National News Executive Summary / Sommaire des nouvelles nationales
ADM(PA) / SMA(AP)
April 6, 2013 / le 6 avril 2013
** Il n'y a aucune couverture médiatique francophone pertinente aujourd'hui.
MINISTER / LE MINISTRE
Veterans' Disability Benefits Settlement: Comment
In a letter, Defence Minister Peter MacKay wrote: Our federal Conservative government is committed to
maintaining and improving veterans' benefits and services and we have done just that. We expanded the
Veterans Independence Program, reinstated benefits to Allied veterans and their families, increased the
number of OSI clinics to support veterans suffering from mental health illnesses, provided compensation
for Agent Orange, created the Community War Memorial Program, and established the Veterans
Ombudsman Office. In January, we also came to an agreement in principle in a class action suit
pertaining to veterans' disability benefits. We agreed to an $887.8-million settlement for veteran
beneficiaries, all of which our government is ensuring they receive (HCH A10).
ASSOCIATE MINISTER / MINISTRE ASSOCIÉ
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
CDS / CEM
No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
CANADA IN AFGHANISTAN / LE CANADA EN AFGHANISTAN
War on Terror: Comment
Columnist Simon Kent: Canada is a nation that fights terror. It doesn't export it. The number of Canadian
Forces' fatalities resulting from operations in Afghanistan alone is the largest for any single Canadian
military mission since Korea. A total of 158 Canadian Forces personnel have been killed in the war on
terror since 2002, while RCN warships and RCAF warplanes have worked to help defeat the terrorsupporting regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. Yet this week, Canadians have been both baffled
and then mortified in equal measure to read of the exploits of three young men from London (ON). Now
that the Arab Spring is turning to bitter winter, there are plenty of people who wonder why Canada and its
much-envied passport have suddenly been linked to acts that are anathema to a society built on
tolerance, openness and democratic foundations. Are we part of a small but growing global terror supply
chain? Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says no. Canada isn't losing the battle against homegrown
terrorism and recent examples are exceptions to that rule. Whether or not the three young men from
London may have been radicalized here -- if at all -- it makes sense for Canada to continue to fight terror
wherever it is found. That includes battlefields a long way from home (OSun 19, CSun 15, ESun 15, TSun
15, WSun 9).
PROCUREMENT / APPROVISIONNEMENT
Procurement of Electronic Hardware
The federal government will not be creating a new agency to buy electronic hardware for federal workers,
electing instead to give the job to the IT super-agency it officially created last year. Government
documents posted online Wednesday show that the Conservatives have given Shared Services Canada
the mandate to buy end-user hardware and software for workers in the 43 federal agencies it serves,
along with a handful of parliamentary watchdogs and other federal agencies. In all, Shared Services
Canada will be in charge of buying end-user devices such as laptops and mobile devices, and software,
including security software, for 106 federal organizations. The government spends about $138 million on
software purchases annually and the change to one procurement agency is expected to save the federal
treasury $8.7 million annually starting in the 2014-15 fiscal year. Under the cabinet-approved change, the
end-user procurement unit will move into Shared Services Canada, taking away part of the procurement
responsibilities for Public Works and Government Services Canada, which negotiates bulk purchases of a
variety of goods for government departments, including the Department of National Defence (J. Press:
Ctz A8, RLP A4).
OTHERS / AUTRES
Judge Praises Lawyers in Veterans' Class Action
A Federal Court decision cementing an $887-million settlement in a class action involving thousands of
disabled veterans included high praise for lawyers representing the plaintiffs. In his decision, Justice
Robert Barnes lauded the lawyers - led by Peter Driscoll of McInnes Cooper in Halifax - representing
about 7,500 veterans and their families who saw benefits clawed back for 30 years. Justice Barnes wrote
in his decision dated Thursday: "The certification and liability determinations that provided the impetus for
this settlement resulted from the skilful and tenacious advocacy of class counsel in the context of an
adversarial contest involving equally skilled and tenacious opposing counsel. There is no question that
the high quality of the legal work performed by class counsel led to the favourable liability outcome."
Justice Barnes awarded counsel $35 million, or about four per cent (M. Gorman: HCH A1).
Ballistic Missile Defence Pact: Comment
Sun Media editorial: If North Korea did not have proven nuclear capabilities, the late-night talk show jokes
about Kim Jong-un's cartoonish grandstanding would be a helluva lot funnier. But the weird little dictator
does have the A-bomb, so simply writing off his threats to nuke the United States with ballistic missile
attacks as just another example of his family's delusionist genetics is hardly the way to approach such
megalomania. Sanctioned to the point that most national pride should be sucked dry, a country that can
barely keep its lights on has still managed to have 24 million people worshipping a false god by keeping
them ignorant of the outside world. Bombing them into oblivion, therefore, would be punishing the
oblivious. This is the West's dilemma. There are already muted calls for Prime Minister Harper to reevaluate Canada's decision under Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin to stay out of America's ballistic
missile defence pact (signed by Australia, Japan and South Korea), which might have seemed wise until
North Korea resurrected Dr. Strangelove. Now it is worth considering (TSun 22, OSun 18, CSun 14, ESun
14, WSun 8).
