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ADM(PA) / SMA(AP)
May 22 2010 / le 22 mai 2010
M INISTER / L E M INISTRE
Canada’s 144th and 145th casualties of the conflict in Afghanistan were killed just five days apart, two men from opposite ends of the spectrum that represents this country’s soldiers at war. On Friday, Col.
Geoff Parker’s family attended a sombre repatriation ceremony at CFB Trenton, which was also attended by Governor-Gen eral Michaëlle Jean, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and CDS Gen Walt Natynczyk .
Pte Kevin McKay’s funeral took place in Barrie, Ont., just a few hours before the plane carrying Col
Parker’s body touched down (S. Verma: G&M A4
; L. Shearman: HCH B1 , HS A11, CG A10, NBTJ A3,
FDG A11; A. Cross: Gaz A16 , Ctz A4, WStar A12, SSP A13, RLP C9, CH A10, EJ A6; No minister
mention
– B. Bruton: OSun 7
, TSun 6, WSun 9, ESun 10; J. Miller: OSun 7 , KWS 12, TSun 6, LFP B7,
WSun 9, CSun 16, ESun 10, MT&T D1; K. Daubs: TStar A8 ).
Vendredi en Ontario, la dépouille d'un colonel canadien était rapatriée au pays au moment où les funérailles d'un jeune soldat avaient lieu dans sa ville natale. Les deux hommes ont été tués en
Afghanistan cette semaine, à une journée d'intervalle. Un avion transportant le corps du colonel Geoff
Parker, le plus haut gradé à mourir au cours de la mission afghane, a atterri en après-midi à la base de
Trenton, en Ontario. Les membres de la famille ont déposé des roses rouges sur le cercueil recouvert du drapeau canadien, sous les yeux de plusieurs dignitaires canadiens, dont la gouverneure g énérale,
Michaëlle Jean, le ministre de la Défense, Peter McKay , et le chef d'état-major, le général Walt
Natynczyk . A Barrie, soldats, policiers et pompiers ont formé un long cortège pour les funérailles du
soldat Kevin McKay, décédé à l'âge de 24 ans ( Qt 21 , Dr 33).
A spokesperson for Sikorsky, the manufacturer of Canada's new maritime helicopters, said this week that
Canada’s new helicopters will need a second set of engine changes. However, the spokesperson said that the additional changes will not increase costs beyond an earlier increase in costs. The original
Sikorsky Cyclone was scheduled for delivery in November 2008. Since then, Defence Minister Peter
MacKay has called delays the "worse debacle in Canadian procurement history." He blamed former PM
Jean Chrétien for his decision in 1993 to cancel the purchase of a fleet of Augusta Westland maritime
helicopters the Tories had ordered under former PM Brian Mulroney (M. Tutton: FDG A8 , HCH A11).
W.E. (Bill) Belliveau: Late last month, VAdm Dean McFadden ordered half of Canada's Maritime Coastal
Defence vessels to be tied up indefinitely and cancelled upgrades and maintenance on other ships.
VAdm McFadden's order, first reported by the Ottawa Citizen early last week, said he was forced to take such drastic action because he simply did not have enough funding. Defence Minister Peter MacKay was embarrassed by VAdm McFadden's order. Last Friday, after two days of tough questions for Mr.
MacKay , CDS Gen Walt Natynczyk reversed VAdm McFadden's decision, saying the Canadian Forces will re-allocate financial resources so that VAdm McFadden and the navy will not have to tie up a substantial portion of its fleet. Aside from the fact that it is obvious that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, these shenanigans raise some serious questions about Canada's financial state
and the state of its military defence forces ( MT&T D7 ).
CDS / CEM

No related coverage. / Aucune couverture pertinente.
M ILITARY P OLICE C OMPLAINTS C OMMISSION / C OMMISSION D ' EXAMEN DES PLAINTES
CONCERNANT LA POLICE MILITAIRE
A Charlottetown Guardian editorial: The federal government and opposition parties managed to come to an agreement recently on the release of information on Afghan detainees. That is a relief. Canadians need not fear a snap election, at least anytime soon, over this issue. And by all reports, government and the opposition parties got what they were looking for. Government will not have to forfeit information that will compromise national security and opposition MPs who have been demanding access to sensitive documents pertaining to the Afghan detainee controversy should have better access to the information
they have been denied until now ( CG A18 ).
A Toronto Star editorial: Exactly why Canada's Conservative government is so adamant about hiding information related to Afghan prisoner abuse has long been something of a mystery. Now, thanks to a
British court case looking into the treatment of Britain's Afghan detainees, we may be getting some clues about Ottawa's motives. Details that have emerged - based in large part on British government documents - paint a picture that could be most relevant to the Canadian situation. The evidence shows, first, that Britain's government was, from 2004 on, well aware of atrocities committed by the National
Directorate of Security. Second, Britain chose to hand over captured prisoners to the Afghan security police anyway. Like Ottawa, the British government claims that it did not know how brutal the NDS was.
But evidence at the London hearing disputes that ( TStar IN4 ).
Columnist James Travers: Obsessive information control is Prime Minister Harper's defining political trait.
From this week's scripted encounter with students to the sinister cover-up of Afghan prisoner abuse, the
PM’s priority is manipulating the message. Being accountable for prosecuting a war and responsible for defending sensitive policies comes packaged with the influence and perquisites of high office. Rather than bow to the discipline of power, the PM too often opts for what he mistakes as the safest path to political high ground. Months into the future there will still be debate over how operatives in Mr. Harper's office turned facts known to the military, diplomats and the International Red Cross into fiction ministers could shop to Canadians. However long either lasts, both contribute to the troubling conclusion that truth
is simply another variable in managing messages and minimizing consequences ( CG A19 ).
C ANADA IN A FGHANISTAN / L E C ANADA EN A FGHANISTAN
BGen Daniel Ménard is to direct NATO's potentially decisive campaign in Kandahar City and four other districts this summer, including the volatile Panjwaii where troops from the Royal Canadian Regiment will take the lead as the battle unfolds. Col. David Bellon, director of operations for Regional Command South and a U.S. marine colonel working for British MajorGeneral Nick Carter, noted recently: “On what we and the Taliban both say is the vital strategic ground, Canada is still in charge during this critical time.” Mr.
Bellon was further quoted as saying of the fight for Kandahar: “This conflict is our D-Day. This will decide
who stays. If we get pushed into the water, it is over” (M. Fisher: Ctz A4 , Gaz A16, WStar A19, RLP C9,
SSP C15, CH A15, EJ A3).
Maj James Fera, commanding officer of the 14 Construction Engineering Squadron based in Bridgewater,
N.S., was in Grand Falls-Windsor recently as part of a speaking tour on the work of the squadron and the challenges Forces engineers face in countries like Afghanistan. Maj Fera described the kinds of things
Forces engineers have been doing in Afghanistan, and was quoted as saying: “The construction engineers in the Canadian Forces are responsible for a number of things, really enabling the Air Force to
basically fly and fight” (S. Hickey: SJT A7 ).

