What’s Canada Buying? – April 11, 2013

• F-35 Tug o’ War  CBC’s take on test flying the F-35 in the U.S.
• “The Honourable Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, Q.C., Associate Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament for Delta – Richmond East will make an announcement (today) related to the Government of Canada’s commitment to providing the Canadian Armed Forces with the resources they need to conduct their important missions ….” - also, here’s what she has to say about what she’ll have to say today
• Wanted:  80,000 pairs of “Land Operations Temperate Boots (LOTB)” – some technical details in part of bid document here
• Wanted:  185 x 7.62mm Minimi TL light machine guns (also viewable here if previous link doesn’t work)
• Wanted:  someone to provide “all materials, equipment, labour, supervision, training facilities, accommodations and catering services necessary for the British Military to conduct its freefall parachuting Adventure Training program within Western Canada ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – April 2, 2013

• Welcome back!
• “Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Toronto successfully disrupted a massive narcotics shipment in the Indian Ocean as part of counter-terrorism operations with Combined Task Force 150.  On Friday March 29, 2013, HMCS Toronto’s naval boarding party searched a suspect vessel as part of ongoing maritime security operations. During this inspection, the boarding team recovered approximately 500 kilograms of heroin with an estimated street value of more than $100 million. The narcotics were confiscated without incident and will be destroyed ….” - more here, here and here, and more on Combined Task Force 150 here (from the U.S. Info-machine) and Canada’s role in it here (from Canada’s Info-machine)
• Speaking of naval deployments…. “The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, alongside the Canadian Armed Forces marked the conclusion of its first naval deployment of 2013, Operation Caribbe. Operation Caribbe is part of the Government’s continued commitment to combat illicit trafficking in the Caribbean Basin and Eastern Pacific. As part of this commitment, Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Kingston and Summerside conducted a 36-day deployment while a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft flew patrols from January 7th to 19th to help suppress trafficking in international waters …. This is the second time HMCS Kingston has deployed on Operation Caribbe. HMCS Kingston, along with HMCS Goose Bay, conducted surveillance operations in the Western Caribbean from March 2 to April 6, 2012. This deployment marks a number of achievements for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels including the embarkation of a United States Coast Guard law enforcement detachment team and the use of the side scan sonar to search for sunken objects associated with counter narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean Basin. Primarily crewed by Naval Reservists, Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels are mainly used for coastal surveillance and patrol ….”
• “René Lévesque was for it. So was the author of Bill 101, Camille Laurin.  Premier Pauline Marois, herself, approved it no less than three times – in 1982, 1985 and 1997 – because it went through the cabinet she was a member of.  In fact, she was the education minister in 1997 who recommended it.  The war over repealing the right of Canadian military personnel to send their children to English schools escalated further (last week) when the opposition accused the Parti Québécois government of marring the memory of the PQ’s founders. And to prove its case, Coalition Avenir Québec MNA Éric Caire’s staff dug into previously confidential cabinet minutes showing the PQ – year after year, starting in Lévesque’s day – has renewed the exemption ….”
  
• “The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie, …. released the results of an audit of the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre. The audit assessed the quality of care provided to Veterans and the controls in place to monitor care and address concerns raised by residents or families ….  The audit included 140 interviews with residents and family members, a review of more than 100 files and significant data analysis. To provide independent advice on the audit’s recommendations, Veterans Affairs Canada created an external advisory committee. This committee was chaired by the Veterans Ombudsman and included representatives from organizations involved in Veterans’ issues and individuals with health expertise ….” - more here (from the Vets’ Ombudsman) and here (from The Canadian Press)
• Congrats to DefMin, Mrs. DefMin  “A spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the minister’s wife, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, has given birth to a boy — the couple’s first child.  Jay Paxton says Kian Alexander MacKay was born today in Ottawa at 4:52 a.m., weighing eight pounds, two ounces.  The 47-year-old Nova Scotia MP first reported the news on Twitter, thanking people for their prayers and support ….“
• And before the baby’s even sleeping through then night …. “…. is (Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard) Valcourt the old-new MacKay? Is change in the wind in the Conservatives’ East Coast power structure?  The best person to answer that is MacKay himself and he says he’s staying. Yet, he has toiled in Parliament for more than 15 turbulent years, serving in two senior ministries and acting as the Atlantic region’s political overseer. He has paid his dues.  And MacKay is no longer the Maritime minister of everything. From 2006 until 2010, MacKay served either as Foreign or Defence minister as well as minister of ACOA and the Atlantic Gateway.  Keith Ashfield of New Brunswick took over ACOA in 2010 and nobody even talks about the Gateway any more. So MacKay’s role has diminished.  He has also married and any day now will become a father. Parenthood changes people.  Will MacKay still relish the political fight? Perhaps not. And while Valcourt wouldn’t be wise to challenge MacKay directly, it could be that time is on his side. A once-dormant star, and a real conservative at that, might again be rising in the east.”
• “Where to cut” editorial  “…. The government should revisit a 2011 report that said $1 billion in savings could be found through administrative cuts and reorganization. The tail needs to be cut and the teeth sharpened.  The alternative, if current trends continue, is a military that will show up at the next crisis with inadequate equipment and training, or not at all.”
• Algeria  “Have Canadian passport, will travel … and start killing.  That’s the deadly new mantra of select terror organizations around the world as reaffirmed by the RCMP.  The insight came Monday as the barest of details emerged of the involvement of dual Canadian citizens in the al-Qaida-linked Algeria gas plant attack in January.  RCMP spokesman Greg Cox confirmed “a second Canadian has been identified from human remains of alleged terrorists in the attack at the gas plant.”  Previously the force would only say there was one death in Algeria, but declined to say whether the individual was among the militants or victims ….”
  