Canadian Special Operations Regiment in Competition
Members of the special operations regiment from Petawawa have placed third in an international
competition that tests the counter-terrorism skills of law enforcement and military units. Two teams from
China, the Snow Leopard Commando unit and a group from China's police academy, took the top two
slots, according to a statement from Jordan's military. The Canadian Special Operations Regiment
placed third during the competition that included events testing skills in hostage rescue, aircraft assault,
building entry and handling casualties. Shooting exercises were also included in the competition held at
the King Abdullah II special operations training centre in Amman March 24-28. The report noted the
Canadian Forces would not comment on the regiment's participation in the competition. But CSOR's
involvement was mentioned in articles in the Jordan Times and Jane's military magazine. The Canadian
Special Operations Regiment team leader was quoted in the Jordan Times as calling the competition
"fun," with the team winning five awards as well as third place in the overall results (D. Pugliese: Ctz A8).
Halifax-based Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC)
A profile noted that with more than 2,700 search and rescue missions last year, the Halifax-based Joint
Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC) is Canada's busiest. Some incidents were minor, resolved with a
minimum of effort while others involved significant risks for the victims of maritime mishaps, accidents and
catastrophes. The joint military and coast guard facility, based in HMC Dockyard, is the focal point of all
aeronautical and maritime SAR activity within its region. The staff tracks distress situations, arranges for
rescue resources and personnel to vessels and aircraft in distress and co-ordinates the efforts of all
responding resources. The area of responsibility is immense, consisting of the lower two-thirds of Baffin
Island, half of Davis Strait, the four Atlantic provinces, and stretches into the North Atlantic halfway to
Europe. It is an area of 4.7 million square kilometres, with over 29,000 kilometres of coastline. Some 80
per cent of the region is covered by water (T. Dunne: HCH A11).
Nuclear Missile Movie Props
The "loaded" U.S. nuclear missiles being shipped around Vancouver Island by train were not real -- just
movie props. In fact, they were used for Gareth Edward's reboot of the Godzilla movie franchise, filmed
on Vancouver Island in late March, just as tensions were on the rise with North Korea. At one point, the
fake nukes were strapped to a train car and appeared to be headed toward the Canadian Forces test
ranges in Nanoose Bay. Godzilla publicist Ernie Malik said the props were likely made in B.C., as the
entire film was expected to be shot in the province, and were used in one scene. Canadian Armed
Forces spokesperson Kevin Carle said the military does not have nuclear weapons, adding that the CAF
has not received any complaints about the props (CP: VSun A5).
Impact of Quebec's Language Laws: Comment
National Post editorial: Over in Quebec, quite a lot of ink and bandwidth has been consumed in recent
months on the iniquities contained in the Parti Québécois' proposed Bill 14, which offers a substantial
revision of Bill 101, Quebec's 1977 Charter of the French Language. Notwithstanding the pretext that Bill
14 is necessary to protect the French language from (largely imaginary) threats, several of its draconian
provisions suggest that the true intent is to further the PQ's ill-spirited attack on the province's Anglo
minority. As others already have noted, one of the saddest things about the PQ's return to power in 2012
is that Premier Pauline Marois' aggressive, agitated attempts to stir up resentment against Ottawa, and
against Canada's English aspect more generally, have upset the unprecedented détente that has
developed between francophone and anglophone Quebeckers in recent years. This détente included a
widely shared (if grudging, in some quarters) acceptance of the French-language protections introduced
in the 1970s. But all this has changed thanks to Ms. Marois' minority government. Under Bill 14, military
families could see their traditional rights to have their children educated in English during their tours in
Quebec terminated, effectively suffocating the English school system in affected regions. I it was Quebec
City itself that hosted the IPu's (Inter-Parliamentary union) latest gathering last October, where the theme
was: "Citizenship, Identity and Linguistic and Cultural diversity in a Globalized World." That event
produced the "Quebec City declaration," in which the signatories (including Canada) pledged to "uphold
cultural, linguistic, ethnic, racial, political and religious diversity as a global value which should be
celebrated, respected, encouraged and protected within and among all societies and civilizations." Given
that Quebec suppresses minority language rights on a scale that is matched by no other jurisdiction in
any civilized Western democracy, there is a delicious irony in the fact that protections for exactly such
rights have been encoded in something formally called "the Quebec City declaration" (NP A20).
Section: News
Byline: Jordan Press
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Title: Shared Services to buy all IT devices; Government decides not to create new purchasing agency
Page: A8
Date: 2013-04-06
Source: Postmedia News
The federal government won't be creating a new agency to buy electronic hardware for federal workers,
electing instead to give the job to the IT super-agency it officially created last year.
