Canadian Coast Guard, also small, patrols
our waters, enforces our laws, and its icebreakers keep trade moving. Both operate vessels that
are in many cases well beyond their best-before dates and both need new ships.
The government's National Shipbuilding Strategy aims to provide Arctic patrol ships, supply
vessels and eventually replacements for the navy's fine frigates, as well as a large icebreaker and
10 smaller ships for the coast guard. The cost, including the frigate replacement, is estimated at
some $80 billion, and the process involves re-establishing the nation's shipyards in Vancouver
and Halifax, in effect re-creating a defunct industry. Up to 15,000 jobs are to be created.
But this is Canada, so pork and high costs are inevitable. National Defence and Public Works are
deeply involved, politicians' hands are all over the plans, and costs are sky high. Consider the
two joint support ships to be built in Vancouver for some $3 billion. They will likely be fine
ships when they hit the water, years late. Britain's Royal Navy, however, is buying four roughly
similar ships from South Korean builders for $750 million -- for all four. Should the navy ships
cost eight times those of the British? The Dutch Navy is buying ships built in Romania; the
Danes use ships built in Poland. Why? Because the cost is far less, the quality is good, and the
work of installing the armaments and communications systems can be done in home waters,
creating good jobs.
Take another case, the 10 small vessels to be built on the West Coast for the coast guard for $3.3
billion. In 2007, the Danes bought similar, larger ships for $50 million each, ships with an
icebreaking capacity the coast guard ships will not have. Even with six years of inflation factored
in, the coast guard ships will cost at least three to five times as much.
But, the government will say, the jobs being created on the coasts are good ones, paying well for
the skilled workers who are being trained to fill them. It is true, but will the Canadian public
support the navy and the coast guard when it realizes the massive costs involved to create each
job? Moreover, no government can bind its successors to follow any policy. Jean Chrtien killed
the maritime helicopter project when he came to power two decades ago, and the navy still has
no new ones. A future government might well say the deficit is too high, and the ship projects
cannot proceed. After all, governments have killed the shipbuilding industry in this country
before -- after the two world wars and after the navy frigate program ended in the 1990s. There
are no guarantees in politics, and neither the Liberals nor the NDP seem high on defence
spending for anything other than peacekeeping.
We need good jobs for Canadians if we are not to be only hewers of wood and shippers of oil.
We need a navy and a coast guard to protect our waters and people and advance our national
interests at home and abroad. But we also need good management of the national finances, and
the shipbuilding program seems designed to cost the earth in its efforts to build ships and create
jobs.
Interests collide, and if parsimonious voters cry halt, as they will, if an incoming government
scraps the building programs, as it will, then Canadian national security will be jeopardized and
jobs lost. That hurts us all; that helps no one. It is time to take a step back, reappraise the
National Shipbuilding Strategy and get good ships built abroad for much less money. We need
the ships; we need the jobs at home to complete and maintain them; and we need a defence
program that won't be so costly it jeopardizes public support for the navy, the Canadian Forces,
and the coast guard.
One final point: The United States has national interests, too. If Canada can't or won't protect its
own waters, the U.S. must.
J.L. Granatstein is a distinguished fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute.
Back to Top
Section: News
Byline: David Pugliese
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Headline: DND's Nortel refit under review; Only $1.3M of the $790M budgeted for move to
campus has been spent
Page: A1 / Front
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Work by the federal government to prepare the former Nortel campus for the Department of
National Defence appears stalled, with only about $1.3 million of an estimated $790 million refit
budget spent so far.
The federal government took ownership of the site in December 2010 with a plan to move the
DND into the complex by 2015.
But Public Works says it can no longer provide information as to when any federal department
will occupy the buildings, leading some critics to question whether the Nortel project is now
adrift.
The Conservative government has earmarked almost $1 billion for its plan to move military
personnel and DND staff to the former Nortel campus at 3500 Carling Ave. That includes $208
million to buy the property, with an additional $790 million to be spent to renovate the buildings
for DND's needs, according to a presentation made to the Senate by Treasury Board officials.
The cost to prepare the site involves everything from creating new offices to installing secure
computer networks.
But in response to questions from the Citizen, Public Works confirmed that only $1.36 million
had been spent so far, with that going for work on roofs, refit work on mechanical rooms, air
handling units, humidity controls and a cooling tower.
Public Works noted that plans for the renovation and federal occupancy of the Carling campus
are under review. That review is looking into the costs to ensure they are in the best interests of
the taxpayer and government, the department noted.
“While this review is ongoing, and until decisions are taken, we are not in a position to provide
specifics regarding overall federal relocation costs and a future occupancy time frame,” noted an
email from Public Works official Sébastien Bois.
DND originally hoped to move into the site in 2015. That date was revised in 2012, with the
department then noting that occupancy would occur “within five years.”
Several months ago, in response to an Access to Information request, Public Works
acknowledged it had compiled an extensive number of documents related to the option of
moving other departments into the campus instead of DND. It has not disclosed what those
departments might be.
Cabinet has yet to approve DND's move into the campus.
But NDP defence critic Jack Harris said the move should be cancelled. He noted that DND is
facing extensive budget cuts and as a result has been laying off workers ranging from kitchen
staff to mechanics, as well as closing down facilities in parts of the country.
“It doesn't seem to make sense for the government to spend $790 million on renovations at
Nortel when the department is having to deal with cuts everywhere else,” said Harris. He said the
federal government could sell the Nortel campus to private developers and likely make a profit.