• North Korea  “Canada is working with its allies to pursue all appropriate actions and sanctions against North Korea in light of the regime’s escalating taunts against its neighbours and the U.S.  Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was travelling in the Middle East on Saturday and unavailable to comment, but his spokesman said Canada “unequivocally” condemns the actions by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.  “This latest threat by North Korea is another in a series of dangerous actions that have further isolated it from the international community,” said Rick Roth. “The real tragedy is that while North Korea ramps up its rhetoric and ploughs resources into a missile and nuclear program, its people starve.” ….” – more here‘
• Iraq  “Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird paid an unannounced visit to Iraq …. where he opened a new Canadian diplomatic mission.  Canada wants to expand its engagement with a country that’s become a pivotal force in a troubled region, and doing so requires a Canadian presence in Baghdad, Baird said in a statement.  “With conflict raging in neighbouring Syria, with the ayatollah’s regime relentlessly pursuing sectarian hegemony and nuclear ambitions, and with a NATO ally and economic partner bordering Iraq’s north, today’s opening here in Baghdad expresses Canada’s intention to expand our engagement with a key regional player.”  The new diplomatic office will be an offshoot of Canada’s embassy in Amman, Jordan, and will operate out of the British embassy in Baghdad, Baird said. Canada has not had an ambassador formally accredited to Iraq since 1991, although the embassy in Jordan was tapped to assume responsibility for Iraq in 2005 ….”
• On the interesction of supporting U.S. deserters and the left “…. (Kimberley) Rivera was one of about 50 war resisters who (officially, some are hiding) came to Canada, most moved to Toronto or Vancouver- the two cities where the WRSC has the bulk of their members. It’s no coincidence that both cites are hubs for Canada’s militant left- the WRSC is led by the same community who brought us Occupy, Idle No More, and the violence at the 2010 Olympics and the G20. And, as happens often in militant left fiascos, the people they claimed to support ended-up in a whole lot of pain ….”
  
• Mark Collins on “Cyber Security: Canada to Crack Down on Huawei?” (and who reported that first)
• Happy 89′th birthday RCAF!
  
• “If Romeo Daley was two inches taller, he wouldn’t be alive today.  The Korean War veteran points to a barely visible scar on the top of his head inside his Fort Erie kitchen.  “It’s nice to be short,” he says with a smirk.  The small scar is a reminder of the time a bullet scraped him, almost catching him in between the eyes.  Another scar on his ear is a daily reminder of the time a hand grenade went off in front of him.  “It tore my ear right off. I was treated at an American MASH unit. They did an excellent job sewing my ear back on and doing plastic surgery on my eye,” he says.  And while he’s grateful his life was saved in those two particular instances, his friends weren’t so lucky.  Daley, who served with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry from 1951 to 1952, had five friends killed in action right beside him.  That’s why when Daley was invited to be a part of the 60th anniversary celebrating the end of the Korean War, he couldn’t pass the opportunity up ….”
  