Government documents posted online Wednesday show that the Conservatives have given Shared
Services Canada the mandate to buy end-user hardware and software for workers in the 43 federal
agencies it serves, along with a handful of parliamentary watchdogs and other federal agencies. In all,
Shared Services Canada will be in charge of buying end-user devices such as laptops and mobile
devices, and software, including security software, for 106 federal organizations.
The government spends about $138 million on software purchases annually and the change to one
procurement agency is expected to save federal coffers $8.7 mil-lion annually starting in the 2014-15
fiscal year.
"The government of Canada is implementing an enterprise approach to the procurement of end-user
devices and related software, including security software, for federal employees," Shared Services
Canada said on its website Friday. "This is a new area of standardization and consolidation that will bring
efficiencies and savings while strengthening the security of government information technology."
The federal budget in late March said that the government wanted to have one agency buy end-user
hardware for departments, putting an end to the standing orders each department had to fulfil individual
needs.
However, the budget suggested the Conservatives were considering creating a brand new agency, or
giving the responsibility to an existing organization.
"By moving away from each department independently managing these activities, there are opportunities
to drive economies of scale, achieve savings for taxpayers and improve services," the budget reads.
"Moving forward, the government will explore further whole-of-government approaches to reduce costs in
the area of procurement of end-user devices and associated support services."
Under the cabinet-approved change, the end-user procurement unit will move into Shared Services
Canada, taking away part of the procurement responsibilities for Public Works and Government Services
Canada, which negotiates bulk purchases of a variety of goods for government departments, including
the Canadian Forces.
It's an added responsibility for Shared Services Canada, which is already overseeing the consolidation of
data centres from more than 200 down to about 30, and consolidating 63 email systems into one shared
system by 2015.
Currently, four companies are being considered for the work: Bell Canada, Dell Canada, HP Canada and
IBM Canada. The four have until April 9 to submit their proposals for the work.
Back to Top
Section: Editorial/Opinion
If North Korea did not have proven nuclear capabilities, the late-night talk show jokes about Kim Jongun's cartoonish grandstanding would be a helluva lot funnier. Title: North Korea's big bang theory
Page: 22
Outlet: The Toronto Sun
Date: 2013-04-06
If North Korea did not have proven nuclear capabilities, the late-night talk show jokes about Kim Jongun's cartoonish grandstanding would be a helluva lot funnier.
But the weird little dictator does have the A-bomb, so simply writing off his threats to nuke the United
States with ballistic missile attacks as just another example of his family's delusionist genetics is hardly
the way to approach such megalomania.
Remember how the world underestimated Hitler.
Despite being the most militarized per-capita nation on Earth, the people of North Korea are starving.
Sanctioned to the point that most national pride should be sucked dry, a country that can barely keep its
lights on has still managed to have 24 million people worshipping a false god by keeping them ignorant of
the outside world.
Bombing them into oblivion, therefore, would be punishing the oblivious.
This is the West's dilemma.
There are already muted calls for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to re-evaluate Canada's decision under
Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin to stay out of America's ballistic missile defence pact (signed by
Australia, Japan and South Korea), which might have seemed wise until North Korea resurrected Dr.
Strangelove.
Now it is worth considering.
While loath to bring this up, even peacenik PM Pierre Trudeau realized this during the Cold War when,
despite pushback, he allowed the U.S. to test cruise missiles over Canadian soil.
"It is hardly fair to rely on Americans to protect the West," argued Trudeau, "but then refuse to lend them
a hand when the going gets rough."
As UN General Secretary-General Ban Kimoon warned last week about North Korea, "Nuclear threats are
not a game. Aggressive rhetoric and military posturing only result in counter-actions." That said, few
countries truly want to disrupt North Korea's status quo, wishing instead Kim Jong-un would go back to
his pastime of "looking at things." South Korea does not want to be in the line of fire, and nor does it want
the prospect of millions of North Koreans flooding into its country as refugees.
And China likes North Korea just the way it is--as a buffer zone.
Right now, however, all scenarios are in play.
Underestimation would be perilous.
© 2013 Sun Media Corporation
Back to Top
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Canada is a nation that fights terror. Title: Fighting terror abroad -- and at home
Page: 19
Byline: SIMON KENT
Outlet: The Ottawa Sun
Date: 2013-04-06
Canada is a nation that fights terror.
It doesn't export it. For generations this country has been at the forefront of global efforts to fight tyranny
from the battlefields of Europe to Asia, Africa and places in between.
The number of Canadian Forces' fatalities resulting from operations in Afghanistan alone is the largest for
any single Canadian military mission since Korea.
A total of 158 Canadian Forces personnel have been killed in the war on terror since 2002, while RCN
warships and RCAF warplanes have worked to help defeat the terror-supporting regime of Col. Moammar
Gadhafiin Libya.
Yet this week, Canadians have been both baffled and then mortified in equal measure to read of the
exploits of three young men from London, Ont.