Others have also questioned the move at a time of cost-cutting, particularly because DND will
still continue to occupy key buildings in Ottawa such as its main headquarters, the MajorGeneral George R. Pearkes Building on Colonel By Drive, as well as its facility on Star Top
Road. DND's presence in the Louis St. Laurent building, the National Printing Bureau building
and the Hotel de Ville building in Gatineau will also continue.
After hearing the Treasury Board estimate for refitting the Nortel campus for DND during a
Senate meeting in February 2011, Liberal Sen. Pierrette Ringuette raised concerns about whether
the proposal made economic sense. “With the refurbishing costs, the move, the IT, the security,
etc., etc., the estimate is almost $1 billion,” she pointed out to fellow senators. “How can we
justify this?” Some DND employees and Canadian Forces personnel have also voiced concern
over the move, pointing out that many live in Orléans and the commute would be too long. A
June 2011 briefing note for then-DND deputy minister Robert Fonberg described the Carling
campus as a “relatively remote location.”
Liberal MPP Phil McNeely also challenged the Nortel move, filing a complaint with the
Commissioner of Official Languages. McNeely argued that the relocation of department and
military staff would hurt the francophone community in Ottawa's east end and deal Orléans a
serious economic blow.
But in July, the office of Language Commissioner Graham Fraser determined the complaint did
not meet the criteria to be investigated.
The campus consists of about 28 hectares that was owned by Nortel and 120 hectares leased
from the National Capital Commission.
Back to Top
Section: News
Byline: Michael Gorman
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: Delays frustrate veterans, groups
Page: A9
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Government resources for dealing with past and present military personnel are so strapped that
employees are recommending alternative courses of action for people seeking information.
Megan Young of Springhill became ill while doing her basic training in November 2010. She
said she developed respiratory problems that became so bad she had trouble walking outside
without wheezing. In September, she was medically released.
As she navigates the Veterans Affairs Canada system in an attempt to access disability services,
Young needs her military medical file. Following a request in September for the documents,
Young received an email Monday from Defence Department staff suggesting it could take up to
six months to process her request.
“Our capacity to fill these informal requests has recently diminished due to the government-wide
efforts to balance the budget,” reads the email.
“As a result, we are recommending all members instead resubmit through the formal method via
DAIP (Director Access to Information and Privacy).”
Young was informed that more focused requests for one to five items could be processed more
quickly, but that doesn't do much for her.
“I need my release medical so I can apply for health benefits,” she said. “For me to have my
Veterans Affairs claim processed any further with my doctor, I need the full medical file so she
can see all the specialists' reports, everything from when I was in there.” Sackville-Eastern Shore
MP Peter Stoffer, the NDP's veterans affairs critic, said his experience is front-line staff are just
as frustrated with the delays.
“They know the situation, they know what they're supposed to do, they know what he needs or
she needs, and they can't do it because their hands are tied.”
Young is staying with her parents in Nova Scotia and plans to return to school next year.
Back to Top
Section: Canada
Byline: Don Butler
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
 Sean Kilpat Rick, The Canadian Press / Canada's Veterans Ombudsman Guy Parent, middle,
attends the Ceremony of Remembrance in the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill Monday.
Headline: Most veterans don't know about ombudsman's office; Only 7% could name body
Page: A3
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Awareness of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman and what it does among its client group is
low, according to a survey done for Ombudsman Guy Parent's office.
That's a key finding of the Corporate Research Associates survey of 801 clients of Veterans
Affairs Canada (VAC), the first done to assess awareness of the six-year-old ombudsman's office
among those it was created to assist.
Though three-quarters of those surveyed knew there was an office that works to ensure that
veterans, serving members of the Canadian Forces and the RCMP, and other VAC clients receive
fair treatment, only seven per cent could name the office unprompted.
When told its name, a further 40 per cent said they had heard of the office. But 53 per cent were
unaware of it even then, the survey report says.
Among those who had heard of the ombudsman's office, barely one in three said they were at all
familiar with it or the services it offers.
The report recommends that Parent make “concerted efforts” to increase VAC client awareness
of the office's existence and services.
“There is considerable opportunity to increase awareness of the office, especially in terms of the
ability to identify the office without prompting,” it says. “While not all VAC clients will need to
avail of the office's services, they should still be aware of its existence and of the services it
offers.”
Gary Walbourne, the deputy ombudsman, said in an interview Monday he was surprised by the
relatively low awareness of the office. “I'd like to see the numbers much, much higher than that,”
he said.
Though Parent's office posted the consultant's report on its website only last week, it received it
about two months ago and has already taken steps to raise awareness of its activities. It has
tweaked its social media strategy, Walbourne said, and has already seen a sharp increase in visits
to its website.
It also plans more outreach by telephone - the preferred means of communication of 65 per cent
of the VAC clients surveyed. Even among that group, however, social media use and digital
communications are on the rise, said Walbourne, who also pointed out that VAC clients - the
group surveyed in the study - make up only 200,000 of the 700,000 veterans in Canada.
The Conservative government created the veterans ombudsman's office in 2007, appointing Pat
Stogran, a retired Canadian Forces colonel, as the first ombudsman. Over time, Stogran became a
vocal critic of the government's treatment of veterans and, in particular, the New Veterans
Charter it enacted. He was not reappointed when his three-year term expired in November 2010.
Parent, who was Stogran's director of investigations, was appointed three years ago to a five-year
term. His style has been lower-key, a fact that Walbourne conceded may have contributed to the
unexpectedly low level of awareness.
But Parent is committed to an evidence-based approach, Walbourne said, and ensures that his
reports - like his critique of the New Veterans Charter last month - are based on solid research,
making it harder for the government to dismiss them.