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – March 26, 2013

• Law student pissed about Quebec blocking troops from sending their kids to English-language schools  “When I think of Bill 14, I think of Sandra, a young girl who attends the English-language Dollard-des-Ormeaux School just outside the Valcartier military base near Quebec City.  When I met her recently, she was worried about having to change schools and lose her friends. Her father serves in the military and was wounded in Afghanistan. Partly because of the strain of her father’s post-traumatic stress, her parents are separated. Now, she faces the risk of no longer being able to attend her elementary school and be with her close friends, all because of Quebec’s proposed new language law, Bill 14, an act that would amend Bill 101.  There are 682 “Sandras” at military bases in Quebec who, as children of families with a parent enrolled in the Canadian military, would lose their exemptions to the language-of-schooling provisions of Bill 101, and hence no longer be allowed to attend English schools ….”
• NATO member country Iceland has no air force (or standing military, for that matter), so Canada is taking a turn helping protect it’s airspace – more on Operation Ignition here and here
  
• The RCAF Info-machine on how Sea Kings have been helping fight terror on the high seas
• NDP MP on vets issues in the House of Commons:  “Mr. Speaker, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board is out of touch with the needs of our country’s veterans. Too many veterans are left without adequate financial support.  For example, Gordon Fergus, a 71-year-old pensioner, is a veteran who served with the reserve forces and militia for more than two decades. He has been decorated with numerous awards, but his service to Canada was not without sacrifice. Mr. Fergus sustained several injuries that have led to long-term disability.  However, his disability application has been a struggle with the board since 2001. After many years of service to his country, Mr. Fergus is unable to keep up with the cost of his medication. What does this say about the price we place on freedom and democracy?  To me, this is no way to treat Canadians like Mr. Fergus who served our country so bravely. It is time for the Conservatives to make the welfare and health of our veterans a priority.”
• “An all-women tall ship initiative is seeking American and Canadian daughters of the military to apply for a cross-border sailing scholarship.  In commemoration of a watershed in North American history, Sisters Under Sail, a non-profit organization that runs leadership programs for teen girls aboard a tall ship, is seeking applications from teenage daughters of U.S. and Canadian military families. Each of these teens will sail — under full scholarship — for two weeks aboard the all-women crewed tall ship Unicorn.  Teen girls between the ages of 13 and 18 from families within the eligible pay grade with a parent who is on active status or fallen in the line of duty are encouraged to apply. Six girls from U.S. military families and six from Canadian Forces families will be selected as scholarship winners for this cross-border initiative.  The application deadline is April 15 ….”
  
• “The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie, will speak at the “Military Families Matter” event, a collaborative initiative between the Vanier Institute for the Family and the Military Family Services Program ….” today

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – March 25, 2013

• “The Defence Department is facing budget cuts but is not reducing the nearly $27 million in annual funding it provides to 32 military family resource centres across the country.  “There is no reduction this fiscal year,” Col. Russell Mann, director of Military Family Services, said Friday.  However, there could still be job losses at the centres, as the department is requiring that all 32 centres cut overhead and administration costs and reinvest that money in direct services for military families.  “I’m optimistic that they are going to find some efficiencies so that we can have more impact on families,” said Mann, who works for the Defence Department in Ottawa.  The resource centres, which provide programs and support for military families, are non-profit charitable organizations, overseen by volunteer boards of directors. Besides funding from the Defence Department, they also receive funds from other sources, such as corporations, government grants and donations ….”
• DefMin says he’s happy staying DefMin  “Despite being on the verge of becoming a father, Peter MacKay says he does not plan to step down from his role as defence minister.  In recent weeks, there have been rumours swirling around Ottawa that MacKay was set to retire from politics.  It’s not the first time people have speculated that MacKay would leave the House of Commons behind and go back to being a lawyer.  But as he has with previous rumours, MacKay brushed the idea aside in an interview Friday.  “I’m very content doing what I’m doing right now,” he said.  MacKay and his wife, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, are expecting their son to be born any day. The due date is Sunday, though Defence Department staffers have a birthday pool going that stretches into next month.  MacKay was also asked if he plans to stick around and take a run at the Conservative leadership once Stephen Harper steps down.  He laughed and repeated his previous statement: “I’m very content doing what I’m doing right now.” ….”
• The OTHER side of the “we’re putting more money into vets’ funerals” coin  “The government said it would double the amount available to the Last Post Fund as part of Thursday’s budget announcement, but who qualifies remains an issue.  The budget commitment to enhance the funeral and burial program for veterans was an instant talking point for Conservatives.  “It’s virtually double the amount of money available for funeral services to see that our veterans are treated with dignity until the end,” said Defence Minister Peter MacKay.  The latest budget would see the reimbursement rate increase from $3,600 to nearly $7,400. It is available to the estate of any veteran who dies after suffering a service-related disability or in cases of financial hardship.  However New Democrat veterans affairs critic Peter Stoffer noted some details missing from the budget.  According to figures put before Parliament last fall, of the 29,853 requests made to the veterans funeral and burial program, 20,147 pleas for funding or 67.4 per cent were rejected.  They either did not meet the eligibility criteria, or failed a means test, which says a qualifying veteran’s annual income must have been less than $12,010 per year.  “Is that estate exemption going to rise and if it is, to what?” asked Stoffer.  A spokesperson for Veterans Affairs said the $12,000-threshold remains unchanged ….”
• Retired general, chair of Last Post Fundraising Committee  “…. What about the final salute and tribute to a veteran who dies as a consequence of injuries sustained in the service of Canada or a veteran who, after service in the military, falls on hard times and becomes indigent? Will the government provide a dignified funeral and burial to these modern-day veterans? Surely these issues would have been considered before committing modern-day veterans to operations.  As such does not appear to be the case, it falls to the Last Post Fund and generous donors such as you to provide for a dignified funeral for veterans — all veterans. Should you find favour with these sentiments, visit the Last Post Fund website (www.lastpostfund.ca) and make a donation. Every donation helps.”
  