LCol Jocelyn Paul, 43, recently completed a six-month tour of duty in Kandahar alongside close to 1,200 soldiers under his command from the Royal 22nd Regiment. In a recent interview, LCol Paul was quoted as saying: “My mission was to support the Afghan government (and provide) security, but also to try and improve governance.” LCol Paul was quoted further as saying: “You should not be thinking that we are always chasing Talibans or insurgents. What we do first and foremost is to work with the local nationals, especially
since the summer of 2009” (G. Mulock: NBTJ I4 ).
O THERS / A UTRES
RCMP firearms expert Robin Thériault told the court martial of Captain Robert Semrau Friday that two expended cartridge casings recovered in the alleged killing of a wounded Afghan insurgent were fired from the gun of Captain Semrau. Over two hours Friday, Mr. Thériault testified how he test-fired the gun carried in Afghanistan by Captain Semrau, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and three other charges. Also Friday, the Canadian Forces complied with a court order and released a video of Captain Semrau and his unit and Afghan National Army soldiers in the field in the moments leading to the alleged murder. Military Judge LCol J.G. Perron, responding to earlier legal applications from the
Ottawa Citizen and the CBC
, recently ordered the video released (I. MacLeod: Ctz A4 , NP A5, EJ A6, CH
A10; CP
: TStar A8 , OSun 6, CSun 22, ESun 60, HCH B4).
Mark Campbell, 42, a network manager for DND, is scheduled to spend 12 hours on a treadmill as part of the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon's Active Living Expo. Then, on Sunday, Mr. Campbell will line up with the other runners for his seventh straight 42-kilometre Blue Nose run through the streets of Halifax and
Dartmouth. Mr. Campbell then plans to visit Cape Breton next weekend where he is expected to run all
276 kilometres of the Cabot Trail Relay by himself (M. Mosher: HCH D1 ).
Approximately 2,000 soldiers from the Combat Training Centre at CFB Gagetown participated in a march
Friday. The formation was celebrating its identity as the premier training organization in the Canadian
Army, and it also promoted the physical fitness of its soldiers. The centre trains about 15,000 soldiers
each year (No byline: FDG A6 ).
Robert Yi, 46, a civilian employee at CFB Halifax, had charges of possessing child pornography on a
Defence Department computer in December 2008 withdrawn. The Canadian Forces National
Investigation Service had laid the charge against Mr. Yi. No reason for the Crown's decision to drop the
matter was given in court ( HCH A6 , MT&T A10, CG A14).
Columnist Joe Warmington: This may have been the shortest battle in Canadian military history. "We are amending our policy as it relates to customers on active duty," Odette Coleman of Rogers
Communications announced Friday. Count that as another victory for the good guys! Truth is there never really were any bad guys in this story. Just a bad policy -- one that no longer exist. However, for a few hours Friday there was quite a furor over a Canadian soldier deployed in Afghanistan who was unable to freeze his Rogers cellphone bill while serving his country at war. It was teetering on a public relations
nightmare for Rogers ( TSun 7 ).

Section: National News
Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Byline: SONIA VERMA
Headline: Two soldiers, one mission, sadly, one outcome
Page: A4
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
One enlisted just three years ago, fuelled by a desire to make a difference in the world in the wake of
9/11. The son of a fire captain, he grew up in the suburbs, loved cold beer and spent weekends fishing at the family cabin up north.
The other was a career soldier, a rising star in the military for two decades, hand-picked for an important new assignment. He was a middle-aged family man who loved spending time with his 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.
Canada's 144th and 145th casualties of the conflict in Afghanistan were killed just five days apart, two men from opposite ends of the spectrum that represents this country's soldiers at war.
Private Kevin McKay, 24, was killed on foot patrol by a roadside bomb. He was two days away from completing his first tour of duty: trying to bring security through constant, gruelling patrols of the dusty, volatile villages around Kandahar City that are still considered the front lines of the war.
He died the way most do, by an improvised explosive device, the Taliban's weapon of choice that has killed 85 Canadians since the current mission began in 2002.
Colonel Geoff Parker, 42, the highest ranking officer to die in Afghanistan, was killed when a suicide bomber plowed into his convoy of SUVs in Kabul. Five American soldiers and a dozen Afghan civilians also died, victims of the Taliban's strategy of striking urban centres once considered safe.
Col. Parker had just been promoted and was in the capital for a series of high-level meetings before his mission: co-ordinating development across southern Afghanistan, considered key to building stability as
Canada approaches the end of its combat role next year.
Seven Canadian soldiers have been killed in combat so far this year, a lower figure than recent years.
Between 2006 and 2009, for example, more than 30 died each year.
There is a creeping sense, however, that the pace of death could accelerate, that the Taliban are resurgent in nearly every province and the central government is too weak to protect its people.
As tens of thousands of American troops surge into southern Afghanistan for the defining battle for
Kandahar, the Taliban have issued their own declaration of war, vowing to drive out ``foreign invaders'' for good in the coming months.
The Americans have already suffered an increase in deaths, partly due to the mathematics of having more soldiers in harm's way.
For the Canadians, the brazen attack on Col. Parker's convoy, coupled with the ever-present threat of
IEDs like the one that killed Pte. McKay, serve as grim reminders of the dangers, new and old.
Yesterday, Col. Parker's family laid red roses on his flag-draped casket at CFB Trenton during a sombre repatriation ceremony attended by GovernorGeneral Michaëlle Jean, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Chief of the Defence Staff General Walt Natynczyk.
``The children and I will miss him dearly but know he is watching over us with the encouragement to put a smile on and move forward,'' said his wife, MJ.
``I know we're not the first, but I pray we are the last,'' she said.

Pte. McKay's funeral took place in Barrie, Ont., just a few hours before the plane carrying the colonel's body touched down.
The streets were lined with hundreds of mourners, many of them strangers, dressed in red and waving red flags as Pte. McKay's casket was pulled behind an armoured personnel carrier to the armoury.
``Our young people are going to Afghanistan to fight a war that they can't win.'' said Nelson Theriault, a former member of the Canadian Forces who had come to pay his respects.
``They are very, very brave people.''
Back to Top

Section: Canada
Byline: Linda Shearman
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Illustrations: casket at CFB Trenton on Friday. Parker was killed by an IED on May 18 and is Canada's highest-ranking military officer to be killed in Afghanistan.(NATHAN DENETTE / CP)
DENETTE / CP)
Headline: 'Very, very brave people'; Colonel returned to home soil, soldier's funeral held
Page: B1
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Source: The Canadian Press
It was a day of reminders of the human cost of war Friday, with the body of a Canadian colonel returned to home soil and a young soldier's funeral in his hometown.
Both were killed in Afghanistan, just days apart.
A plane carrying Col. Geoff Parker, the highest-ranking officer to die since the Afghan mission began, landed on the tarmac at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario in the warm afternoon sun.
Family members laid red roses on his flag-draped casket as dignitaries including Gov. Gen. Michaelle
Jean, Defence Minister Peter McKay and Gen. Walt Natynczyk looked on.
Parker, 42, a native of Oakville, Ont., died Tuesday when a suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy in
Kabul. The explosion also killed five American soldiers and a dozen Afghan civilians.
His wife Mary Jane described him in a statement this week as her best friend and a great father to his two children, Charlie and Alex.
"The children and I will miss him dearly but know he is watching over us with the encouragement to 'put a smile on and move forward,'" she said. "I know we're not the first, but I pray we are the last."
In Barrie, Ont., soldiers, police and firefighters formed a long procession in the funeral for Pte. Kevin
McKay, 24.
The son of a captain with the Toronto Fire Service, McKay was killed last week by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol near Kandahar city. He was just days from the end of his first tour.
Streets in the southern Ontario city were lined with mourners, many dressed in red and waving Canadian flags, as McKay's casket was pulled behind an armoured personnel carrier to the Barrie Armoury.
Among those gathered to listen to the service on a PA system outside was Nelson Theriault, an exmilitary man who felt it was his duty to pay his respects.
"Our young people are going to Afghanistan to fight a war that they can't win. They are very, very brave people," he said.
Described as "a soldier's soldier," McKay was a member of the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion, Princess
Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. His comrades spoke of his toughness, courage and quick wit.
Though born in the north Toronto-area community of Richmond Hill, McKay grew up in the Barrie area and attended school there.
He will be buried at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa.

'I know we're not the first, but I pray we are the last.'
Wife of slain colonel
Back to Top