Brian Forbes, chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations, which represents about
60 veterans groups, lauded the work done by Parent since becoming ombudsman. “I think his
office has gained a fair bit of prominence over the last few years,” said Forbes, who sits on the
ombudsman's advisory committee. “They've done excellent studies on all sorts of areas that
affect veterans.”
Parent's recent study of the New Veterans Charter “demonstrates beyond any reasonable doubt
the shortcomings in the charter,” Forbes said. “He's got quite a damning indictment of the
government's lack of action on that front, and we support that.”
The survey found that only a small minority of VAC clients has had contact with the
ombudsman's office, though three in 10 expect to contact it at some future point. Overall, 70 per
cent said they've never had any need to get in touch with the office. The good news. the survey
report says, is that the assessment of the ombudsman's office by those who are aware of it and
able to offer an opinion was “overwhelmingly positive.” The survey, conducted in May and
June, has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com twitter.com/ButlerDon
Back to Top
Section: Windsor & Region
Byline: Doug Schmidt
Outlet: Windsor Star
Illustrations:
 Nick Brancaccio, The Windsor Star / Military veterans Ralph Mayville, left, and Bernie Kelly
attended city council chambers Monday along with about 20 other veterans to show their
displeasure with the closing of the local Veterans Affairs office. Mayville, 92, was a member of
the joint U.S. and Canadian special forces unitserving behind enemy lines during the Second
World War. Kelly served during the Cuban missile crisis.
Headline: City council joins veterans in protesting office closures
Page: A3
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Source: The Windsor Star
Windsor has joined the growing number of Canadian municipalities protesting Ottawa's costsaving decision to close Veterans Affairs district offices.
Windsor's downtown Veterans Affairs office, which lost its Canadian Forces recruitment
function in February, is slated to close sometime before February. London will pick up
responsibility for services provided at the Veterans Affairs office in Windsor, one of nine such
district facilities slated for closure across Canada.
“I don't want to travel to London every time I get sick or need something,” said Ralph Mayville,
92, the last Windsor area surviving member of the Second World War's legendary Devil's
Brigade.
“We have young veterans and we have elderly veterans ... they need hands-on help,” said
Windsor's Mike Lepine, a Vietnam War veteran whose father served in Korea and whose
stepfather was in the navy during the Second World War.
“We're not going to let them take away from those who gave their all ... and those who are still
giving their all,” Lepine said at a protest rally outside city hall Monday night.
About 25 area veterans, some whose chests were weighed down by rows of medals awarded for
service to their country, later filed into council chambers. Council unanimously approved a
motion by Ward 2 Coun. Ron Jones to have the city write the federal government to urge that the
district offices remain open.
“I think the city has to stand by its veterans,” said Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac, whose son is
serving in the military overseas.
Earlier this year, a spokesman for the minister said Veterans Affairs matters will be handled by
the far more numerous Service Canada offices. But groups representing veterans argue Service
Canada employees can't possibly duplicate the services currently provided by dedicated
Veterans' Affairs workers.
“They are vulnerable people, the old and the young, and they put their lives on the line,” said
Windsor's Theresa Charbonneau, who joined the protest. Her son Cpl. Andrew Grenon was
killed in Afghanistan in 2008. “It's because of veterans that we have what we have,” she said.
Charbonneau said she recognizes Ottawa has to find areas to save tax dollars, “but our veterans
should be the last.”
According to the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Windsor closure would leave more than
2,600 current clients - and many more in the future - without local face-toface services.
“They're asking our veterans in their 80s and 90s to travel to London ... or utilize emails to
communicate with them,” said Jones. “They help us out when we need the help - we deserve our
own office,” said Mayville. “Strangers don't know you, they don't know what you did.”
dschmidt@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @schmidtcity
Back to Top
Section: National News
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Headline: Wounded soldier protests federal cuts to Veterans Affairs
Page: A6
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
A military veteran who suffered multiple injuries when his vehicle rolled over in Afghanistan
says the Canadian government is failing former soldiers by not providing the care they need.
Shane Jones says he has been assigned more than three Veterans Affairs case workers since June
and has had about eight since he was medically released from the Forces in 2008.
The 38-year-old father of three said that has impeded his treatment for post-traumatic stress
disorder and a traumatic brain injury he sustained when his vehicle rolled over in 2005.
He said he wanted to speak out at a news conference on Monday in Halifax because he knows of
many injured veterans who are struggling with bureaucratic red tape and regular upheaval in
their care.
``There's no way they're ever going to get better if every couple of months they're getting a new
case manager, which basically means they have to start at ground zero,'' he said. ``It's been six or
seven years since my accident ... but I'm no further ahead today, treatment and recovery-wise,
than when I first got off that plane.''
Mr. Jones said he suffered a skull fracture, swollen brain and back injuries when the light
armoured vehicle he was in rolled over as the result of an attempted suicide bombing, killing one
of the men inside.
He wants the federal government to stop planned cutbacks at Veterans Affairs and to beef up
services for injured vets.
``The thing that's making me come forward is that you're going to cut back all these people and
with the people you have now, you can't even manage to do your job properly,'' he said. ``It's
been horrible.''
A spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino said in an e-mail that the minister has
asked ``to reach out to see what additional support and assistance can be provided to Corporal
Jones and his family.''
He insisted services standards would not change as a result of the cuts.
Sylvain Chicoine, veterans affairs deputy critic for the federal NDP, said Ottawa's plan to cut
hundreds of jobs at the department will be sharply felt by veterans.