• Speaking of burials ….  “Discount burials for military and police veterans are being offered at a Lower Sackville graveyard, the cemetery’s owner announced Friday.  The move was made to help financially strapped families of veterans, said Bill Mont, who owns the 9.7-hectare Pleasant Hill Cemetery outside Halifax.  “We’re going to encompass all of the services, including the RCMP and the police force,” he said. “We’re quite prepared to talk to any of the groups, any which way that we can help them out.”  He said the cost of a final goodbye at his cemetery will be chopped to $500 for a burial plot from the regular $1,500 fee.  The 83-year-old Mont, a well-known flea market king, said he’s an army veteran. He said his offer of markdowns for needy veterans is in response to difficulties many families are having with funeral and burial expenses.  Mont said his cemetery has plenty of space. The site is a non-denominational graveyard with lots allowing for one burial and four cremations.  “There’s a good (two hectares) not even touched,” Mont told a news conference in Fall River. “So we can accommodate a fair amount, and I’m hoping this (offer) is going to (motivate) other cemeteries across this country, maybe in each province, (to) do the same.” ….”
  
• Afghanistan  “Twenty months after Canada’s combat mission in Kandahar ended, conditions set by Canadian troops before they left the southern Afghan province have helped make possible an uprising against the Taliban by the local population.  Carlotta Gall, the intrepid New York Times reporter who has spent far more time in Afghanistan than any other western journalist, visited the hardscrabble vineyards and orchards of Panjwaii to the southwest of Kandahar City which Canadian troops were responsible for between March 2006 and July 2011. What Gall found this spring was that farmers in dozens of villages in what has long been the Taliban’s spiritual homeland had become so fed up with the brutish behaviour of the Islamic terrorists in their midst that they were now in open revolt against them.  As Gall noted, the uprising in Panjwaii was especially consequential because it was the first to happen in the Taliban’s backyard in southern Afghanistan. It is a monumental shift that got more support a few days ago when a large number of village elders pledged to keep the Taliban out on the eve of what is another fighting season there ….”
  
• “Postmedia News has learned that a second Canadian is now suspected of involvement in the terrorist attack at a natural gas plant in Algeria earlier this year.  A senior RCMP official said Saturday that investigators confirmed the Canadian’s identity through forensic analysis of remains recovered from the site, which typically involves the collection of DNA and fingerprint samples.  RCMP earlier this week linked another Canadian to the attack through similar forensic testing.  The official, who declined to be named, said that investigators are still working to verify exactly what the Canadians activities were in Algeria ….” - more here
• Columnist  “Hard to identify the good guys in Syria”
  
• Lebanese PM steps down, potential for unrest, Canada worried – maybe about another evacuation like in 2006?