Section: News
Byline: ALLISON CROSS AND LINDA NGUYEN
Outlet: Montreal Gazette
Headline: Dignitaries on hand to pay respects to slain colonel; And mourners remember young private killed days before he was to go home
Page: A16
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Source: Canwest News Service
The body of the 145th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan arrived home yesterday afternoon.
Colonel Geoff Parker of the Royal Canadian Regiment was killed on Tuesday when a car suicide bomber attacked his convoy in Kabul. The explosion also killed five American soldiers and 12 Afghan civilians.
Parker commanded 2nd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment, in Gagetown, N.B., until last summer.
He was the most senior Canadian soldier to die in the conflict since the mission began in 2002.
Parker's body arrived at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in eastern Ontario just after 2 p.m. under sunny skies, where his wife M.J., son Charlie and daughter Alex were waiting.
GovernorGeneral Michaëlle Jean and Defence Minister Peter MacKay, along with other dignitaries and members of the Canadian Forces, were waiting on the tarmac to pay their respects.
Family members were invited forward to place roses on Parker's casket.
Born and raised in Oakville, Ont., Parker was 42 years old. He joined the military in 1989 while studying at the University of Western Ontario.
He had been posted to the army's headquarters for Central Canada at Canadian Forces Base Downsview in Toronto, but was set to take on a one-year posting with NATO's Regional Command South this fall as the deputy for aid and development to a civilian director.
"This barbaric act of aggression in the middle of rush hour reminds us of the many dangers our brave military personnel and the Afghan population are exposed to every day. Despite this tragedy, the will of
Colonel Parker's brothers and sisters in arms to protect the Afghan people remains unshaken," Jean said in a written statement earlier this week.
"Together with NATO forces, they are fully committed to fulfilling their difficult mission of restoring justice and peace to a country ravaged by decades of oppression and injustice."
After the ceremony at CFB Trenton, Parker's body travelled to Toronto along the Highway of Heroes, a stretch of Highway 401 dedicated to fallen Canadian soldiers.
Elsewhere in Ontario yesterday, mourners said farewell to another soldier who died in Afghanistan.
In Barrie, hundreds of mourners gathered at the Barrie Armoury for the funeral of Private Kevin Mc-Kay, who was killed last week in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb.
Known affectionately to his friends and family as "Mickey," the 24-year-old soldier was days away from completing his mission and returning to Canada when he was killed.
Those who came to pay their respects yesterday included police, firefighters and members of the
Canadian Forces.
McKay was originally from Richmond Hill, Ont., north of Toronto but spent much of his childhood in Barrie.
His father is Toronto fire captain Fred McKay. The young soldier was to be buried at the Canadian Military
Cemetery in Ottawa later yesterday.

Flags were flown at half-mast yesterday at Queen's Park in Toronto in honour of McKay.
Back to Top

Section: News
Lead: Pte. Kevin Thomas McKay was saluted on Friday as an "extraordinary soldier" at a funeral that attracted hundreds in his hometown north of Toronto.
Headline: Mourners pay tribute to courageous soldier
Page: 7
Byline: BOB BRUTON, QMI AGENCY
Outlet: The Ottawa Sun
Illustrations:
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Dateline: BARRIE
Pte. Kevin Thomas McKay was saluted on Friday as an "extraordinary soldier" at a funeral that attracted hundreds in his hometown north of Toronto.
Master Cpl. John Adair, McKay's section leader with the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion of the Princess
Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, told those attending the funeral at Barrie's Armoury that the 24-year-old was a natural at soldiering.
"Mickey was an extraordinary soldier," Adair said.
"You could show him something once and he would know it. ... He was a man of honour, dignity, courage and valour."
IED BLAST
McKay was on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district village of Nakhonay, about 15 km southwest of Kandahar city, when he died in an improvised explosive device blast on May 13.
He was only two days from heading home from his first Afghan deployment.
McKay was the sixth Canadian Forces member to die in Afghanistan this year and the 144th killed as part of Canada's mission there since it began in 2002.
More than 600 mourners gathered in Barrie to remember McKay just as a the body of Col. Geoff Parker,
42, the most senior member of the Canadian Forces killed in Afghanistan, was repatriated at CFB
Trenton.
Parker's death at the hands of a suicide bombing in Kabul took Canada's death toll to 145.
Family and friends said McKay enjoyed playing hockey, being outside and working with his hands.
SHOW OF SUPPORT
"With this being the long weekend, drink a cold beer, chop some wood ... as a tribute to Kevin," said family friend Jeff Maize.
A native of Richmond Hill, McKay grew up in Barrie, north of Toronto. His father, Fred, is a veteran
Toronto fire captain.
The funeral procession included a large contingent of firefighters, police officers and a military pipes and drums band that virtually shut down the southern Ontario city as people lined the streets on the route to the armoury where the funeral was held.
There will be a private family interment ceremony for McKay, at the National Military Cemetery at
Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation

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Section: News
Lead: As the C17 Globemaster military aircraft carrying the body of Col. Geoff Parker drew closer on the tarmac, tears flowed down the cheeks of some of the hundreds of onlookers as they pressed up against the fence of the air base to catch a glimpse.
Headline: Sad homecoming for colonel Hundreds watch from fence as career infantryman repatriated
Page: 7
Byline: JASON MILLER, QMI AGENCY
Outlet: The Ottawa Sun
Illustrations:
M.J. and the couple's two children Alexandria and Charlie offer a solemn salute during the soldier's repatriation ceremony at CFB Trenton on Friday. Parker died Tuesday after a car bomb hit his convoy in
Kabul, Afghanistan.
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Dateline: CFB TRENTON
As the C17 Globemaster military aircraft carrying the body of Col. Geoff Parker drew closer on the tarmac, tears flowed down the cheeks of some of the hundreds of onlookers as they pressed up against the fence of the air base to catch a glimpse.
Upon arrival, Parker's wife walked to the hearse with her son and daughter, and placed a tall can of
Heineken on her fallen husband's flag-draped casket. The three then said good-bye to the 42-year-old father and husband with a military salute.
Parker, a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment, was killed Tuesday when a massive car bomb hit his convoy in Kabul, Afghanistan.
PREPARE TEAM
Canadian military officials said the battalion commander was in Kabul to interact with international organizations, in an effort to prepare his team for their upcoming mission.
Five American soldiers and 12 Afghan civilians were also killed in the explosion.
Parker is the seventh Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan this year and the 145th since the mission started eight years ago.
Among the approximately 300 people who gathered along the fence to witness the repatriation ceremony was Ian Stock, who served with Parker several years ago.
"It was just crushing to hear the news the other day," Stock said.
The pair met in 1995, when Parker was a regular support staff officer with the Hastings and Prince
Edward Regiment in Belleville.
Stock said the Oakville native showcased signs of an "excellent officer" throughout all their encounters.
The two men met again a couple years later when they served in Bosnia.
"Even though I wasn't a close friend, to hear of a rising star passing, it just hits everybody," he said.
"Close friends or not we are all a brotherhood.
"Until you actually see the casket come off the back of the aircraft, that's when it really hits you," Stock said. "At that point you just feel for his immediate family and friends."
Five members of the U.S. Army's Fort Drum base in New York State attended the repatriation ceremony to show their support. The Fort Drum unit lost two of their soldiers during the attack.

Parker is the most senior NATO soldier to die in the conflict since American forces hoisted the Taliban from power in 2002.
'GOING PLACES'
He commanded the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
"It's a real shame," Stock said. "At the age of 42, to be a newly promoted colonel, you know you're going places in the military."
The career infantryman was posted to the military's headquarters for Central Canada at CFB Downsview in Toronto. This fall, he was expected to take up a posting with NATO's Regional Command South, as the deputy for aid and development.
"That's a sign of doing well in the military, by not being in one place for an extended period of time," Stock said. "He was moving up very quickly."
One woman who wouldn't give her name said that she worked with Parker's mother-in- law, in Belleville.
She said the mother-in-law has been overwhelmed with grief since news of his death was announced.
The woman said she was very upset for the family.
"It's just total devastation," she said.
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation
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Section: News
Byline: Katie Daubs Toronto Star
Outlet: The Toronto Star
Illustrations:
McKay (centre front) marches with his brother's casket to the Barrie Armoury for the service Friday.
Mourners recalled McKay's big heart - and big appetite. DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR
Headline: Mourners recallsoldier's zest for life; Hundreds attend funeral in Barrie for 24-year-old Kevin
McKay, killed days before end of tour
Page: A8
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
BARRIE-The life of Kevin McKay is best honoured by cracking a cold beer, chopping a bit of wood and breaking into his signature dance, the two- finger shuffle.
Family friend Jeff Maize told mourners inside the Barrie Armoury to raise a glass to the 24-year-old this long weekend. The affable soldier - Mickey to his friends - was killed when a roadside bomb exploded on
May 13, during the final days of his first tour in Afghanistan.
During the traditional military service, McKay was remembered as a man with a large heart and appetite, with a penchant for extremely strange sandwiches. The most notable was the Cheez Whiz, chip and plum sauce combo.
When he was 5, his mother Beth saw a suspiciously lumpy stuffed animal on his bed. When she reached into Gordie the Gorilla's pouch she found a surprise.
"She came out with pizza slices that were a couple of days old," Maize said. "Kevin wanted them there in case he got hungry."
Maize called him a "wannabe chef."
"He taught his friends lessons, like the risks of cooking bacon without a shirt on," he said.
Pte. Jesse Gerard, who accompanied McKay's body to Barrie, told mourners McKay was always cooking something out of nothing for his fellow soldiers.
"He was a great guy," Gerard said, fighting off tears and laughter.
"We called him the second interpreter," said Master Cpl. John Adair, McKay's section commander. "He picked up the language. I don't think he had a talent for langauges; he just cared about the people and the children in particular."
"We're honoured you gave him to us for our family," Adair said to McKay's parents and brother Riley.
Born in Richmond Hill, McKay grew up in the Barrie area and spent his childhood outdoors, fishing and camping.
When he was 9, he desperately wanted a goalie mask. Money was tight and, by the time he got it, he was so excited he wouldn't take it off. "He loved it so much he wore it all the way to the game in Whitby,"
Maize said.
"Fred (his father) was getting strange looks from other drivers."
Teachers at Eastview Secondary School in Barrie knew McKay dreamed of a career in the armed forces.
Before that, he studied carpentry at Georgian College. He was always carving something, Maize said, and regarded chopping wood as a great social activity.

