MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 2 Feb 12

• Afghanistan (1)  The latest casualty numbers are out. “Defence department figures released Wednesday have put the final, official tally on the number of Canadian soldiers wounded during the 10-year Afghanistan combat mission at more than 2,000. Twenty soldiers were wounded in action in 2011, the lowest number since Canada took over responsibility of Kandahar in 2005. A further 168 received what were classified as “non-battle injuries.” That brings the total number of Canadian soldiers wounded in action from the start of the mission in April 2002 to the end this past December at 635, with another 1,412 having suffered non-battle injuries. Four Canadian soldiers were killed in 2011, bringing the total to 158 ….”
• Afghanistan (2a)  “Taliban plans to establish a first-ever political office in Qatar are being met with skepticism from the Canadian government, which is dubious of the insurgent movement’s real desire to negotiate a peace settlement for Afghanistan. This as the government sought to downplay a leaked NATO report that has cast doubt on Canadian and international assertions the Taliban is on its last legs and that average Afghans feel confident about the future. Taliban officials announced in January they were planning to open the Qatar office so they could sidestep Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government and speak directly to the U.S. and other NATO members about a way to end the 11-year conflict in Afghanistan. The move has been welcomed in some corners, including Washington, as a positive development that offers a track for reaching a negotiated peace. But others, Canada included, aren’t so confident. A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said the government “remains deeply skeptical” of the Taliban’s motives in establishing the office and has “grave concerns with the sincerity of the Taliban.” “The Taliban did not indicate that they are ready to renounce violence, respect the Afghan constitution, including women’s rights, and sever ties with al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations,” spokesman Rick Roth said in an email. “These conditions are essential for Canada to support reconciliation efforts.” ….”
• Afghanistan (2b)  “Pakistan can’t co-ordinate with the Taliban if the country’s government expects Canada and other allies to continue working in the region, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. Addressing a leaked NATO report that says the alliance believes Pakistan is still supporting the Taliban, MacKay dismissed the part of the report that said the insurgents’ morale is high. He said it’s not a new concern for Canada that Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI, is working with the Taliban. “We’ve always been very clear in our messaging and in our insistence that Pakistan not co-operate at any level with the Taliban. And that has been a frustrated effort,” MacKay said. “If they are a reliable ally, and if they are a country that wants to see the United States, Canada, Great Britain and other NATO allies continue to work in the region and to bring about peace and security throughout the region, then their co-operation is required and in fact is demanded.” ….”
• Afghanistan (3)  Some of the REST of the story on the Canadian soldier feeling threatened in Afghanistan because he’s gay (via Army.ca)
• Afghanistan (3)  Government of Canada Info-machine’s podcast on what we’ve been up to in Afghanistan – transcript here, downloadable video here.
• New home coming for JTF-2?  “The federal government plans to kick two landowners off their property to make way for the construction of a massive new base for Canada’s special forces. Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed the move Wednesday, saying that the extraordinary steps are necessary so that the country’s elite commandos can set up a new training facility in a remote area next to the military’s main air base, CFB Trenton. “Expeditionary forces and forces that are deploying overseas being close to an airbase is something that helps facilitate that,” he said in Ottawa. “Similarly, the current training areas are in an urban area and so again for operational training, for the type of specialized training necessary, this new facility we believe will optimize our abilities.” The long-planned move will consolidate the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, a team that includes the elite Joint Task Force 2 counterterrorism force and the Canadian Special Operation Regiment. Currently, JTF2 is based at the Dwyer Hill Training Facility northwest of Ottawa while CSOR operates out of CFB Petawawa. The plans have been stalled by two holdouts with landowners near Trenton who have refused to sell their farmland to the federal government. The first is Frank Myers, whose family has owned the 93-hectare farm for 200 years. The other is Jim Pang, of Belleville, whom local news reports say purchased his 22-hectare property as an investment in 1976. Neither could be reached Wednesday for comment. Both have been in negotiations for years with the government, but refused to sell off their properties ….”  More from the home-town paper here, and a bit of backstory dating back to 2007 at Army.ca.