Two were found dead among al-Qaida terrorists at a remote Algerian oilfield. On Thursday, the RCMP
con-f irmed the remains of Ali Medlej and Xris Katsiroubas were discovered at the site of the deadly gas
plant attack in January.
A third London man, Aaron Yoon, 24, has been in a prison in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, since
at least the summer of 2012 facing undisclosed charges.
Before his arrest, Yoon attended a religious school in the city reportedly studying the Qur'an with
American and European students.
It is known all three initially travelled overseas together.
Now that the Arab Spring is turning to bitter winter, there are plenty of people who wonder why Canada
and its much-envied passport have suddenly been linked to acts that are anathema to a society built on
tolerance, openness and democratic foundations.
Are we part of a small but growing global terror supply chain? Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says
no. Canada isn't losing the battle against homegrown terrorism and recent examples are exceptions to
that rule.
The figures bear him out, certainly when it comes to our relations with the U.S. A study titled Cross-border
Terror Networks: A Social Network Analysis of the Canada-U. S. Border was released in January.
The report, by Canadian academics Christian Leuprecht, Todd Hataley and David B. Skillicorn highlights
specific examples of terrorism and political aggression emanating from Canada directed at our neighbour
to the south.
Their report acknowledges that Canada and the U.S. "form one of the world's oldest and, arguably, the
world's closest" bilateral security communities.
WON'T INSPIRE PANIC
They reveal that amongst the total number of Canadians found complicit in terrorist activity dating to as
early as 1993, and convicted in Canada or abroad between 1997 and 2011, the subset of those who
worked across the shared U.S./Canadian border is just 14. Hardly a number to inspire panic in the
international security community.
Whether or not the three young men from London may have been radicalized here -- if at all -- it makes
sense for Canada to continue to fight terror wherever it is found.
That includes battlefields a long way from home.
© 2013 Sun Media Corporation
Back to Top
Section: News
Byline: David Pugliese
Outlet: Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
Canadian Special Operations Regiment.
Headline: Special ops regiment takes third in global competition; No comment from Forces on Jordan
event involving 35 units, 18 nations
Page: A8
Date: Saturday 06 April 2013
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Members of the special operations regiment from Petawawa have placed third in an international
competition that tests the counter-terrorism skills of law enforcement and military units.
Two teams from China, the Snow Leopard Commando unit and a group from China's police academy,
took the top two slots, according to a statement from Jordan's military.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment placed third during the competition that included events
testing skills in hostage rescue, aircraft assault, building entry and handling casualties. Shooting
exercises were also included in the competition held at the King Abdullah II special operations training
centre in Amman March 24-28.
Thirty-five units from 18 countries, including France, the U.S., Russia and the Netherlands, took part.
The Canadian Forces would not comment on the regiment's participation in the competition. But CSOR's
involvement was mentioned in articles in the Jordan Times and Jane's military magazine.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment team leader was quoted in the Jordan Times as calling the
competition "fun," with the team winning five awards as well as third place in the overall results.
The Palestinian Presidential Guard came in fourth. That unit has been trained by special forces from
Russia, the U.S. and Jordan.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment, or CSOR, was created in 2006. Its soldiers have conducted
operations in Afghanistan and training in countries such as Mali and Jamaica.
Some of its members recently took part in Exercise Flintlock in Africa, helping train soldiers from Niger.
CSOR currently has around 450 people. It is slowly growing with a goal of having 690 personnel in its
ranks, but the military does not have a set timetable on when that number would be reached.
It was established to provide support to the military's special forces and counterterrorism unit, Joint Task
Force 2, as well as to conduct its own special operations missions.
Members are drawn from the army, navy and air force, although the bulk of the unit is made up of
members of the army. The regiment is interoperable with JTF2 as well as U.S., British, Australian and
allied special forces.
For more details about the competition, go to David Pugliese's Defence Watch blog at ottawacitizen.com
Back to Top
Section: Front
Byline: Michael Gorman Truro Bureau
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Illustrations:
on a veterans settlement agreement at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax on Feb. 14.
/ Staff)
Headline: Judge lauds lawyers who worked for veterans in $887mclass action
Page: A1
Date: Saturday 06 April 2013
A Federal Court decision cementing an $887-million settlement in a class action involving thousands of
disabled veterans included high praise for lawyers representing the plaintiffs.
In his decision, Justice Robert Barnes lauded the lawyers - led by Peter Driscoll of McInnes Cooper in
Halifax - representing about 7,500 veterans and their families who saw benefits clawed back for 30 years.
"The certification and liability determinations that provided the impetus for this settlement resulted from
the skilful and tenacious advocacy of class counsel in the context of an adversarial contest involving
equally skilled and tenacious opposing counsel," Barnes wrote in his decision dated Thursday.
"There is no question that the high quality of the legal work performed by class counsel led to the
favourable liability outcome." In his decision, Barnes was also tasked with determining how much lawyers
for the veterans would be paid. While the plaintiffs' counsel were seeking eight per cent, or about $65
million, lawyers for the federal government argued that was too high.
