MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – September 13, 2012

• Libya  This film by this guy leads to this shit, which includes the killing of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya – Canada’s pissed and double-checking security at its Libyan embassy while the U.S. prepares to get other Americans out and considers other next steps.
• Ottawa announces a bit more money for mental health services for the troops (more info in Backgrounder here) – a group representing Canada’s psychiatrists approves, as does a group representing psychologists.  More from media here, here and here.
• Speaking of mental health, a Canadian military mental health nurse got to speak to an international audience about mental health of Reservists post deployment – you can download a copy of his PowerPoint deck here.
• Joshua Baker, 1985-2010, R.I.P.  Remember, under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “any person charged with an offence has the right …. to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal”  “Major Christopher Lunney will face a General Court Martial commencing September 13, 2012, in relation to the death of Corporal Joshua Baker and the injury of four other soldiers on a training range in Afghanistan in February 2010 …. Maj. Lunney …. at the time was the Officer Commanding Stabilization Company A, a sub-unit of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar …. It is alleged that range safety procedures were violated in relation to the planning and execution of activities on the range that day.  A General Court Martial is composed of a military judge and a panel of five members.  n June of 2011, the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service charged two of Major Lunney’s subordinates—Major (then Captain) Darryl Watts and Warrant Officer (retired) Paul Ravensdale—with six charges and five alternate charges each, the most serious of which was Manslaughter. In February 2012, the Director of Military Prosecutions preferred charges against each member; however, their courts martial have not yet been convened ….” – a bit more here.   
• Stuart Langridge, R.I.P.  “Military detectives could have laid criminal negligence charges against Cpl. Stuart Langridge’s superiors if they had clear evidence that the troubled Afghan vet was placed under a suicide watch in the days before he hanged himself, a federal inquiry heard Wednesday.  “If you have a person on a suicide watch and he had an opportunity to kill himself there could be charges,” National Investigation Services (NIS) detective Warrant Officer Jon Bigelow told the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) hearing into the NIS investigation of Langridge’s suicide.  But Bigelow told the inquiry that the NIS probe into Langridge’s death revealed no clear evidence that he was on a suicide watch ….” - more here and here.  
• Afghanistan  From the Info-machine:  “Canada’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Presents Medals to Members of the Canadian Civilian Policing Contingent in Afghanistan”     Defence Minister talkin’ tanks today in Gagetown.
• Way Up North (1)   More Canadian Rangers in Newfoundland  “A new Canadian Ranger Patrol in Newfoundland and Labrador in the Burin North area was officially established this past Saturday.  Military personnel from the 5th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (5 CRPG) based in Gander, Bellevue MHA Calvin Peach and members of the public were in the Town of Terrenceville for the official opening ceremonies at St. Joseph’s All Grade School.  Burin North is now the 32nd Canadian Ranger patrol in NL and will have members located in the communities of St Bernard’s-Jacques Fontaine, Grand le Pierre, South East Bight, Bay L’Argent, Little Bay East, English Harbour East, Baine Harbour, Boat Harbour, Boat Harbour West, Terrenceville, Burin Bay Arm, Harbour Mille, Rushoon and Petit Forte.  It’s the second patrol on the Burin Peninsula and provides more significant coverage of the entire peninsula ….”     
• Way Up North (2)  “With rapidly shrinking Arctic ice and expanding interest in northern shipping and resource exploitation, issues of sovereignty loom ever larger over the northern landscape.  The Arctic region is incredibly vast. While land boundaries between the Arctic nations are, for the most part, clearly established, ownership of more than 14 million square kilometres of Arctic Ocean — an area equal to the size of Russia — is not quite as clear.  But one thing is certain. As Arctic ice disappears — a factor that is also at play in this summer’s search for the lost ships of Sir John Franklin’s 1845 mission — the world focus on the region’s resources intensifies, and the question of who owns the Arctic becomes much more than an academic discussion ….”
• Khadr Boy (1)  “Convicted war criminal Omar Khadr will be back in Canada before winter, ending a diplomatic logjam with the United States after a controversial legal saga that has divided Canadians ever since he was captured on an Afghan battlefield a decade ago.  While Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is not expected to formally communicate the decision for several weeks, The Huffington Post Canada has learned the Conservative Government will approve Khadr’s transfer from the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay and plans are afoot to house the 25-year-old Canadian in a federal institution with a segregated space for his own safety.  The exact location has yet to be determined, but Khadr could be placed in a facility such as Kingston Penitentiary, where serial killer Paul Bernardo is held, sources said. Officially, Khadr has six years left to serve of his eight-year sentence, but he could be out on parole as early as next June.  Khadr will likely be in a Canadian institution by November, just in time for the U.S. presidential  election, though the transfer date has yet to be set and none of the timelines have been finalized, sources said.  Reached at Khadr’s family home in Toronto, his sister Zaynab Khadr was surprised but cautiously optimistic about her brother’s return to Canada.  “I’ll be happy when my brother is home, until then everything is just the news,” she said.  Multiple sources confirmed that Toews will approve the transfer because Khadr is a Canadian citizen and Canada must abide by its bilateral treaties ….”
• Khadr Boy (2)  “The Canadian government is defending itself against allegations it is deliberately dragging its feet in allowing Omar Khadr to return from Guantanamo Bay by arguing much of the delay is the fault of the Americans, new court documents show.  In an affidavit filed in response to a Federal Court application by Khadr’s lawyers, a senior public safety official cites two main reasons for the lack of a decision to the application for Khadr to serve out his sentence in Canada — something he was eligible to do starting in October 2011.  The first reason cited was a delay in Washington’s approval of the transfer — granted only this past spring.  The second reason was Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ request for sealed videos of mental assessments of the inmate done for military prosecutors — apparently only discovered in February through media reports ….”
• Canada’s Public Safety Minister chats up America’s homeland security boss about border security, other stuff  “Canada’s Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, and the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, met in Montreal, Quebec (Tuesday) to discuss border security and cross-border trade.  (The) meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the work being done to advance the joint Beyond the Border Action Plan: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, which was announced by Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the President of the United States, Barack Obama, on December 7th, 2011.  There has been substantial progress on numerous border initiatives outlined in the Beyond the Border Action Plan. For example, the three-year residency requirement for the NEXUS program was amended and new technology to reduce border wait times was launched …. Minister Toews and Secretary Napolitano also discussed ongoing work to improve bilateral information sharing for national security purposes while respecting each country’s constitutional and legal frameworks – a commitment made in the Beyond the Border Action Plan ….”