Before the service, 100 people, most of them strangers, stood along the street as a light armoured vehicle towed a gun carriage bearing McKay's casket. A little boy wearing green Crocs stood near the procession, waving a small Canadian flag.
"He's an Oro boy," Darlene Lock said of McKay. "It's important. It takes a death to remind people we have troops serving all over the world."
At the end of the service, McKay's family led the procession with blank expressions, and no tears. Beth
McKay gave a tight smile to a friend in the back row.
Outside, hundreds stood silently on the grass. Police, paramedics, RCMP and fire honour guards were among them. Fred McKay is a Toronto fire captain.
"He grew up in a fire family, where service to others is held high," said Rev. Ron Nickle, the chaplain of the Toronto Fire Services. "That's why he was (in Afghanistan)."
With his flag-draped coffin in the hearse, McKay's friends tried to describe the two-finger shuffle.
"I can't really explain it," said one, laughing. "You really had to see it."
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Section: Actualités
Byline: Linda Shearman
Outlet: Le Quotidien
Illustrations:
A Barrie, soldats, policiers et pompiers ont formé un long cortège pour les funérailles du soldat Kevin
McKay, décédé à l'âge de 24 ans. (Photo PC)
Headline: Le Canada salue deux de ses soldats
Page: 21
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Source: La Presse Canadienne
C'était une journée qui rappelait que la guerre coûte cher en vies humaines, vendredi en Ontario, alors que la dépouille d'un colonel canadien était rapatriée au pays au moment où les funérailles d'un jeune soldat avaient lieu dans sa ville natale. Les deux hommes ont été tués en Afghanistan cette semaine, à une journée d'intervalle.
Un avion transportant le corps du colonel Geoff Parker, le plus haut gradé à mourir au cours de la mission afghane, a atterri en après-midi à la base de Trenton, en Ontario.
Les membres de la famille ont déposé des roses rouges sur le cercueil recouvert du drapeau canadien, sous les yeux de plusieurs dignitaires canadiens, dont la gouverneure générale, Michaëlle Jean, le ministre de la Défense, Peter McKay, et le chef d'état-major, le général Walt Natynczyk.
M. Parker, qui était âgé de 42 ans, est décédé mardi lorsqu'un kamikaze taliban, au volant d'une voiture bourrée d'explosifs, s'est lancé sur un convoi de l'OTAN. L'explosion a aussi coûté la vie à cinq soldats américains et 12 civils afghans.
Son épouse, Mary Jane, le décrivait plus tôt cette semaine comme étant son meilleur ami et un bon père pour leurs deux enfants, Charlie et Alex.
A Barrie, soldats, policiers et pompiers ont formé un long cortège pour les funérailles du soldat Kevin
McKay, décédé à l'âge de 24 ans.
Fils d'un capitaine des pompiers à Toronto, le soldat McKay a été tué par l'explosion d'un engin improvisé pendant une patrouille de nuit à pied près de Kandahar. Il devait terminer sa première mission en
Afghanistan ce samedi.
Hommages
Les rues de la ville étaient bordées de nombreuses personnes venues lui rendre un dernier hommage.
Plusieurs étaient vêtues de rouge et tenaient un drapeau canadien.
Kevin McKay a été le 144e militaire canadien à périr en Afghanistan depuis le début de la mission en
2002. Le colonel Parker a été le 145e. Un diplomate canadien et une journaliste ont également été tués.
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Section: News
Headline: Canada's new navy helicopters need second change of engine design -- manufacturer
Page: A8
Outlet: The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)
Byline: MICHAEL TUTTON The Canadian Press
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Canada's new maritime helicopters will need a second set of engine changes, but it won't add costs beyond an earlier price hike for the delayed fleet of navy choppers, says the manufacturer.
A spokeswoman for Sikorsky said this week that the engine redesign for the General Electric engines will produce 10 per cent more horsepower for the fleet of 28 Cyclones.
However, Marianne Heffernan said the engine changes won't add to the $5- billion cost of the helicopters or further delay their delivery, set for 2012, about four years behind schedule.
"GE is developing the new CT7-8A7 engine using their in-house funds," she said in an email.
The original Cyclone helicopter, badly needed to replace the navy's aging fleet of Sea Kings, was to be delivered in November 2008.
Following a renegotiation between Ottawa and the U.S.-based aeronautical firm, the deadline for the first fully compliant helicopter was shifted to June 2012.
Sikorsky sent test helicopters to Halifax over the winter.
The company will also provide six "interim helicopters" - with the earlier CT7-8A1 engine - before the
2012 final delivery deadline, said Dan Hunter, program manager for the helicopter program.
He said in an email there are no changes to the schedule renegotiated with the federal government in
2008 due to the changes to the engine.
"The engine will be FAA certified by General Electric by March 2012 and the engine ... will be flight tested and certified by June 2012," he wrote in an email.
The first engine designed by General Electric when Sikorsky bid on the contract was called CT7-8A.
In October 2008, The Canadian Press reported that General Electric was making modifications to the engine because the helicopter was heavier than expected. That engine was called the CT7-8A1.
Now Sikorsky says the engine that will go on the final version of helicopter is called the CT7-8A7 and will have changes to the fuel manifold and fuel nozzles, as well as to nozzles leading into the turbine.
A Defence Department spokeswoman said officials were unavailable for comment.
The Cyclones were announced by the former Liberal government with considerable fanfare as the replacement to the Sea Kings.
Since then, Peter MacKay, the Conservative defence minister, has called the delays the "worse debacle in Canadian procurement history."
He blamed former prime minister Jean Chretien for his decision in 1993 to cancel the purchase of a fleet of Agusta Westland maritime helicopters the Tories had ordered under then-prime minister Brian
Mulroney.
A decade later, after numerous redrafting of the original specifications, the Liberal government chose the
Sikorsky alternative, despite criticism that the Cyclone was a new and untested design and would be unlikely to meet deadlines.

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Section: Opinion
Outlet: Times & Transcript (Moncton)
Headline: What is Canada's naval policy?
Page: D7
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Nearly 70 years ago, at the beginning of the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy had a fleet of
10 warships.
By April 1945, near the end of the war, there were 404 navy vessels in service to the Royal Canadian
Navy.
Today's fleet consists of 33 warships, four submarines and a few support vessels. Twelve of the surface fleet are known as "Halifax-class frigates." Half of them were built in the Saint John Shipyard by J.D.
Irving Limited during the 1980s. According to a national News Service, the Harper government will soon release its long-term shipbuilding strategy, creating two centres of excellence in the country to handle billions of dollars worth of new shipbuilding contracts.
J.D. Irving Limited will be asked to submit one of the proposals. This is most interesting given the government's two-step waltz with the navy over the last few weeks.
In July 2007, Prime Minister Harper announced major upgrades to Canada's fleet of Halifax-class frigates, a planned refit of "the entire fleet" to be known as the Halifax-class Modernization Project. In November of
2008, the $3.1 billion contract was awarded to a consortium headed by Lockheed Martin Canada that included: Saab, IBM Canada, CAE Professional Services, L-3 Electronic Systems and xwave (a division of Bell Aliant). The work was to be performed by Canadian shipyards. It's not clear whether that project ever got off the ground.
Late last month, Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, the head of Canada's navy, ordered half of Canada's
Maritime Coastal Defence vessels to be tied up indefinitely and cancelled upgrades and maintenance on other ships, including the Halifax-class frigates. McFadden's order, first reported by the Ottawa Citizen early last week, said he was forced to take such drastic action because he simply didn't have enough funding.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay was embarrassed by McFadden's order. Last Friday, after two days of tough questions for the minister, Chief of Defence Staff General Walter Natynczyk reversed Vice-Admiral
McFadden's decision, saying the Canadian Forces will re-allocate financial resources so that McFadden and the navy won't have to tie up a substantial portion of its fleet.
Aside from the fact that it is obvious that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, these shenanigans raise some serious questions about Canada's financial state and the state of its military defence forces.
Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDVs) are crewed mainly by Naval Reservists, not permanent naval forces. These are civilians, living civilian lives while pursuing a military career. They can be students, teachers, lawyers, secretaries, or other members of society.
The MCDVs' primary mission is coastal surveillance and patrol, search and rescue, law enforcement, resource protection and fisheries patrol. MCDVs offer an economical alternative to major surface units for routine but nevertheless important patrolling duties, vital in maintaining sovereignty and protecting our shores. The 12 Halifax-class vessels are based on both the east and west coasts.
Assuming Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden's first instincts concerning the non- availability of funds were correct, where will the refit money come from now and where will the billions for the new shipbuilding contracts come from? What programs will be sacrificed to meet the navy's needs? On the flip side of that question, how can we expect the navy to define our northern borders, defend against terrorists, drug-