Barnes awarded counsel $35 million, or about four per cent. In his decision, Barnes wrote that awards
must take into consideration the time, difficulty, cost, effort and risk involved in lawyers taking on class
actions. Rewards must be enough to motivate counsel to "take on difficult class litigation involving
potentially deserving claims that might not otherwise be pursued."
Barnes said the veterans' grievance had been well known for more than 30 years and attracted no
litigation until Driscoll took up the claim by the lead plaintiff, Halifax resident Dennis Manuge.
McInnes Cooper and Branch MacMaster in Vancouver, B.C., the two firms involved in representing the
veterans, worked for six years and amassed more than 8,500 hours of unbilled time.
Unbilled time is valued at more than $3.2 million. Out-of-pocket expenses are about $200,000 and
counting. All of this was done with no guarantee of victory and, thus, being paid.
Driscoll, in Toronto for meetings, said he was "very pleased" with the decision, which he called "within the
band of case law."
While there was a lot of risk in taking on the case, Driscoll said it had nothing to do with a potentially big
payday and everything to do with fairness and doing right by a vulnerable group, something he said his
firm felt strongly about.
"Certainly McInnes Cooper, throughout my pursing this case, backed me up and supported me the whole
way."
Margaret Waddell, an experienced class-action lawyer with Paliare Roland in Toronto, said it is
"extremely difficult" to get firms to take on complicated, high-risk class actions, especially against Ottawa.
The government "has massive resources and fights these cases vigorously," she said. "That's not an
easy target."
The pool of people in Canada who engage in this kind of litigation is small because of the risks involved,
said Waddell. She points to Ontario as an example, where there are only about a dozen firms heavily
involved in class-action work.
"You've got to have a very high risk tolerance to agree to take on this kind of litigation."
She said that's why lawyers are entitled to be well compensated for positive results. She called the result
in this case "unbelievably good," and said she thought the lawyers' fees were on the low end of what is
fair.
"I think these guys did a fantastic job with this case," she said. "I think the number that they requested
was well within the range of reasonable."
Dimitri Lascaris, who leads the Siskinds firm's securities class-action group in Ontario, said that while lots
of attention is paid to lawyers' fees when they win, very little attention goes to failures.
"No one talks about how much those cases cost the lawyers, personally and professionally, when they
lose. They only talk about the fabulous successes."
Lascaris mentioned several Ontario firms that won at trial only to lose on appeal.
He said when one firm that had obtained a summary judgment on behalf of veterans had the decision
overturned on appeal, it had devastating financial consequences for the lawyers involved.
That's why so few lawyers take on this kind of work, he said.
"There are far, far more lawyers on Bay Street getting paid $500, $600 an hour with no risk than there are
lawyers who are getting paid contingency fees doing plaintiffs' work."
(mgorman@herald.ca)
Back to Top
Section: Opinion
Byline: Tim Dunne
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: SAR centre's reach spans vast territory
Page: A11
Date: Saturday 06 April 2013
With more than 2,700 search and rescue missions last year, the Halifax-based Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) is Canada's busiest. Some incidents were minor, resolved with a minimum of
effort while others involved significant risks for the victims of maritime mishaps, accidents and
catastrophes.
The joint military and coast guard facility, based in HMC Dockyard, is the focal point of all aeronautical
and maritime SAR activity within its region. The staff tracks distress situations, arranges for rescue
resources and personnel to vessels and aircraft in distress and co-ordinates the efforts of all responding
resources.
Working in 12-hour shifts, SAR resources are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The staff
includes an experienced Air Force SAR pilot or navigator and three Canadian Coast Guard deck officers.
An assistant air co-ordinator augments the day shift and is available at other times when required. Extra
personnel may be called upon to support operations when required.
The area of responsibility is immense, consisting of the lower two-thirds of Baffin Island, half of Davis
Strait, the four Atlantic provinces, and stretches into the North Atlantic halfway to Europe. It is an area of
4.7 million square kilometres, with over 29,000 kilometres of coastline. Some 80 per cent of the region is
covered by water.
The objective is to preserve life and prevent long-term injury.
In addition to the ships and boats of the Canadian Coast Guard, JRCC has access to the 200-member
413 Transport and Rescue Squadron from 14 Wing Greenwood,103 Rescue Unit of 9 Wing Gander, NL
and 444 Squadron of 5 Wing Goose Bay.
Nova Scotia's 413 Squadron conducts search and rescue and airlift with its Hercules aircraft and four CH149 Cormorant helicopters. The squadron has 25 search and rescue technicians, or SAR techs, multiskilled and highly trained rescue specialists who provide on-scene medical aid and evacuation,
regardless of the conditions.
Tight-lipped about their achievements, they locate, treat and evacuate casualties. Search and rescue
operations may require parachuting, mountaineering, hiking, swimming, and diving. On any given day,
SAR techs could find themselves 200 miles out to sea, hoisting a casualty off a sailboat, parachuting at
night into the high Arctic, diving underwater, climbing close to the edge of a glacial crevasse, or coordinating a mountain rescue.