``Many of our veterans require one-on-one assistance that cannot be met through a website,
mobile app, or toll-free number,'' he said in a statement. ``New Democrats call on the federal
government to reverse these cuts immediately and ensure veterans and their families receive the
care they deserve.''
Veterans Affairs Canada said in June that it was cutting almost 300 jobs, many of them in
Charlottetown, as part of an overhaul that will go on until 2015.
Back to Top
Section: Front
Byline: Michael Gorman
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Illustrations:
 Afghanistan veteran Shane Jones and his wife Veronica speak with the media at MP Peter
Stoffer's office in Fall River on Monday about his problems receiving assistance from Veterans
Affairs Canada.
 RYAN TAPLIN Staff
Headline: One vet's war for care; Family: Health needs not met
Page: A1
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Shane Jones came back from Afghanistan in 2008, but he feels like he's still at war.
“We go overseas, we fight for our country, we do what we're asked, and when we come home it's
like we've got to start another war all over again just to get the medical help that we need.”
The Eastern Passage man and his wife were in Sackville-Eastern Shore MP Peter Stoffer's office
Monday to discuss the litany of challenges Jones has faced trying to get support from Veterans
Affairs Canada. Jones suffered a severe brain injury in 2005 during a light armoured vehicle
rollover. He also has post-traumatic stress.
Since his release, he's had seven or eight caseworkers, including three since June. Each time a
new person is assigned, the family must start over, recounting their story instead of getting the
help they need.
“It's so hard to take the steps to admit that you have a problem, to open yourself up and to allow
the help to come in,” said Jones.
“How am I supposed to get better if I don't know who my doctor is from one day to the next, if I
don't know who my caseworker is from one day to the next?
“My kids don't know from day to day which dad they're going to get - is he going to be happy, is
he going to be mad, is he going to be on his own? It's too much bullshit.”
Veronica Jones said it wasn't until 2012, after her pleading, that someone came to the house to
assess her husband.
The government is failing veterans, she said.
“My family has suffered for years in silence. It's been hell, and it's a fight constantly and it's
leaving my husband in a constant state of war.”
The situation is “completely unacceptable” and one that happens far too often, said Stoffer.
“This is a story that affects literally thousands of veterans and their families from right across the
country.”
Carl Gannon Jr., president of Local 80041 of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, said
workers have “helplessly watched” as their department has been “systematically disembodied
limb by limb.”
“We used to be a well-oiled machine. We now lack the structure to even be relevant or operate
efficiently.”
Stress is taking its toll on employees, and that's affecting their ability to serve veterans, said
Gannon. Austerity measures weren't supposed to affect client services, but Gannon said services
across the country are diminishing.
“We are right now, as a department, failing the veterans. We are not doing what we've been
mandated to do,” he said.
“Ten-person jobs are being done by two people.”
Stoffer said the government doesn't understand the human impacts of the cuts. He called on the
government to reverse the cuts, which he said have resulted in a 50 per cent personnel reduction
to the department.
“It is the largest personnel cut in any department in the country.” People like Jones need support,
and they need it right away, he said.
Jones scoffed at claims by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, made as recently as Friday, that the
government is providing troops and veterans with the supports they need.
“I think that's just a bald-faced lie,” he said.
“He's taken everything away from us. Why am I begging for help?”
Jones said he knew what he was getting into when he signed up, but he also thought the
government would take care of him and his family when he returned home.
He had a dire warning for what will come without changes and suggested it could also hurt the
ability to recruit.
“If you don't start taking care of (veterans), you're going to start losing them more and more
every single day. It's not to the war, it's to the war that they have inside their head.”
A statement from the office of Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino said the minister has
directed officials to look into Jones's case “to see what additional support and assistance can be
provided” to Jones and his family.
The statement said the department remains committed to providing home visits from nurses and
caseworkers for veterans who need them, and “the same high-quality service” to which veterans
are accustomed would continue despite fewer Veterans Affairs offices.
Back to Top
Section: News
Byline: Murray Brewster The Canadian Press
Outlet: Toronto Star
Headline: Millions in Last Post burial fund remain unspent; Despite budget increase, veterans
eligibility still excludes modern-day soldiers
Page: A10
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Despite changes made last spring to a federal fund meant to give impoverished veterans a
dignified burial, the agency is expected to spend less than a third of what it was allocated in the
last budget.
A new report by the parliamentary budget office estimates that only $18.4 million of the $65
million set aside for the Last Post Fund, which is overseen by Veterans Affairs, will actually be
handed out.
The government was put in an embarrassing position last year when it was revealed that the fund
had rejected 67 per cent of the requests put before it in the previous five years.
The last federal budget increased the amount of money available for funeral expenses, but did
not loosen the eligibility criteria, which have not been revised in decades.
The rules essentially exclude many modern-day soldiers who served during the Cold War and in
Afghanistan, and impose a means test that says a qualifying veteran's annual income must have
been less than $12,010 per year.
Since the program is geared toward a dwindling population of Second World War and Korean
veterans, the spending will be much less than what has been budgeted.
The budget office estimates the changes will mean an incremental bump this year of $3.6 million
for the fund. It will plateau the following year and begin to decline.
“A slight increase in the number of projected mortalities is anticipated to increase the
incremental costs to the Last Post Fund in 2014-15, followed by a steady decline in veteran
mortalities and total costs to the fund,” said the report, which was prepared at the request of the
Liberals.
The fund has faced an increasing number of requests to bury poor ex-soldiers who don't qualify
under existing regulations and it took to private fundraising in order to help in some cases.