runners and illegal immigrants, police the fishery and protect our resources without a well-trained naval force supported by state-of- class vessels and the latest in technology?
As much as we pride ourselves in being a peaceful nation -- we love to own the toys of war and peace -- think of the monster Boeing C-17 military transport aircraft purchased by the federal government in recent years. The excuse for purchase is found in our readiness to assist in response to natural disasters and global skirmishes. To be a first-responder requires us to be independent, well equipped and prepared.
On the dollar side of the equation, defence spending brings prosperity to businesses, industries and communities across Canada. With more than 100,000 people on the payroll, the defence industry is
Canada's third-largest employer, making a significant contribution to local, provincial and territorial economies.
I suspect Minister MacKay's announcement that Canada's frigate program will not be mothballed is more about local economics, jobs and votes than it is about the protection of our borders or the balancing of our national budget. That's OK, but money spent on navy vessels won't pay for needed health care programs or lower corporate taxes, nor will it help us stave off the financial difficulties faced by our American and
European friends.
Canada needs a stable policy framework to help guide us forward in this world of surprises. We cannot afford the ad hoc policy-making of the last few weeks.
* W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. His column appears on this page every Saturday. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com
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Section: Editorial
Outlet: The Guardian (Charlottetown)
Headline: A meeting of minds at last
Page: A18
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
The federal government and opposition parties had their struggles, but they managed to come to an agreement recently on the release of information on Afghan detainees.
That's a relief. Canadians need not fear a snap election, at least anytime soon, over this issue. And by all reports, government and the opposition parties got what they were looking for. Government won't have to forfeit information that will compromise national security and opposition MPs who've been demanding access to sensitive documents pertaining to the Afghan detainee controversy should have better access to the information they've been denied until now.
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Section: Insight
Byline: Thomas Walkom Toronto Star Thomas Walkom's column appears Wednesday and Saturday.
Outlet: The Toronto Star
Headline: What Canada can learn from the U.K.'s dark Afghan detainee abuse scandal Political economy
Page: IN4
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Exactly why Canada's Conservative government is so adamant about hiding information related to Afghan prisoner abuse has long been something of a mystery.
The government stonewalled a public inquiry and did the same to opposition MPs, relenting - slightly - only when it faced the threat of a snap election.
Now, thanks to a British court case looking into the treatment of Britain's Afghan detainees, we may be getting some clues about Ottawa's motives.
In London, two high court justices are being asked to determine whether Britain's policy of transferring captured Afghan prisoners to that country's secret police defies European human rights law.
The evidence in the case has been subject to strict government censorship. The plaintiff's legal brief was censored, and parts of the hearing were held in secret.
Even so, details that have emerged - based in large part on British government documents - paint a picture that could be most relevant to the Canadian situation.
The evidence shows two things.
First, Britain's government was, from 2004 on, well aware of atrocities committed by the National
Directorate of Security - a notoriously brutal agency modeled on the old Soviet KGB.
Second, Britain chose to hand over captured prisoners to the Afghan security police anyway - in part because it was convenient, but in part because NDS agents had "the best people skills" for wresting information from detainees.
As testimony in Canada has shown, these NDS "people skills" include beating prisoners with electric cables.
Like Ottawa, the British government claims that it didn't know how brutal the NDS was.
But evidence at the London hearing disputes that. As early as 2004, British officials wrote of Afghan authorities engaging in extra-judicial torture and murder.
One case, diplomats reported, was so notorious that the Afghan government was forced to set up an inquiry. But that, the documents noted, produced only a "whitewash . . . The government of Afghanistan have simply gone through the motions."
In March 2006, the British embassy in Kabul reported that one detainee had been tortured to death in a local prison. It also reported another incident in which a young man, detained on the basis of mistaken identity, was beaten, tortured, raped and killed.
Yet within a month, Britain had formally signed an agreement to hand over captured prisoners to the
NDS.
The documents show that Britain, like Canada and other NATO countries fighting in Afghanistan, were in a political bind.
The 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal, in which U.S. guards abused Iraqi prisoners, made it politically difficult to hand over captured Taliban suspects to the Americans. But what then to do with detainees?

In December 2005, Canada's then top general Rick Hillier signed an agreement with Afghan Defence
Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak to hand over prisoners to the NDS.
Four months later, Britain did the same thing - but with one important caveat: It reserved the right to check up on those it transferred.
A year after that, when the prisoner abuse scandal made headlines in Canada, Ottawa amended its original agreement so that it too had the right to monitor transferred prisoners.
But the British documents show that the formal monitoring agreement made virtually no difference.
First, there was a problem of jurisdiction. Canada and Britain had signed their deals with defence minister
Wardak. But the NDS, which operates under a secret decree that gives it sweeping but unspecified powers, answers only to President Hamid Karzai.
British officials reported that the secret police agency assured them it was not bound by ordinary law.
Meanwhile, Wardak washed his hands of the arrangement. He told British officials he had no authority over the NDS and had signed the agreements simply because "he was responding to the political requirements of the troop- contributing (NATO) nations."
As late as June 2009, the documents show, the head of Afghanistan's NDS was insisting that while his organization might choose to adhere to the terms of the agreement - including humane treatment of prisoners - it was not bound by them.
As a result, the few British attempts to monitor transferred prisoners were usually thwarted or ignored.
Documents show that the first of the scheduled monthly visits took place five months after the deal was signed. Officials blamed "limited co-operation from NDS personnel."
Those visits that did occur were rarely rigorous. Virtually all took place with NDS officers present. In most cases, prisoners asked about their treatment smiled and said they were fine.
When one prisoner defied his guards and reported he had been tortured with electricity, the British monitors didn't believe him, saying they could see no marks. Other evidence pointed out that electric shock torture, properly done, doesn't leave marks.
Meanwhile, allegations against the NDS continued to mount - from the United Nations, the U.S. State
Department, Amnesty International, a British Commons committee and even a commission of the Afghan parliament.
Yet Britain's prisoner transfers continued. As one official noted, pushing the NDS to improve its human rights record was not worth the trouble.
"The result would be limited and not worth potentially damaging our relationship," the official wrote.
In fact, the uncensored documents suggest that NATO interrogators - who are not allowed to torture - found the NDS very helpful.
As early as 2005, British officials praised the NDS as "relatively professional" noting that "they should be a useful source of information and intelligence in the future."
"The reason we chose the NDS is because they are highly skilled," one official said in a witness statement.
"We prefer and choose to transfer detainees to the NDS due to our close working relationship - also because we think they have the best people skills and capacity to deal with important detainees," said another.