They take incredible risks, so long as there is a possibility that the victims have survived their ordeal.
Among the most dramatic stories is the Oct. 30, 1991, crash of a Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft on its
approach to Canadian Forces Station Alert, the isolated military installation on the northernmost tip of
Canada's Arctic archipelago. Five died but 13 survived. SAR techs parachuted from a Hercules SAR
aircraft into a blizzard to provide vital help to the survivors.
Ten years later, almost to the day, Sgt. Janick Gilbert perished when he led a three-member team of SAR
techs to rescue a young man and his father whose small open boat was stranded in ice near Hall Bay,
Nunavut. He parachuted into three-metre seas and spent five hours in icy seawater without his one-man
life-raft. Within the JRCC Halifax area of responsibility, 36 coast guard and military SAR personnel have
died on duty since it was established in 1947.
JRCC can call on any resource that can best meet the need, including chartered aircraft and vessels. The
Shipping Act authorizes the assignment of any vessel to respond unless the ship's master believes that
this would pose a danger.
"If my guys feel this is the best asset for the mission, then we have the choice. Simply stated, it is our
mandate to do all we can to save lives and protect seafarers, aviators and their passengers and crew
members from injury," JRCC director and former SAR pilot Maj. Ali Laaouan explained.
Canada's SAR coverage became a lot more effective when the International COSPAS-SARSAT
Programme went online in 1985. The satellite-based SAR distress alert system, established by Canada,
France, the United States, and the former Soviet Union, has grown to 43 nations and saves 2,000 lives
annually.
SARSAT tracks signals from its emergency transmitters anywhere in the world and international
agreements require the rescue centre that receives the alert to ensure that it is passed to the rescue
authorities of the appropriate nation.
In an interesting turn of events, on March 4, JRCC Halifax received a distress signal that a fishing vessel
was in distress and sinking off the French coast. Our Halifax-based centre passed it on to the Marine
Rescue Co-ordination Centre (Centre rûgional opûrationnel de surveillance et de sauvetage) in Corsen,
France, which launched the rescue mission that saved all aboard.
Tim Dunne is a Halifax-based communications consultant and military affairs writer.
(tdunne@herald.ca)
Back to Top
Section: Opinion
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
Page: A10
Date: Saturday 06 April 2013
Here's a tip: don't moan
The entitlement in Nick Jones's letter (April 3 Reader's Corner) was enough to make my blood boil. He
seems to forget his place as a server; I am the customer and I pay his wages. Tipping isn't mandatory
and should never be expected. I simply will not tip if I'm not served appropriately.
I worked for minimum wage for four years in retail as a "struggling student." I knew bartenders who, in
one night's worth of tips, would take home half of my bi-weekly paycheque in cold hard cash (which I am
sure they claimed on their income taxes).
I would suggest to Mr. Jones that perhaps he should be the one changing professions if he can't afford to
work as a waiter. I hear Target is hiring. He'll certainly need a drink after putting up with that all day.
Here's hoping he can afford to tip.
Matt Trenholm, Halifax
Optional, not mandatory
Re: Nick Jones's April 3 letter about having to "tip out" and share his tips with barbacks. He complains
that it is "very disheartening to work hard and have to pay out of pocket to serve customers."
I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is a hard-working, tip-worthy employee. However,
working hard at your job and being the best you can be does not mean you are entitled to a tip. We don't
tip doctors and I think a doctor is much more worthy of a tip than bar staff. Also, the last time I checked,
tipping was optional, not mandatory.
At this point in writing this letter, I thought I might be too rude. Then I reread the last line of Nick's letter: "If
you cannot afford to tip, you cannot afford to go downtown." So he's saying that if you go downtown, you
have to tip. Good luck with that. It's attitudes like that that make so many people refuse to tip.
I would rebut that with: "If you can't afford to work without depending on tips, you can't afford your current
job."
Craig Falkenham, Bedford
Privilege not afforded to all
Re: "Stiffing bar staff," (April 3). While this waiter may feel slighted that he might not receive tips from the
students he serves, he should consider that many thousands of students in our city work jobs in retail,
fast food, and other areas that pay minimum wage and get absolutely nothing in tips, but work equally
hard for their paycheques.
The service provided by staff in these positions is no less valuable and takes no less time, but does Nick
Jones ever consider tipping fellow students who ring in his groceries at Sobeys or serve him at the
campus cafeteria?
While it may be both an accepted and an expected practice to tip a server in a restaurant/bar, we place
demands daily on the vast majority of others who are employed in the service sector and they receive
only their hourly wages.
Mr. Jones should be thankful he has a job as a waiter and is able to earn a few extra bucks, which most
students don't, and it is highly unlikely that he is losing any money in having to tip out at the end of his
shift.