• Veterans Affairs Minister takes a question on a proposed hospital closure.  “Ms. Annick Papillon (Québec, NDP):  Mr. Speaker, federal services provided to our veterans are under serious threat. Many of these individuals who risked their lives for this country suffer from health problems and are waiting for treatment. Transferring Ste. Anne’s Hospital and cutting the Department of Veterans Affairs’ budget will result in the loss of 1,800 jobs. Our veterans are not responsible for the Conservatives’ mismanagement. Will this government follow the lead of Great Britain and the United States and treat our war heroes properly? Hon. Steven Blaney (Minister of Veterans Affairs, CPC):  Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the member just said, our government is maintaining veterans’ benefits. As for Ste. Anne’s Hospital, we will ensure that our veterans continue to receive high quality services in both official languages. We are doing this and we plan to transfer responsibility for Ste. Anne’s Hospital to the Government of Quebec for one very clear reason: we want to maintain high quality services for our veterans. We want to maintain the quality of the services offered to veterans and the public, as well as to maintain good jobs in health care.”
• Way Up North  “China may use the upcoming visit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to try convincing him that it deserves a more prominent role in the Arctic. Next year Canada begins a two-year term as chair of the Arctic Council, which comprises the eight nations that ring the North Pole. Even though it has no Arctic territories, China wants a place at that table. Zhang Junsai, the Chinese ambassador to Canada, told a Montreal audience on Wednesday that his country should be allowed to be there. “Of course, China wishes to be an observer,” he said. The Arctic region may contain as much as one-quarter of the Earth’s untapped oil and gas, reserves that will become more accessible as temperatures rise and polar ice caps melt. Meanwhile, China covets additional energy and resources to power its fast-growing economy and is already investing heavily in Canada’s oilsands. That theme of energy exports is expected to play a central role in Harper’s upcoming trip ….”
• What’s Canada Buying? (1)  Building an Integrated Personnel Support Centre/Veterans Affairs building in Cold Lake and research on improving military-civilian emergency management in British Columbia.
• What’s Canada Buying? (2)  “A Dartmouth outfit has won a $2.3-million contract to test and repair military equipment across Atlantic Canada over the next two years. Pylon Atlantic will also have three one-year options on the contract that could push its value up to $5 million to $6 million. “It certainly is a big win for us,” Wayne Sampson, the general manager, said Wednesday. “We did a lot of hard work to make sure we were able to win this bid.” The military work of calibrating and repairing everything from calipers to torque wrenches from all the military bases across Atlantic Canada has been the company’s mainstay since 1990. “A lot of the instruments come out of the dockyard,” Sampson said. “We also pick up equipment in New Brunswick — Oromocto and Moncton. We send on-site teams to Labrador, and St. John’s, (N.L.)” ….”
• F-35 Tug o’ War (1)  Ooopsie…. “Mr. Speaker, yesterday in question period the member of Parliament for Burnaby–New Westminister and the NDP interim finance critic outrageously overstated the cost of F-35s. His statement was false and completely dishonest. It is unfortunate that the member and his party deliberately refuse to do basic research and instead choose to make things up as they go along. If the member did his research he would realize that the benefits of this purchase have already resulted in over $300 million in contracts for Canadian companies, one of which employs hundreds of workers in my riding of Delta—Richmond East. These contracts are providing important work to an industry comprising over 10,000 highly skilled manufacturing jobs. The NDP’s willingness to distort the facts and mislead Canadians is further proof that it is not fit to govern.”  The statement in question?  This one, during debate on pensions:   “Mr. Speaker, the future is by forcing seniors to work to age 67 and that will take $30,000 away from low-income seniors. The government has a choice. A single F-35 costs $450 million. That would pay OAS benefits for 70,000 Canadian seniors. Its prison plan costs $19 billion. That would pay annual benefits for 2.9 million Canadians seniors. The Conservatives say costly prisons and fighter jets are their priority. We say seniors are more important. Why are the Conservatives cutting future benefits for seniors? If they keep down this road, it is good-bye Charlie Brown.”