That too has resonance with the Canadian situation. Last month, a Commons committee heard that
Canadian intelligence officers routinely sent particularly recalcitrant detainees to the NDS to be interrogated more fulsomely.
The British high court hearing is over but the judges have not yet handed down their decision.
Thomas Walkom's column appears Wednesday and Saturday.
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Section: Opinion
Byline: James Travers
Outlet: The Guardian (Charlottetown)
Headline: Prime minister's message leaves nothing to chance
Page: A19
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Obsessive information control is Stephen Harper's defining political trait. From this week's scripted encounter with students to the sinister cover-up of Afghan prisoner abuse, the prime minister's priority is manipulating the message.
Keeping facts from ruining a slick story has been standard operating procedure in the four years since
Conservatives came to power promising a new era of truth and transparency. But even measured against that status quo, Harper's screening of questions from 120 university coeds arches the eyebrows.
Of course it's possible that these particular delegates to parallel G8/G20 youth conferences are, well, different from university students you know or overhear. Strange as it seems, they may not worry as much about the environment, abortion or other raging issues of the day as much as they fret about what, coincidentally, concerns the prime minister. Managing global markets, keeping Canadian business competitive and countering an international bank tax may indeed weigh heavy on their prematurely weary heads.
What's even more bizarre - and as hard to accept - is Harper's shaky self-confidence. Fielding spontaneous queries shouldn't pose a threat to a prime minister who is prepped by handlers, knows the files and is certain of the rightness of his agenda.
Monday's town hall would be no more than a curious blip if it weren't part of an unfolding pattern. Hosted by Mike Duffy, a former TV journalist handsomely rewarded with a Conservative Senate seat, it offers a taste of what's ahead in the coming election campaign. Voters can expect many more partisan virtual reality shows produced to amuse and persuade, not challenge or inform.
This week's bit of faux political drama is also a timely reminder of how this government reshapes awkward bits of recent history into misleading narratives. Confronted with compelling evidence that
Afghans abused prisoners captured by Canadians, the Tory reflex was first to deny and then to construct a defence that wasn't credible and isn't sustainable.
Ducking prisoner abuse answers is on the opposite end of the significance scale from peeking at university student's questions. All that connects one to the other is the default character of a prime minister who can't seem to resist deception.
Remarkably, Harper would have faced no greater risk in acknowledging what went wrong in Afghanistan than in relying on his wits for responses to the students. Canadians most concerned about the safety of our troops would have willingly accepted that errors are made in the fog of war.
Students chuffed at being in the prime minister's presence would have raised contentious issues politely and then quietly listened to his worn-smooth arguments about climate change and exorcising safe abortions from offshore maternal-aid funding.
Being accountable for prosecuting a war and responsible for defending sensitive policies comes packaged with the influence and perquisites of high office.
Rather than bow to the discipline of power, the prime minister too often opts for what he mistakes as the safest path to political high ground.
Sometimes that causes only passing embarrassment.
Sometimes it creates lasting danger.

A week from now no one will be talking about how the prime minister turned what was promoted as a freewheeling exchange into canned political fodder. But months into the future there will still be debate over how operatives in Harper's office turned facts known to the military, diplomats and the International
Red Cross into fiction ministers could shop to Canadians.
However long either lasts, both contribute to the troubling conclusion that truth is simply another variable in managing messages and minimizing consequences.
James Travers is a national affairs writer. Copyright: 2010 Torstar Syndication Services.
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Section: News
Byline: Matthew Fisher
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Headline: Upcoming Afghan battle is 'our DDay'; Ménard, Royal Canadian Regiment take lead in potentially decisive campaign
Page: A4
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Dateline: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan
Source: Canwest News service
Brig.Gen. Daniel Ménard of Canada is to direct NATO's potentially decisive campaign in Kandahar City and four other districts this summer, including the volatile Panjwaii where troops from the Royal Canadian
Regiment will take the lead as the battle unfolds.
"On what we and the Taliban both say is the vital strategic ground, Canada is still in charge during this critical time," Col. David Bellon, director of operations for Regional Command South.
The U.S. marine colonel works for British Maj.-Gen. Nick Carter who is running the division-sized operation, which is the biggest of NATO's war in Afghanistan.
The Canadians "have the key task for the division. I cannot overstress that enough," Bellon said of a campaign in the increasingly violent Taliban heartland that has already begun slowly with shaping operations and may last into the fall.
"This conflict is our D-Day," Bellon said of the fight for Kandahar. "This will decide who stays. If we get pushed into the water, it is over."
Drawing parallels with the key role that Canadian troops played during the Normandy landings in 1944, he added: "The first guys on the beach here are the Canadians."
Ménard, as the leader of Task Force Kandahar, now commands several thousand U.S. troops in and around Kandahar City and an approximately equal number of Canadians in the city and in Panjwaii, to the west.
Asked about what effect the transition in Kandahar was having on the Canadians as more U.S. forces arrive, Bellon said: "There is no doubt that it is frustrating for them. The time was when (Kandahar province) was all their AO (area of operations) and the Maple Leaf led here."
The colonel said the Canadian force is providing strong counsel for the surge of U.S. troops ordered by
U.S. President Barack Obama.
"We are relying on the Canadians and the lessons that they've paid for through blood and valour for 95 per cent of what we know here," Bellon said.
"They have deep relations in the city that give them a deep understanding. They will be hugely missed" when their mission ends next July.
"History will write that the Canadians came here and for years fought and struggled as the situation got worse," he said. "Their brigade did what four brigades-plus are going to be doing and their hands were full.
"We are very aware that Canada has had more casualties here than any other country. It is ground that has been paid for and there is no intention to lose it."
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Section: Local
Byline: Sue Hickey
Outlet: The Telegram (St. John's)
Illustrations:
-Windsor recently as part of a speaking tour about the Canadian
Forces' construction engineers and the work they do in countries like Afghanistan. - Photo by Sue
Hickey/The Advertiser
Headline: Helping to rebuild Afghanistan; Construction engineers bring hope and practicalassistance to people in need
Page: A7
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Source: The Advertiser
Afghanistan has been a battleground of history, and it has the scars to show it.
But the Afghan people are working to rebuild their country, from erecting government buildings, schools and residences to providing water and sewer service.
And they've been getting assistance from Western military units, like the engineers of the Canadian
Forces.
Maj. James Fera is commanding officer of the 14 Construction Engineering Squadron, which is a division of the Air Force and is based in Bridgewater, N.S.
He was in Grand Falls-Windsor recently as part of a speaking tour on the work of the squadron and the challenges Forces engineers face in countries like Afghanistan.
One-third of the squadron, called Construction Engineering Flights, is based in Gander and is fresh back from a six-month tour in Afghanistan.
"The construction engineers in the Canadian Forces are responsible for a number of things, really enabling the Air Force to basically fly and fight," Fera explained.
"As construction engineers, we have a number of tasks. We maintain and construct buildings on Air Force wings, we build airfields so that the Air Force can have mobility, and build aerodromes. There are a number of things we do to enable the Air Force to do its job." But being a Forces construction engineer isn't restricted to members of the Canadian military, Fera said.
When he was in Afghanistan, he took 15 members of his squadron, including construction and civil engineers, military tradesmen and engineering technologists, who worked directly with Afghans on key community projects.
"The priorities were essentially low-tech projects, such as improvements to irrigation for their fields for agriculture, improvements to roads to their villages, and it was a good fit, as this is what we do in our communities in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland," the major said.
"A number of the folks from Gander worked with non-profit organizations on projects in their own communities, so they took that experience with them when they were deployed to Afghanistan."
However, it's not just about projects, Fera said.
"It's more about the opportunities for the people of Afghanistan, and to help stabilize Afghanistan," he said.
"When you brainstorm with the people in the villages, you give them hope."
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Section: Tjnorth
Headline: Van Doos leader explains Afghan mission; Public relations: Quebec soldier visits province on
PR tour
Page: I4
Outlet: New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal
Byline: GREG MULOCK The Northern Light
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Scorching heat that reaches 50 degrees Celsius in July. Seeing fellow soldiers killed by enemy action.
Being thousands of miles from home in a faraway land of foreign customs.
It's all part and parcel of what Canadian soldiers experience when they go on a tour of duty in
Afghanistan.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jocelyn Paul of the Canadian Armed Forces Base in Valcartier, Que. knows all about it. The 43-year-old native of Quebec recently completed a six-month tour of duty in the city of Kandahar and its environs, with close to 1,200 soldiers under his command from the famed Royal 22nd Regiment, known as the Van Doos.
"My mission was to support the Afghan government "¦ (and provide) security but also "¦ to try and improve governance," he said during a recent interview in Bathurst.
Paul was on a public relations tour of Bathurst, Caraquet and Miramichi as part of the armed forces' outreach program.
He said the focus of his Afghan mission was to support local authorities, in contrast to the usual perception of what Canadian soldiers are doing over there.
"You shouldn't be thinking that we're always chasing Talibans or insurgents. What we do first and foremost is to work with the local nationals, especially since the summer of 2009."
That was when a huge influx of additional American troops changed the dynamics of what was happening. More troops in a city of close to half a million meant more security, which helped Paul and his soldiers conduct the type of operation that he said needs to be adopted in that type of environment, in order to win the Afghan people over.
"If you want to conquer insurgen ts, you have to provide security "¦ you cannot simply patrol once in a while, stop in a village and have a discussion for a few hours and leave. Because as soon as you leave, those people left behind don't have any form of security, they may fall once again under the influence of the Talibans."
Added Paul: "The best thing to do out there is to live among those villagers "¦ To be able to do that, you need to have the right (level) of force. We started to have the numbers."
And live among them they did, sharing meals of stewed lamb and vegetables, and even taking part in village meetings known as 'shuras.'
"It's all about gaining the trust of the Afghan people. Humbly I would say that in some of those villages we finally managed to do it, by the simple fact that we were there to provide them with daily security 24-7."
He said the Taliban rules by fear, and people reacted differently to the presence of the Canadian soldiers when the fear is removed.
"When you decide to live amongst them, and they realize that you are there to stay, all of a sudden they start talking to you quite a lot, sharing their thoughts and they're going to tell you who are those insurgents who are hiding, who are the guys living in the village who are not really from the village."