Since it began canvassing for donations two years ago, the fund has used $93,000 to bury 29
ineligible vets.
In a fundraising letter, retired lieutenant-general Louis Cuppens, a past president of the fund,
pointed out that Corrections Canada pays for the funerals and grave markers of dead inmates.
“A veteran is not a convict and deserves our gratitude,” wrote Cuppens.
Often, the fund gets requests from municipalities looking to bury homeless veterans. In its recent
throne speech, the Harper government promised to pay closer attention to ex-soldiers who end up
on the streets.
Before the changes last spring, the federal government only contributed $3,600 toward the
funerals of destitute ex-soldiers, substantially less than what some social services departments
pay for burials of the homeless and those on welfare.
The current entitlement can run up to $7,376, depending on a veteran's income. Other expenses,
including the provision of a casket or urn, ceremonial services, death notices and transportation
costs, also became eligible for reimbursement, according to the new report.
Joshua Zanin, a spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, said 57 per cent of
applicants will qualify for the maximum benefit under the program.
Back to Top
Section: Opinion
Byline: Peter Stoffer and Sylvain Chicoine
Outlet: Windsor Star
Headline: Harper does not care for veterans
Page: A4
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Source: The Windsor Star
Last month, Veterans Ombudsman Guy Parent identified serious shortcoming in the supports
available to injured veterans and their families. In his words: “We either deal with these issues
now or we are going to have to deal with the cost later.” We could not agree more.
That is why we were disappointed to hear Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino say that with
respect to meeting the needs of veterans' and their families, his government “is also being
mindful of our responsibility to the Canadian taxpayer.”
This Conservative government spent $35 million on legal fees and six years fighting Dennis
Manuge and injured veterans in court over an unjust clawback to their disability pensions. The
federal government is now fighting veterans in two more court battles - injured RCMP veterans
over disability clawbacks and injured Afghanistan veterans over the level of financial support
under the New Veterans Charter.
As a further affront to veterans, the Harper government plans to close nine Veterans Affairs
offices in communities like Windsor by 2015 as a cost-cutting measure. This will force veterans
to travel long distances to other cities for service or rely on impersonal website, phone apps, and
call centres.
This type of impersonal service is a huge barrier for many disabled veterans.
We know that Canadian taxpayers support better benefits and services for veterans and their
families.
They want to ensure that veterans are treated with dignity and respect and have access to hearing
aids, wheelchairs, home care, long-term care, career transition support, financial support and
retirement security.
They do not want this Conservative government to balance the books on the backs of veterans
and their families.
It is time that this government restore its sacred obligation to veterans and their families and
make immediate improvements in benefits and support.
Peter Stoffer
Official Opposition Critic for Veterans Affairs
Sylvain Chicoine
Deputy Opposition Critic for Veterans Affairs, Ottawa.
Back to Top
Section: News
Lead: A unique memorial, forged from the wreckage of a tank that hit an improvised explosive
device in Afghanistan, will be centre ice at Friday's Kingston Frontenacs' Ontario Hockey
League game at the Rogers K-Rock Centre.
Headline: Centre of attention
Page: 1
Byline: MICHAEL LEA, THE WHIG-STANDARD
Outlet: The Kingston Whig-Standard
Illustrations:
 MICHAEL LEA TheWhig-Standard Sgt. Greg Huizinga, a member of the team that created the
monument, at centre, to remember Canadian military personnel killed in Afghanistan, talks about
the project during a new conference at the Rogers K-Rock Centre on Monday morning that also
unveiled the camouflaged jerseys the Kingston Frontenacs will wear Friday night. At left is
Warrant Officer Renay Groves, leader of the monument team.
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
A unique memorial, forged from the wreckage of a tank that hit an improvised explosive device
in Afghanistan, will be centre ice at Friday's Kingston Frontenacs' Ontario Hockey League game
at the Rogers K-Rock Centre.
The event will be part of the hockey team's desire to honour the country's soldiers in advance of
Remembrance Day on Monday. Also part of the initiative are the special camouflage-patterned
jerseys the players will wear during the entire game.
The memorial, on which poppies taken from the last remembrance ceremony in Kandahar in
2011 have been placed, was a project taken on by Warrant Officer Renay Groves, from 21
Electronic Warfare Regiment on Canadian Forces Base Kingston. Each poppy represented a
Canadian serviceman or woman who died in Afghanistan.
Handed the poppies for safekeeping by Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance, the Canadian commander in
Afghanistan, Groves was given simple instructions for such an important task.
“You will know what to do with these,” said the general.
“I watched him lay every one of these poppies on the plaques of our fallen, all 161,” said Groves.
“He cried the whole way through that. There wasn't a dry eye on that last ceremony in
Kandahar.”
It was a huge responsibility for Groves.
“It was overwhelming to say the least,” she remembered. “But I knew in my heart I would do
right by these poppies.”
Returning to 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment in Kingston, she noticed the end of the
Afghanistan mission was having a definite effect on the morale of the troops.
To many it was an unfinished job. Others had trained hard for their upcoming deployment, only
to learn they wouldn't be going.
“Just like taking hockey away from a player, it was tough,” she said.
“I've seen them mourn for our fallen. I've seen them withdraw and I've seen them disappointed
because they weren't going back. It wasn't a good time in the regiment.”
She tried to find soldiers who needed a new mission that involved Afghanistan.
“I picked soldiers who were suffering as a result of coming out of Afghanistan and losing
comrades.