• F-35 Tug o’ War (2)  Fantino’s latest in the House of Commons:  “…. F-35s are coming off the production line, pilots are flying them and over 60 Canadian industries are benefiting from the manufacturing of parts for this particular program, industries in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia …. in replacing the aging CF-18s, Canada made the conscious choice to partner with our closest allies to develop the next generation of aircraft for our military men and women. By doing so, we are creating jobs for Canadian workers today that will be sustained into the future. It will also ensure that our brave men and women have the equipment they need for many years to come to do their jobs in the Canadian military.”
• From the Pentagon Info-machine:  “Agreements signed last week in the Canadian capital of Ottawa set up a roadmap for U.S. and Canadian officials to work together in the event of a natural disaster or attack, the director of strategy, policy and plans at the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command said this week. Army Maj. Gen. Fran Mahon said the agreements allow the two countries’ militaries to work more closely together and to plan for support to civilian agencies. U.S. Army Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., commander of NORAD and Northcom, and Lt. Gen. Walter Semianiw of the Canadian army, commander of Canada Command, signed the documents Jan. 25. One is a combined defense plan that lays down a planning framework for defense cooperation following a natural or man-made disaster or attack. The military leaders also signed a continuation of the civil assistance plan that allows the military from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a civil emergency ….”
• Libya  “A Canadian woman jailed in Mexico on suspicion of leading a conspiracy to smuggle members of slain Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s family into the country says she has been tortured and abused during nearly three months in custody. In a six-page letter obtained by CBC News, Cyndy Vanier documents a string of alleged abuses she claims she has endured since Nov. 10 while being detained in Mexico City’s Centro de Arraigos detention centre. A Mexican judge Tuesday night ordered Vanier and three co-accused remain in jail for up to 10 more days while authorities decide whether they should be charged. The group has already been held for more than 80 days under Mexico’s “preventive arrest” laws while authorities investigate what they have called an international plot to forge travel documents and smuggle surviving members of the Gadhafi family to a home on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Interior Minister Alejandro Poire accused Vanier in December of being the ringleader of the alleged plot ….”  More here.
• Company endorsed by former Canadian General offering military personnel chance to get in on ground floor to sell “Liquid Nutrition”.  “Liquid Nutrition Group Inc. announced today an innovative program called ‘Operation Good To Go’ created to encourage both active and retired armed forces personnel to become Liquid Nutrition franchisees. “Operation Good To Go is one of the first programs of its kind and a great example of a company putting country and community ahead of the bottom line” Liquid Nutrition is offering qualified personnel a preferred franchise rate and the opportunity to own and operate their own business. Liquid Nutrition will also support franchisees with the tools and training required to open a successful Liquid Nutrition retail operation. “Operation Good To Go is one of the first programs of its kind and a great example of a company putting country and community ahead of the bottom line,” said retired Major-General David Fraser, a partner, in Operation Good to Go and Chairman of Red Maple Capital Inc., as well as a 31 year veteran in the Canadian Forces and a former commander of the Multinational Brigade in Afghanistan. “Liquid Nutrition will go along way in assisting the men and woman who have served their countries with an exciting opportunity to successfully transition into a second career and civilian life.” The program is a five-year partnership between Liquid Nutrition and Red Maple Capital Inc. Ken Seville, President of Red Maple Capital will lead this initiative. Steve Nash, two-time NBA MVP and partner of Liquid Nutrition, believes the program will attract numerous qualified franchisees in markets across Canada, the United States and around the globe. “I am very excited about the opportunity for the men and women in the armed forces to join the Liquid Nutrition family. They bring a tremendous work ethic, sense of pride and community, discipline and team building abilities to our company and truly embody the Liquid Nutrition lifestyle,” said Nash. Liquid Nutrition hopes to attract franchisees from the Canadian Forces, United States Armed Forces and internationally ….”