He compared the situation to how it is in some North American communities, where people won't tell the police about criminal activity because they're afraid of reprisals.
Death, however, was never far away, usually due to roadside bombs rather than straight-on combat.
"We lost 10 of our brothers "¦ Some of them I knew extremely well," said Paul.
Asked how a commanding officer maintains morale in that kind of setting when lives are lost, he indicated it comes down to the fact that the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces know what their job entails, and what the associated risks are.
"We train so much and we are so focused on the mission, everyone has the right mindset. Despite the fact you are devastated by losing a friend out there, usually within 24 hours everybody has kind of recovered," he said, noting there is a support system in place and a process to deal with the emotional fallout from casualties.
Paul said he would always address his troops in these situations, reminding them that their fallen comrades would want them to keep going with the mission, and that it was their professional duty to do so.
"There's a time for crying, there's a time for grief, and a time when you have to go back to work. It is extremely well understood by everybody "¦ It's not easy, it's certainly tough but it's being done for the well being of the mission."
As for what happens back on the home front, when politicians debate the validity of the mission, or protesters make their views known, Paul said he could only speak for himself, but for him personally, it's not the sort of thing he pays much heed to.
"I know what my mission is and I'm just trying to do the best I can. The best way to do that is to make sure the troops are well trained, they are well prepared, that soldiers are focused on the mission."
Added Paul: "We have specific Canadian rules of engagement that we have to obey. So as commander I really ensure that everybody knows what they have to do "¦ with as much professionalism as possible."
Asked if he had anything he would like to say directly to the people of Bathurst and the Chaleur region, the officer said it would be to those affiliated with the Royal Canadian Legion.
"Tell all those veterans that have served with the Canadian Armed Forces "¦ that they have reasons to be proud of those young men and women "¦ serving more or less as their grandfathers did in the Second
World War, or their fathers and uncles in places like Cyprus "¦ They have all good reasons to be proud of those young men and women," he concluded.
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Section: News
Byline: Ian MacLeod
Outlet: The Ottawa Citizen
Illustrations:
Taliban insurgent.
Headline: Ballistics expert links spent shell casings to Semrau's rifle; Role of forensics crucial in trial of soldier accused in shooting insurgent
Page: A4
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
Two expended cartridge casings recovered in the alleged battlefield mercy killing of a wounded Afghan insurgent were fired from the gun of the Canadian soldier on trial for murder, an RCMP firearms expert told a court martial Friday.
With no body of the dead Taliban ever recovered, much less his identity, and no eyewitnesses, the fate of accused CFB Petawawa army Capt. Robert Semrau may rest heavily on the expert evidence of Robin
Thériault, a senior civilian firearms and toolmark examiner for federal police.
Over two hours Friday, Th ériault testified how he test-fired the Colt 5.56-millimetre C8FTHB carbine carried in Afghanistan by Semrau, the first Canadian soldier charged in connection with a battlefield death.
The 36-year-old officer has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and three other charges.
Thériault microscopically compared two test-fire cartridges and two test-fire bullets with two expended cartridges and two spent 5.56-mm rounds military investigators later recovered at the remote Helmund province scene of the alleged shooting.
"I concluded the two cartridge casings had been fired from the rifle," he told a five-officer jury panel.
However, he was unable to reach a conclusion on the two battlefield bullets, one of which was only a partial bullet.
"I could neither identify or eliminate them as having been fired from the rifle," he testified.
Also Friday, the Canadian Forces complied with a court order and released a grainy, 10-minute cellphone video of Semrau and his unit and Afghan National Army soldiers in the field in the moments leading to the alleged murder.
Military Judge Lt.-Col. J.G. Perron, responding to earlier legal applications from the Citizen and the CBC, recently ordered the video released.
For security and Geneva Conventions considerations, the faces of the soldiers and Taliban have been blurred and the audio track removed.
The video was played for the jury and courtroom spectators on April 26.
At the time it was filmed, Semrau was leading a Canadian mentoring team embedded with a Afghan
National Army rifle company on a sweep along the Helmand River.
About two hours into the operation, insurgents opened fire near the village of Lashkar Gah.
An Apache helicopter gunship was called in and fired on the Taliban.
The video shows a man, lying on his back on a dirt path, partially covered by a blanket.

He is surrounded by a handful of Afghan soldiers. In the version shown in court, his eyes are closed and he has an impassive expression on his bearded face.
He appears to be in his late 20s or 30s.
One soldier pulls back the blanket to reveal the man's left foot dangling at an odd angle from his leg. It appears to be almost severed.
The man, identified as a severely wounded Taliban fighter, makes no perceptible movements.
After a few minutes, the cameraman moves off through a cornfield to where a second Taliban fighter with a bloodied face lies.
The prosecution alleges that, minutes after the video was taken, Semrau twice shot the wounded Taliban fighter in the chest in a battlefield mercy killing.
Another member of the mentoring team, Cpl. Steven Fournier, has testified Semrau admitted to a "mercy killing" when the team gathered on the battlefield a few minutes after the shooting.
A second team member, former Cpl. Tony Haraszta, testified Semrau spoke to the team that night and told them, "he shot the Taliban, that he put him out of his misery and if anything came of it, he would wear it."
The third team member, Warrant Officer Merlin Longaphie, testified Semrau made no such admissions.
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Section: News
Byline: The Canadian Press
Outlet: The Toronto Star
Illustrations:
Friday shows unidentified soldiers standing next to the severely wounded man whose legs stick out from under a blanket. THE CANADIAN PRESS
Headline: Wounded enemy seen in court-martial video; Canadian officer denieskilling Afghan lying inert under blanket
Page: A8
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
OTTAWA-A military court has released a grainy video shot on an Afghanistan battlefield moments before a Canadian soldier is alleged to have killed a wounded insurgent.
The blurry images were caught by a cellphone and show the severely injured man lying in the dust.
The military judge who approved release of the video ordered that the faces in the footage be blurred out and the audio track deleted to protect the identities of Afghan soldiers and interpreters.
The video is an exhibit in the unprecedented trial of Capt. Robert Semrau, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, attempted murder and negligent performance of duty.
The 10-minute video, shot by a soldier in the Afghan National Army, shows a bearded, motionless man covered up to his chest in a light blue blanket.
When an Afghan soldier partially pulls back the blanket, one of the victim's legs is seen to be all but severed above the ankle, although no other wounds are visible.
The video shows no signs of life from the alleged victim, nor do they show any efforts at medical care.
Although witnesses have testified Afghan soldiers kicked sand on the victim, this isn't seen in the video.
Semrau is a 36-year-old father of two from Petawawa, Ont., who served with the British army before joining the Canadian Forces.
Witnesses have testified the victim had been seriously wounded during a firefight with Afghan soldiers being mentored by Canadians. They said Semrau fired two shots during the incident.
It is not clear if the victim was still alive when the shots were fired. The man was never identified, the body was not recovered and no cause of death has been established.
The Canadian Press
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Section: Sports
Byline: Monty Mosher Sports Reporter
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Illustrations: will run for 12 hours on a treadmill today, the Blue Nose Marathon on Sunday and will tackle the 280kilometre Cabot Trail Relay solo next weekend. (Tim Krochak / Staff)
Headline: Running for kidswho can't; Campbell to tackle Blue Nose, then Cabot Trail solo
Page: D1
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
ASK HALIFAX native Mark Campbell what compels him to run upwards of 36 hours at a stretch and the answer comes back just as quickly - kids who can't run at all.The 42-year-old network manager for the
Department of National Defence will begin an awesome grind starting today with 12 hours on a treadmill as part of the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon's Active Living Expo.
On Sunday, he'll line up with the other runners for his seventh straight 42-kilometre Blue Nose run through the streets of Halifax and Dartmouth beginning at 9 a.m.
When that's done, he'll head to Cape Breton next weekend where he plans to run all 276 undulating kilometres of the Cabot Trail Relay by himself after splitting the relay with Dartmouth's Jodi Isenor last year.
He estimates it will take him between 30 to 36 hours to do the Cape Breton run. The distance is approximately seven consecutive marathons.
He's not crazy, but he's obsessed.
He's raising money and awareness for the Brigadoon Children's Camp Society, a Halifax-based non-profit organization building a residential camp at Aylesford Lake for children living with chronic illness. He figures by the end of the Cape Breton trail event he may have earned more than $40,000 for the cause.
"These things come so easily to me," he said Friday of his seemingly effortless running. "But these kids, through no fault of their own, don't get that opportunity.
"After running the Cabot Trail I'll be sore for a couple days, but I'll be fine afterwards. But these illnesses don't go away after a couple of days. So stuff like that motivates me."
He keeps himself in shape by running nine kilometres back and forth to work from his home on Waverley
Road. He's never had a running-related injury and believes it has something to do with running on his forefeet, which simulates a barefoot running style even though he wears a thin shoe that protects him from cuts.
He'll pace himself on the treadmill today and, with scores of ultra-marathons to his name, 12 hours isn't remotely out of his comfort zone. He ran the Blue Nose in 3:17 last year and will shoot for something similar again Sunday, although he may back off to save some energy for next weekend.
"I'll take it super easy this week," he said.
Campbell's back story is like so many other running stories - one thing just led to another.
He was 24, unemployed and out of shape and decided to cycle a five-kilometre loop around his house.
He couldn't make it the first time.
Before long he was cycling twice around the circuit.