“I picked soldiers who needed to make that connection to our soldiers who had gone over, our
younger generation, the ones who would carry Afghanistan and the memory of 161 soldiers
forward.”
She put together a team to create a monument out of the poppies she had brought back.
“From the beginning, they knew that the mission before them was as serious as any mission they
would take on.”
Their finished project will be front and centre this Friday at the Frontenacs' game.
It is topped by a maple leaf carved out of the back deck of the destroyed tank, the face still
showing the damage from the explosion.
“We wanted to preserve this in as much of its original state as possible so you can recognize the
reality of it and where it came from,” explained Sgt. Greg Huizinga, second-in-command of the
team.
The maple leaf sits on a wheel support and an engine hatch, one handle still wrecked from the
blast.
A brass 105 mm shell casing carries names of 161 fallen engraved on it.
The Kandahar poppies, now bronzed, circle the memorial.
The whole monument rests on a tank wheel.
Huizinga said the memorial is circular to represent how Canadian soldiers surround their nation
to protect it.
The poppies were placed at random to represent the randomness of the deaths and the entire
monument rotates so that no part of it is more prominent than any other.
“No sacrifice from any of our soldiers is greater than another,” explained Huizinga.
“This memorial is built out of what is real,” said Groves.
She said it is important that the memorial was “for the soldiers, by the soldiers.”
It will constantly be on the move from base to base, she promised, and will never spend long
periods of time in Ottawa.
“It will be in the hands of our soldiers all of the time.”
It will spend most of its time in those Canadian bases that lost the most soldiers in Afghanistan.
Its first stop will be on Remembrance Day in Petawawa.
Before it leaves, Lucas Dawe, son of Capt. Matthew Dawe, who was killed in Afghanistan, will
place a new poppy on the memorial. When it arrives at Petawawa, the monument will be
received by Col. Peter Dawe, Matthew's brother.
Justin Chenier, executive director of business operations for the Frontenacs, said Kingston's
military and hockey communities both have roots that run deep and are closely connected.
He said the Frontenacs have a tradition of honouring Canada's military through special games,
and a new business plan is taking that initiative even further.
There will be two games to show support for the Canadian Forces, he said.
This Friday's game against Kitchener will be the Remembrance Day game, remembering those
who have made the ultimate sacrifice, while a game against Belleville on Friday, Feb. 28, will
serve as a military family appreciation game.
After the February game, the special camouflaged jerseys will be auctioned off and the proceeds
donated to the Kingston Military Family Resource Centre.
The hockey club has also come up with a line of military souvenirs and 20% of the net proceeds
will go to the resource centre.
This week's game will also kick off a seats-for-soldiers program, promoted by Kingston realtor
John Price, in which businesses or people can buy tickets for soldiers for a Frontenacs game.
The war in Afghanistan and its cost in lives has put a more modern face on combat for
Canadians, Chenier said.
“A dozen years ago, we had to look to elders for a connection to the soldiers that we remember.
Now we only have to look up our street or look at our neighbours.”
Col. Francois Chagnon, base commander at CFB Kingston, said this is his fourth posting in the
city “and I always knew that Kingston is a huge supporter of its military community.”
“I have travelled 30 years in the army, I travelled the country quite extensively. Nowhere does a
city support its military like Kingston.”
He said being associated with the Frontenacs and their fundraising efforts for the military family
resource centre “is the cherry on top of the sundae.”
Back to Top
Section: Windsor & Region
Byline: Claire Brownell
Outlet: Windsor Star
Illustrations:
 / Bennett says it's only a matter of time before more women enter the military's highest ranks.
Headline: First female admiral reflects on women's military roles
Page: A2
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Source: The Windsor Star
Rear Admiral Jennifer Bennett, Canada's first female admiral, urged people to remember the
Canadians who served in all conflicts and in all roles at a luncheon hosted by the Rotary Club
1918 Monday.
At the Caboto Club, Bennett told the stories of Canadians who served and died in Afghanistan
and a variety of peace missions in addition to the First and Second World Wars, the traditional
focus of Remembrance Day. She also talked about the role women have played throughout
Canada's military history.
“When we think of veterans and service members, the image that most often comes to mind is
that of a man. But women have played an essential role in all of the armed conflicts in which
Canada has taken part for more than a century,” she said. “Initially in traditional support roles as
nurses, clerks and communicators, but now fully integrated across all military occupations and in
key leadership positions.”
Bennett is one of those women who has taken up a key leadership position. Bennett is Canada's
chief of reserves and cadets and is also the national champion for women in defence.
There's still a scarcity of women in the military's highest leadership positions - Bennett is still the
only Canadian woman to ever achieve the rank of admiral. But she said she doesn't think that
will be true for long.
“I'm the only one serving at this time, but I'm sure there are lots behind me. There's lots of
potential,” she said.
Bennett said she thinks flexible human resources policies for service people who want to take
leaves will help the military attract and retain more women. She also said it's important for
people in Canada and abroad to have visible female role models.
“Think of how inspiring it has been for Afghan girls to see Canadian women in uniform, leading
a combat infantry company, conducting patrols, driving and maintaining vehicles or providing
medical care,” she said.
Back to Top
Section: National News
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Byline: STEVEN CHASE
Headline: NHL must address violence, serious injuries, Harper says
Page: A13
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Stephen Harper says he doesn't like fighting as a strategy in professional hockey, an opinion the
Prime Minister is offering up as he takes a break from the hard-knuckle sport of politics to
promote his new book on the early decades of the game.