Eric Franson, Dartmouth
Iraq backstory
James Knapp's astonishment (April 2 letter) at columnist Scott Taylor's claim that the U.S. sold chemical
weapons to Iraq fails to understand the geopolitics of the day.
In 1982 Ronald Reagan's support for Iraq against the extremist Iranian threat resulted in his decision to
remove Iraq from the list of nations supporting international terrorism, which, in turn, led to much closer
military and intelligence co-operation. There was willingness of U.S. allies in the region to act as thirdparty conduits for the shipment of weapons, production facilities, intelligence, and knowhow to Saddam
Hussein in his war against Iran. In 1992 and 1994, U.S. Senate reports made note that U.S. companies
exported chemical materials, precursors to chemical warfare agents, and plans for chemical warfare
facilities and chemical warhead filling equipment. The Scott inquiry in Britain confirmed the shipments.
The deaths in Halabja in 1988 followed typical Iraqi procedures of multiple chemical weapons involved in
attacks. Not only did the U.S. fail to condemn Hussein for the attack in a UN vote, it vetoed its own
Senate Genocide Act the same year.
It would be wise never to be astonished at the possibilities of covert military action in the Middle East.
Miles Tompkins, Antigonish
Deep-rooted attitudes
In his March 30, column, "N.S. must tailor training to job market," Bill Black draws our attention to the fact
that while in Germany around 80 per cent of students complete an apprenticeship program of their
choice, the figure for Canada is only about 10 per cent.
The reason for this startling discrepancy can be attributed to a systemic problem that has long, historical
roots. While the industrial revolution began in Great Britain in the 18th century, and it remained the
dominant industrial nation until the middle of the 19th century, thereafter Germany quickly caught up and
soon surpassed Great Britain as an industrial nation, and the reason for this was twofold.
Germany developed a first-rate system of vocational and technical training and, of equal importance,
those who were thus trained were granted a great deal of respect by their fellow citizens. Great Britain, by
contrast, failed to develop an extensive and sound system of vocational and technical training, nor did
those with such a training gain or enjoy the respect that similarly trained people in Germany did.
In Britain, white-collar jobs were deemed much more respectable. In Canada, social values and attitudes,
including those with regard to various occupations and vocations, have been profoundly influenced by
Britain.
I need only to look back to my own high school years to be reminded of the discrepancy in the value
placed on an academic education, on the one hand, and on a vocational education on the other hand.
Therefore, to really turn things around in the vocational and technical sectors, long-held values and
attitudes will first need to change, but that takes time.
Gerry Gerrits, Port Williams
Veterans' programs improve
Our federal Conservative government is committed to maintaining and improving veterans' benefits and
services and we have done just that.
We expanded the Veterans Independence Program, reinstated benefits to Allied veterans and their
families, increased the number of OSI clinics to support veterans suffering from mental health illnesses,
provided compensation for Agent Orange, created the Community War Memorial Program, and
established the Veterans Ombudsman Office.
In fact, since 2006, we have increased Veterans Affairs Canada's budget by 25 per cent. Of this current
budget, which exceeds $3.5 billion, over 90 per cent is spent in direct benefits and services for Canada's
veterans and their families.
Veterans told us they wanted less red tape. Co-ordinated efforts by National Defence and Veterans
Affairs Canada (VAC) have resulted in less required paperwork and faster payments.
While changes are occurring within VAC, the same level of service will remain. For some, it will be
delivered from a different location, such as Service Canada centres. There will be no reductions in case
management services and home visits will continue.
In January, we also came to an agreement in principle in a class action suit pertaining to veterans'
disability benefits. We agreed to an $887.8-million settlement for veteran beneficiaries, all of which our
government is ensuring they receive.
Peter MacKay, Minister of Defence
Back to Top
Section: Westcoast News
Outlet: Vancouver Sun
Headline: Nuclear missile movie props on a train startle island residents
Page: A5
Date: Saturday 06 April 2013
Dateline: NANAIMO
Source: The Canadian Press
Relax folks: Those "loaded" U.S. nuclear missiles being shipped around Vancouver Island by train aren't
real. They're just movie props.
In fact, they were used for Gareth Edward's reboot of the Godzilla movie franchise, filmed on Vancouver
Island in late March, just as tensions were on the rise with North Korea.
At one point, the fake nukes were strapped to a train car and appeared to be headed toward the
Canadian Forces test ranges in Nanoose Bay.
Godzilla publicist Ernie Malik says the props were likely made in B.C., as the entire film was expected to
be shot in this province, and were used in one scene.
Canadian Forces spokesman Kevin Carle says the military does not have nuclear weapons, and has not
received any complaints about the props.
But Nanaimo resident Liz Halloran says seeing the missiles was strange and disconcerting because it
looked real and actually said "loaded."