He got a flat tire and went into a cycle shop that was promoting an upcoming duathlon, which combines cycling and running. He took to his cycling route on foot and once again failed in his first few tries before eventually succeeding.
Within two years he had dropped some weight and was competing in Ironman triathlons consisting of a
3.8-kilometre swim, 180-kilomtere bike ride and a full marathon. He has completed 18 Ironman events since 1994.
He's also done adventure races Eco-Challenge Fiji and Primal Quest, where athletes travel for days in wilderness conditions, sleeping when they can.
"Everything just became more possible," he said of his first steps into running. "I got myself into better shape, lost 30 pounds and got into doing some of these races. I got into mountain biking and road bike racing and just really enjoyed it."
He did the Cabot Trail run three years ago with Isenor and former Acadia basketball player Jan
Trojanowski, finishing 29th out of 66. Last year it was a tandem effort, with Isenor and Campbell alternating legs, before the solo push this year.
Isenor and Campbell finished 57th out of 70 a year ago. Campbell doesn't expect to keep up with the relay teams, which generally feature 17 competitors, but he intends to finish.
His running ambitions don't cause much friction around home. His wife, Amy Gough, has completed four
Ironman distances.
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Section: News
Headline: March of pride
Page: A6
Outlet: The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)
Byline: Main Text
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
About 2,000 soldiers from the Combat Training Centre at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown participated in a march Friday. The formation was celebrating its identity as the premier training organization in the
Canadian Army, and it also promoted the physical fitness of its soldiers. The centre trains about 15,000 soldiers each year.
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Section: NovaScotia
Outlet: The Chronicle-Herald
Headline: Child porn charge dropped against DND civilian employee
Page: A6
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
A Halifax man who was accused of having child pornography on a Defence Department computer in
December 2008 no longer faces a criminal charge.
The charge against Robert Yi, 46, was withdrawn by the Crown this week in Halifax provincial court.
The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service laid the charge against Yi, a civilian employee at
CFB Halifax.
No reason for the Crown's decision to drop the matter was given in court.
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Section: News
Lead: This may have been the shortest battle in Canadian military history.
Headline: Decency prevails Rogers does the right thing
Page: 7
Byline: BY JOE WARMINGTON
Outlet: The Toronto Sun
Illustrations:
Date: Saturday 22 May 2010
This may have been the shortest battle in Canadian military history.
"We are amending our policy as it relates to customers on active duty," Odette Coleman of Rogers
Communications announced Friday.
Count that as another victory for the good guys!
Truth is there never really were any bad guys in this story. Just a bad policy -- one that no longer exist.
However, for a few hours Friday there was quite a furor over a Canadian soldier deployed in Afghanistan who was unable to freeze his Rogers cellphone bill while serving his country at war.
It was teetering on a public relations nightmare for Rogers.
"It is crazy how Rogers is doing this to people who are out risking their lives every day!" said Jill Harris, whose brother was also just deployed.
"I took it upon myself to write my disgust to the company," said Angela Flores who also has a brother in
Afghanistan.
But Capt. David Mudicka wrote: "I am tired of all the whining and people wanting everything handed to them because they volunteered to go overseas. Whatever happened to being a quiet professional and just going over there and doing your job?"
Added Sgt. Brian Venables: "Sucks to be him, but he volunteered."
Truth is 20-year-old LAV driver Cpl. Glenn Fraser, on the ground in Afghanistan, did not say anything about this. His dad just wanted to make sure no other soldier ever had to face this expense again. No free ride. Just common sense.
Meanwhile, to its credit, Rogers has turned the whole thing around and is actually hoping instead to set the industry standard for how this should be done in the future.
In fact, not only will Rogers now grant Richard's request to suspend his son's contract, it also has begun the process of changing how it handles contracts with soldiers at war.
"We have reached out to Richard so we can address his concerns," Rogers spokesperson Odette
Coleman said. "We value our customers and we understand that their life circumstances may change, like
Mr. Fraser going to serve our country in Afghanistan."
Richard was thrilled "not just for my son but for all of the men and women who serve our country at war."
The proud beer store employee was pleased with Rogers' quick response because he did not find that to be the case in his original dealings. "But a very nice woman called me and said 'we dropped the ball and we are going to make it right.' "

Rogers, quite simply, did the right thing by amending this rule. When we got through to the appropriate people I was pretty sure they would. Sources tell me Rogers is going to work on this through the Victoria
Day weekend.
"They are placing calls right now to get this corrected, " said an insider. "Our senior director of infrastructure is also ex-military."
Coleman did not give a time frame for when the new policy would be in place but did say "the terms of the revised policy for customers in active duty are being defined" and that "we will in essence suspend the services until the customer returns from duty."
She added there are "lots of intricate details based on customers' different accounts we will be ironing out next week."
As for all of the comments on both sides of this issue, I thank you. There are more than 300 on torontosun.com which you can read yourself. I also received almost 200 e-mails. It also shows what we can change if we were to work together.
Now can we get anybody as upset about the coming implementation of the HST?
That battle might prove to be a tougher one to win. Have a great weekend everybody. Scrawler out!
JOE.WARMINGTON@SUNMEDIA.CA
---
YOU SAID IT
On torontosun.com
- "It's (because of) this kind of inflexibility and insensitivity of large corporations such as Rogers that we have changed service providers."
-- -- Brad Britton
- "I doubt (the soldier) was dragged from his bed in the middle of the night when he found out he was shipping out ... he could have got his affairs in order himself instead of his dad calling."
-- -- Charlie Farro
- "Them's the breaks. A contract is a contract. Don't sign one, do pay as you go. If he leased a car he would still be responsible for the lease. Same goes for house payments." -- R.H.
- "Have a heart. Rules are made, and they are made to be broken at some point."
-- -- Greg Ross
- "I have a phone with Bell. Got cancer last August. I asked them to wave the $400 cancellation fee on compassionate grounds. Nope!" -- Terry Bensette
© 2010 Sun Media Corporation
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