Ottawa may have been in an uproar over the Senate expenses scandal, but Mr. Harper made time
to tout A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey, which launches
in stores Tuesday. It chronicles the transformation of hockey from an amateur sport into a
professional sport.
The Conservative Leader, who has been dogged by the expenses scandal for the last few weeks,
conducted a radio interview Monday with Sportsnet 590 in Toronto. Mr. Harper, whose style of
politics includes never shying away from a fight, was asked if he thought fisticuffs should be
banned from the game.
``Hockey has been violent from Day One,'' he said. ``I'm sort of torn on that. ... I don't watch
hockey for the fights. It wouldn't bother me if we didn't have fights.''
He said hockey remains his favourite sport and he feels it's played today as well as it's ever been
played. But the Prime Minister said the opportunities for injuries today concern him.
``I do worry about with the speed, the size of the players, the new equipment, I do worry about
not just the violence but the very serious injuries we're seeing,'' he said. ``I do think the NHL and
others have some work to do to really address that problem.''
He's not a fan of brawling, however. ``I don't like fighting as a strategy. I actually hate it as a
strategy. But the fact that it happens once in awhile in a tough sport is not a surprise.''
Mr. Harper said the writing offered him a break from the daily grind of politics and proceeded
slowly. He began researching and writing as a diversion from politcs when he was leader of the
Opposition - and the work amounted to about 15 minutes a day for nine years. ``That's not quite
accurate but it gives you a sense of it,'' he said.
He's a member of the Society for International Hockey Research and his speciality is pre-First
World War hockey and early professional play, when the game Canadians know now took shape.
He said the game as it was played in Toronto in the early years of professional teams was very
different. ``Fans would have trouble recognizing the game,'' he said, noting it included seven
players on the ice, no substitutions and no forward passing.
All author royalties from the work will go to Canadian military families. Proceeds will be
funnelled through the Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support Services to support the
Military Families Fund, which provides emergency financial assistance.
Back to Top
Section: Canada
Byline: Mark Kennedy
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
 CNW Group, Simon And Schuster Canada / Stephen Harper, whose new book is shown above
left, holds a hockey stick from the 1907 Stanley Cup final during a research visit to the Hockey
Hall of Fame in Toronto in 2011.
Headline: PM's book sheds light on early hockey; Harper wrote as a diversion from politics
Page: A6
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
Source: Postmedia News
For years, he pecked away at writing late into the evening - about 15 minutes, each day - before
he went to bed at 24 Sussex Drive.
On long plane trips in Canada or as he returned home from international summits, he would pull
out a battered old leather briefcase full of files on the topic, open his laptop, and dive into his
work.
On Tuesday, the fruits of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's labour will see the light of day - with
the publication of a book, A Great Game, about the early origins of hockey.
Harper is a hockey fanatic who played the game as a teen in Toronto (though he admits, not
terribly well) and later spent many hours in Ottawa arenas watching his son, Ben, play.
He's also a self-confessed hockey historian, a member of the Society for International Hockey
Research. And now he's done something unusual for a sitting prime minister: He's become an
author.
“I think of myself as a decent writer,” Harper said Monday in an interview with Bob McCown of
Prime Time Sports. “But I'm a bit of a slow writer.”
In part that's because Harper has a day job. It's also because he knows that day job - prime
minister of Canada - carries a lot of attention with it. He didn't want to get anything wrong, so he
said he was meticulous in his research. “It was a laborious process.”
The book examines the early years of hockey shortly after the dawn of the 20th century. Harper
initially set out to study Toronto's hockey squad around 1906, and then his research broadened
out into the transformation of hockey from an amateur to a professional sport.
“The game, certainly from the period I studied, has changed immensely,” Harper told McCown.
In his book, Harper cites some examples of how the game was played differently: Each team had
seven players (not six) on the ice; there was no substitute and players were expected to play hurt;
there were no blue lines and red lines on the ice surface; there was no forward passing; the goalie
was not permitted to fall or kneel to block a shot.
In 2003, Harper was Opposition leader and was approached to write a book about politics. He
began doing a bit of that in the evening, but grew fatigued of how his entire day was consumed
with politics.
And so in 2004 he changed his topic to hockey.
“I thought what I really needed is a diversion ... I found it to be very relaxing.”
Dimitri Soudas, Harper's former director of communications, recalled Monday how his boss set
aside time every evening at home to work on the project, and how he could work for hours on
long plane rides if his other duties for the day were done. Soudas said Harper, as a hockey
historian, never intended to produce a volume that would appeal to a mass market.
The profits will be donated to the Military Families Fund, which provides emergency financial
assistance to military families.
In Monday's radio interview, Harper said hockey is still his favourite sport and believes it is
“played as well today as it's ever been played.”
On the contentious subject of hockey violence, he cautioned that “hockey has been violent from
day one” and that he was shocked to learn that during the period he studied, players actually used
their sticks as clubs when they fought.
“I don't watch hockey for the fights. It wouldn't bother me if we don't have fights.”
Back to Top
Section: Sports
Byline: Rosie DiManno
Outlet: Toronto Star
Illustrations:
 Eight years in the writing, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's A Great Game hits the shelves on
Tuesday. Stephen Harper appears to have as much fun writing about the game of hockey as he
does playing it. CHRIS WATTIE/REUTERS FILE
Headline: Harper on his game with new book; Prime Minister's hockey tome
readable,entertaining look at early days of sport
Page: S1
Date: Tuesday 05 November 2013
It took Victor Hugo 17 years to write Les Miserables. Jane Austen spent 16 years rewriting and
polishing Pride and Prejudice. J.K. Rowling, single mom on welfare, banged away at an old
typewriter for seven years to finish the first of her Harry Potter novels.
