MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – September 21, 2012
- “Members of the Canadian military have been told to tighten the screws and withhold information, even though it may not be sensitive or a threat to national security. The unusual directive, known as a CANFORGEN, was written last year by the country’s deputy top commander in response to a media story that examined financial uncertainty facing National Defence. The story, in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper on April 29, 2011, looked at lapsed funding — cash the department was unable to spend on capital projects — and came at the height of the last federal election campaign. It was deemed to have contained “information that was not meant for wider or public consumption,” but the data had not been designated either secret or protected. That prompted Vice-Admiral Bruce Donaldson, vice chief of defence staff, to instruct those handling information to give everything that passes over their desks — or posted on the internal department system — a second glance with an eye to keeping it hidden ….”
- From the CF Info-machine via YouTube: “Snipers from 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group improve their adaptability by training in different environments.“ More here.
- Stuart Langridge, R.I.P. “A soldier tasked with reviewing an investigation into an Afghan vet’s suicide defended himself Thursday against allegations of bias. Sgt. Scott Shannon led the final investigation into how the military handled the life and death of Cpl. Stuart Langridge. But his conclusions — that no one in the military broke any rules in their dealings with Langridge or his family — are part of a continuing inquiry at the Military Police Complaints Commission. The inquiry was called following three years of what Langridge’s family called flawed and biased investigations into what happened in the days before and after Langridge killed himself in 2008. But during a day-and-half of often-combative testimony at the inquiry, Shannon insisted his review was thorough and detailed ….”
- “Cameron Snyder is thrilled to finally be off the streets. For the first time in nearly 10 years, the former Canadian Armed Forces vet has a home, occupying one of the 15 apartments that comprise The Madison Building, Calgary’s first affordable housing complex dedicated to helping homeless ex-military personnel find a place to call their own. “It’s still overwhelming,” says Snyder, 43, who served with the Canadian Armed Forces in Cyprus and Norway for three-and-a-half years. Located in Calgary’s Beltline District, and sponsored in part by the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the Alberta Provincial government, The Madison Building was recently awarded $540,000 by the Canadian Federal Government to continue providing help for veterans who have fallen on hard times. In an effort to eradicate Canadian veteran homelessness, the federal funding is part of a $1.9 million two-year pilot project extended to organizations that currently run homeless programs in Calgary, Victoria, Toronto and London, ON. An additional $1.8 million worth of contributions from Veteran Affairs Canada are also earmarked for the endeavour ….”
- May 23, 2012: “The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, and the Honourable Julian Fantino, Associate Minister of National Defence, attended a Gala tonight in support of the Helmets to Hardhats program. The Helmets to Hardhats program, led by Canada’s Building Trade Unions, will help connect Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members and reservists to a range of careers within the construction industry, including apprenticeships in various building trades. “Our Government is ensuring our Veterans successfully transition from military to civilian life, said Minister Blaney ….”
- 18 Sept 12: “The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, and Brigadier-General (Retired) Gregory Matte, Executive Director of Helmets to Hardhats Canada, today officially launched the Helmets to Hardhats Canada Web site …. dedicated to helping Veterans and men and women in uniform find jobs in the building and construction industry as they transition to civilian life ….”
- 21 Sept 12 (1): “On behalf of the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for Halton, along with representatives from Helmets to Hardhats Canada, will highlight a new tool for Canadian Forces Veterans and currently serving Regular and Reserve Force personnel to find jobs in the construction industry as they transition into civilian life ….” in Hamilton, Ontario.
- 21 Sept 12 (2): “On behalf of the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Minister for the Atlantic Gateway and Member of Parliament for Fredericton, will highlight a new tool for Canadian Forces Veterans and currently serving Regular and Reserve Force personnel to find jobs in the construction industry as they transition into civilian life ….” in Oromocto, New Brunswick.
- 21 Sept 12 (3): “…. On behalf of the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, Senator Yonah Martin will highlight a new tool for Canadian Forces Veterans and currently serving Regular and Reserve Force personnel to find jobs in the construction industry as they transition into civilian life ….” in Victoria, British Columbia.