Back to Top
Section: Editorials
Outlet: National Post
Headline: A cynical assault on Anglo rights
Page: A20
Date: Saturday 06 April 2013
Source: National Post
Over in Quebec, quite a lot of ink and bandwidth has been consumed in recent months on the iniquities
contained in the Parti Québécois' proposed Bill 14, which offers a substantial revision of Bill 101,
Quebec's 1977 Charter of the French Language. Notwithstanding the pretext that Bill 14 is necessary to
protect the French language from (largely imaginary) threats, several of its draconian provisions suggest
that the true intent is to further the PQ's ill-spirited attack on the province's Anglo minority.
As others already have noted, one of the saddest things about the PQ's return to power in 2012 is that
Premier Pauline Marois' aggressive, agitated attempts to stir up resentment against Ottawa, and against
Canada's English aspect more generally, have upset the unprecedented détente that has developed
between francophone and anglo-phone Quebecers in recent years. This détente included a widely shared
(if grudging, in some quarters) acceptance of the French-language protections introduced in the 1970s.
But all this has changed thanks to Ms. Marois' minority government. under Bill 14, municipalities in
Quebec could lose their bilingual status against their will according to slight demographic shifts; military
families could see their traditional rights to have their children educated in English during their tours in
Quebec terminated, effectively suffocating the English school system in affected regions; English
CEGEPs could see their freedom to accept francophone students curtailed (which would hurt
francophones a lot more than Anglophones); and employees would have the right to sue their employees
if they were asked to speak English on the job.
There are other, more subtly insidious twists contained in Bill 14, too. The legislation will replace the
current Charter's words "ethnic minorities" with "cultural communities." On the surface, that seems rather
anodyne. But "ethnic minorities" has status in international and national human-rights law, while "cultural
communities" has no status at all.
With the change in language, Quebec will be able to ignore the signed representations that Ms. Marois'
own government witnessed in October 2012 at the Inter-Parliamentary union (IPu) - a prestigious and
high-minded NGO that serves (by its own description) as the "focal point for worldwide parliamentary
dialogue." Indeed, it was Quebec City itself that hosted the IPu's latest gathering last October, where the
theme was: "Citizenship, Identity and Linguistic and Cultural diversity in a Globalized World."
That event produced the "Quebec City declaration," in which the signatories (including Canada) pledged
to "uphold cultural, linguistic, ethnic, racial, political and religious diversity as a global value which should
be celebrated, respected, encouraged and protected within and among all societies and civilizations."
Moreover: "All individuals must be allowed the full enjoyment of their equal and inalienable rights
recognized in the universal declaration of Human rights [and] should not lead to any discrimination
whatsoever based on culture, race, colour [or] language."
And here's the kicker: "Persons belonging to linguistic minorities should not be denied the right to use
their own lan-guageorto gain access to minority-language education." Bill 101, of course, already stands
in abrogation of this right. But Bill 14 would make the breach more blatant.
Given that Quebec suppresses minority language rights on a scale that is matched by no other
jurisdiction in any civilized Western democracy, there is a delicious irony in the fact that protections for
exactly such rights have been encoded in something formally called "the Quebec City declaration." And
one can only imagine the cringing exasperation experienced by Ms. Marois and members of her hard-line
nationalistic coterie when they realized how thoroughly the document's provisions conflicted with their
own apparent ambition to wipe English out of Quebec public life.
Their efforts to backfill by amending the Quebec Charter betray a cynical, narrow-minded attitude something that has come to be the defining theme of Ms. Marois' time in office.
Back to Top
Media Sources and Abbreviations
Les sources médiatiques et abréviations
AN (L’Acadie Nouvelle)
CG (Charlottetown Guardian)
CH (Calgary Herald)
CSun (Calgary Sun)
Ctz (Ottawa Citizen)
Dr (Le Droit)
Dv (Le Devoir)
EJ (Edmonton Journal)
ESun (Edmonton Sun)
FDG (Fredericton Daily Gleaner)
G&M (Globe and Mail)
Gaz (Montreal Gazette)
HCH (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
HS (Hamilton Spectator)
JM (Le Journal de Montréal)
JQ (Le Journal de Québec)
KWS (Kingston Whig-Standard)
LFP (London Free Press)
LN (Le Nouvelliste - Trois Rivières)
MT&T (Monton Times and Transcript)
NBTJ (New Brunswick Telegraph Journal)
NP (National Post)
OSun (Ottawa Sun)
Pr (La Presse)
RLP (Regina Leader-Post)
SJT (St. John’s Telegram)
Sol (Le Soleil)
SSP (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix)
TM (Télémédia)
TStar (Toronto Star)
TSun (Toronto Sun)
VSun (Vancouver Sun)
VE (Le Voix de L’Est, Granby)
VProv (Vancouver Province)
VSun (Vancouver Sun)
VTC (Victoria Times-Colonist)
WFP (Winnipeg Free Press)
WStar (Windsor Star)
WSun (Winnipeg Sun)
Published by / Publié par
P&L Communications Inc.
95 Glebe Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1S 2C2
Phone: 613-231-5597 / Web Site: http://www.plcom.on.ca/