So perhaps not too much emphasis should be placed on the lengthy gestation period - eight years
- required for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to whelp his spanking new literary issue: A Great
Game: The Forgotten Leafs &The Rise of Professional Hockey.
Actually, as an author, that would be Stephen J. Harper, since he appears to have recovered a
middle-name initial to distinguish the writer from the politician.
Unlike the aforementioned titles, A Great Game isn't fiction, not even historical fiction, genres
that demand a more creative mind - which few will ever accuse square-head Harper of
possessing. But it is a surprisingly readable and entertaining historical exposition on the early
organizational days of Canada's most beloved sport.
(As an aside, why must writers who undertake seriously themed hockey tomes always put
“Game” in the title? Ken Dryden gave us his seminal The Game; Peter Gzowski The Game of
Our Lives. OK, we get it already. It's not just a game, it's the GAME. But it all gets pretty
pedantically confusing.)
A Great Game, 289 pages excluding fulsome footnotes and statistical addendums, hits the
shelves Tuesday. Excerpts have already appeared in newspapers. Thus far, publisher Simon
&Schuster has given no indication whether the PM will embark on a promotional tour, though
Harper has already granted one interview to Maclean's. Given the immense curiosity over this
quirky project, Harper probably doesn't need to hit the exhausting book tour road for 7 a.m. radio
chats and local store signings. Without doing any of the donkey book-thumping work, chances
are pretty good that thousands of Canadians will find A Great Game in their Christmas stockings.
Instant bestseller status - all royalties going to the Canadian Forces Personnel and Family
Support Services.
There are privileges that come with being a PM-cum-first-time-author.
While the likes of J.F. Kennedy got into the literary catalogue by writing about Profiles in
Courage, Harper has gone sweetly populist, turning his attentions to an examination of hockey
leagues in their salad days. He's said he plugged away at the manuscript on planes and late in the
evening. It's impossible to read the result without imagining Harper in his cardigan, hunched
over his desk at 24 Sussex Dr., after the kids have gone to bed and the state of the nation has
been retired for another night.
It was clearly a labour of love, though steeped in the arcane details that would undoubtedly
captivate a guy who got his masters in economics from the University of Calgary and has not
really held any job outside of politics. While a bit of a geek on the subject, not unlike the
basement-dwelling sabermatricians who have usurped baseball, Harper - self-described amateur
historian, card-carrying member of the obscure Society of International Hockey Research - is
also an unreconstructed sentimentalist about hockey. He romances the game, focusing on its
sepia-toned infancy.
The future PM, who grew up playing hockey in Toronto - his Leaside Lions photo now hangs in
that arena - has spent his adult life in Calgary and Ottawa. That gives him first-hand rooting
exposure to three of Canada's seven NHL franchises. He's always been careful not to reveal
where his hockey heart truly lies but the answer would seem evident in this book, which is
primarily a homage to two of Toronto's earliest teams: the Toronto Professionals of 1908 and the
Toronto Blue Shirts of 1914.
Working from archival material, Harper is obviously enjoying himself immensely recalling both
that era in the city's history and the chaotic business of hockey surrounding those two now
largely forgotten franchises.
He limns the culture of early 20th-century hockey, when the game was oftentimes played in old
streetcar barns turned into rinks; how the sport in its vintage organizational days transected with
powerful media barons in Toronto - and media at that time meant newspapers, of which there
were seven locally - with the Star and Telegram most emphatically opposed to professionalizing
the sport by paying the players; and the fierce battle to survive economically among rival
leagues.
It's a historical perspective that has received scant attention among all the books devoted to
hockey. One interesting detail Harper uncovers is that the new National Hockey Association
franchise awarded to a Toronto consortium of lacrosse executives - for the modest price of
$2,000 - was a relocated descendant of the original team from Montreal called les Canadiens,
and renamed the Blue Shirts.
As Harper writes, that version of hockey would be unrecognizable to today's fans: seven-man
teams (the rover ultimately dropped), no lines on the ice except between goalposts, no icing or
offside, no substitutions - players rotating positions to conserve energy with forwards dropping
back to defence when they tired - and no coaches behind the bench.
The Toronto Professionals - known more familiarly as just the Torontos - were the city's first
unambiguously pro team, winning the 1908 provincial championship and then, widely derided
for it by even Toronto papers, having the nerve to lodge a challenge with the custodians of the
Stanley Cup.
The Torontos, led by star centre Newsy Lalonde, were granted a two-game total-goal series with
the Cup champions Montreal Wanderers, which culminated in a sudden-death match at the
Montreal Arena on March 14, 1908. Harper takes palpable delight slumming as a beat writer in
reconstructing the game:
“At last, with less than two minutes to go in the contest, the Wanderers broke out and carried the
puck down to the Torontos' end. Small took a good, hard shot from the side. The rebound off
Tyner landed in the pool in front of the challengers' net. The defence attempted to clear, but
Stuart managed to poke it in. It was all over, the champs winning 6-4. ... Finishing their third
straight season in possession of the Cup, the Montreal Wanderers would be immortalized as one
of early hockey's great dynasties. The Toronto Professionals, their incredible brush with eternity
terminated by the final bell, would be a mere footnote in the mug's history.”
Now if only Harper could write that game story on a 20-minute deadline, he might have a future
in this game.
Online
Watch a video of current and former Leafs, including Wendel Clark (above), reading an excerpt
from Stephen Harper's book at thestar.com/sports.
Back to Top
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