- Cold Lake fighter training squadron reconnects with its eastern roots.
- Way Up North A Canadian in Alaska “Cold, determined and isolated atop a mountain in the middle of Alaska, a silent sentinel scans the skies. The men and women receiving the data from this lonely radar site of the Alaskan Radar System, though different in nationality, realize they belong to something bigger than themselves and their differences. From the sea below to the skies well above, keeping their countries safe is all that matters to the Americans and Canadians who monitor it. Ever vigilant, the sentries of the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Region – part of the U.S. and Canadian binational organization known as NORAD – maintain their solemn duty: to survey and provide early warning. “It is our job to warn of an aerospace attack upon North America,” said Royal Canadian Air Force Col. Daniel Constable, deputy commander of the ANR. “The formal missions of NORAD are threefold: aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning ….”
- Khadr Boy (Belated) Happy Birthday!
- A calls for Canada to get behind more Responsibility to Protect (R2P) work “…. Canada should get back on the bandwagon and join our other allies (including the United States) who support R2P and who realize that the destabilizing effects of mass atrocities have the potential to affect our national security and social cohesion. Canada could elevate its international status by naming a high-level R2P focal point within government, and by rejoining the ‘Friends of R2P’ group in New York ….”
- CSIS’s Annual Report for 2010-2011 is out - more on that here and here.
- “The Harper government unveiled a controversial monument on Thursday to slain diplomats on the spot where a Turkish diplomat was gunned down in Ottawa 30 years ago, allegedly by Armenian terrorists. The cone-shaped metal-and-wood monument is dedicated to Col. Atilla Altikat, the slain military attache of the Turkish embassy, and is also meant to commemorate all fallen diplomats. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird referred to the recent killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three fellow diplomats, as he unveiled the monument with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutolu, who travelled to Ottawa for the event. The monument also represents an olive branch from Canada to Turkey because of a rift caused by the Harper government’s decision in 2006 to recognize as genocide the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the First World War ….” – more here and here.
- BAAAAAAAAAAAAD Eritrean consulate! “The government of Eritrea has agreed to stop collecting a controversial “diaspora tax” at its consulate in Toronto after the Department of Foreign Affairs threatened to send home the repressive African regime’s only diplomat in Canada. The consulate had been soliciting a 2% income tax and mandatory “donations” for its military from Eritreans living in Canada. The RCMP and United Nations have reported that those who refused to pay were subjected to threats, intimidation and coercion. But last week, Foreign Affairs officials sent off a strongly worded diplomatic note making it clear Canada would not renew the accreditation of Consul Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael unless Eritrea agreed in writing to stop the scheme. “Canada will consider the embassy’s request for renewal of his accreditation once it has received written confirmation that Eritrea has complied in full with the department’s expectations … and therefore the consulate has effectively ceased to collect the 2% ‘recovery and rehabilitation’ tax and the donation for national defence,” read the note, a copy of which the National Post obtained ….”
- “Ridge Meadows RCMP returned to the site of military plane crash on a mountaintop almost 60 years ago. Police had received a tip from a group of extreme hikers that there were human remains in the wreckage of a Canadian Armed Forces’ plane on a mountain near Widgeon Creek. All passengers died in the 1953 crash. The area is only accessible by air, and was covered a heavy snow pack, so RCMP used their helicopter to take them to the site on Friday. They combed the area around the wreckage but no evidence of any human remains was found. Police say they are convinced the tip they received was incorrect ….”
- “An American soldier who sought refuge in Canada after she became disillusioned with the Iraq war has turned herself over to the United States. The War Resisters Support Campaign says Kimberly Rivera was immediately arrested, detained and transferred to U.S. military custody after presenting herself at the border. The group says Rivera is now waiting to be transferred to a different military facility where she faces punishment for being absent from her unit. It also says Rivera’s husband and her four children — two of whom were born in Canada — crossed the border separately so the kids wouldn’t have to see their mother being detained. The parliamentary secretary to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has confirmed the deportation and says the Harper government doesn’t believe Rivera will be persecuted in the U.S. ….” – more here and here.