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – March 19, 2013

• Budget (1)  “Canada’s top soldier says the armed forces have no fat left to cut ahead of this week’s austerity budget.  But Gen. Thomas Lawson told the Senate security and defence committee he understands that militaries around the world are being forced to operate with less money.  Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s budget on Thursday is widely expected to make substantial cuts across government, and the Defence Department and Canadian Forces won’t escape unscathed.  Lawson, who took over last year as chief of defence staff, said the military already runs a lean operation.  “I would like to think that there was fat in the armed forces,” he said Monday. “I don’t think there is.”  “What we find as we squeeze (is) that there is very little fat,” he added later ….”
• Budget (2) “In the face of further potential cuts to National Defence looming in Thursday’s budget, Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Tom Lawson appeared before a Senate committee and held to the lines he’s been delivering in recent weeks: cutbacks at DND will be handled by consolidation and reinvestment.  He also said that while the number of full-time reservists may decrease, the military plans to keep the overall numbers steady.  “What we’re seeing now is the numbers will remain the same, we will not drop below 27,000 – in fact, we’re just about at that number now. What we’ll see is that we’ll have far fewer full-time members of the reserve, and back to a more traditional, Class A or part-time reserve,” Lawson said, calling it a “natural” reduction from a combat role, like Canada had in Afghanistan.  Part-time reservists will now have 37-and-a-half training days per year, he said ….”
• Meanwhile, Canada invests some money into the development of some military-ish hardware  “The Honourable Larry Smith, Senator, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, is pleased to announce the awarding of two contracts totaling $635,347 to Adventure Lights Inc. for its pre-qualified innovations, the SMART Beacon and the Clustered Beacon System, through the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) …. Adventure Light’s pre-qualified innovation, the SMART Beacon, is a mesh networked wearable light beacon system that allows military and civil authorities to instantly identify friendly forces in contact situations. The SMART beacon system also allows for instant visual identification of people, places and objects for military, search and rescue, security and civil applications. A $313,919 contract for this innovation was awarded through the CICP.  The Clustered Beacon System is the world’s smallest, most versatile runway lighting system for expeditionary airfields and first-responder helicopter landing zones. Small enough to be carried by a single person, this portable integrated beacon system allows an unprecedented variety of landing field configurations. This pre-qualified innovation was awarded a $321,428 contract through the CICP ….”
  
• Canadian naval strategy?  What Canadian naval strategy?  More from Mark Collins over at The 3D’s Blog
• ceasefire.ca’s take on “Canadian Forces” vs. “Canadian Armed Forces”
• Mali  Column  “…. Canada’s lead role in the Libya intervention and NATO’s failure to secure the weapons arsenal in its aftermath have led directly to the current crisis in Mali and it cannot be ignored.  There will be no short-term resolution and, while contributing combat troops is not the only answer, “one plane for one week, er … two months, er … indefinitely” is hardly reflective of our responsibility in allowing al-Qaida to destabilize an entire region.”
• Speaking of Libya (no docs shared, so no word on what else is there)…. “The Harper government launched an all-out commercial offensive a full month before the 2011 war in Libya had ended to ensure “a return on our engagement and investment,” newly released documents show.  Canada played a lead role in helping liberate the North African country from the clutches of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, a fact that was to be played up during the drive to secure business opportunities for Canadian firms.  The documents have raised old questions over what role commercial interests played in the West’s decision to launch a military operation in oil-rich Libya, especially given international inaction in Syria.  They have also prompted debate over whether countries that did help oust Gadhafi and install a new Libyan government should have received some type of reward in the form of increased business opportunities ….”
  
• Why Canada can’t afford to ignore the Asian bloc of nations

What’s Canada Buying? – March 14, 2013

• The Air Force Association of Canada is calling for more investment in “Manned C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance) Capability“ (mostly, beefing up as many Aurora aircraft before the Air Force runs out of money) - more in the Canadian Defence Matters blog here.  Note to Canadian Defence Matters:  Canada has had smaller surveillance/spy planes in Afghanistan – more on that here and here.
  
• Defence Minister announces new infrastructure in Petawawa  “…. While on base, Minister MacKay took the opportunity to announce the construction of 72 new housing units to house personnel and their families that will move to Petawawa to support the new Medium-to-Heavy Lift Helicopter squadron.  This project’s overall value is estimated at $33.4 million, which includes all aspects of the project such as studies, design, construction, administration, contingencies and taxes.  The new units will include eight barrier-free units, semi-detached homes, and town houses, all with attached garages.  Minister MacKay also announced projects to provide the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, part of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, with a new permanent home and an indoor shooting range with virtual targetry.  These projects will allow the Regiment, created in 2006, to continue its growth ….”
• “The Honourable Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, Q.C., Associate Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament for Delta – Richmond East, along with the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages and Member of Parliament for Port Moody – Westwood – Port Coquitlam, …. announced the awarding of a significant subcontract that will sustain jobs in British Columbia and better equip the Royal Canadian Navy to conduct marine mine detection missions and route survey operations …. The $2 million subcontract, awarded to International Submarine Engineering Ltd. of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, covers the purchase of two complete off-the-shelf, high-speed deployable Aurora Towfish vehicles. The sensor systems that International Submarine Engineering Ltd. will integrate into the towfish will effectively and accurately map the sea floor, with the resolution needed for detection, localization, and identification of objects as small as a lobster trap or as large as a shipwreck ….”
  
• A bit of $ for UAV research  “The Harper Government is supporting Western Canada’s unmanned vehicle systems (UVS) sector through an investment that aims to improve competitiveness and productivity for the aerospace and defence industry.  A federal investment of $227,079 through Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) was announced today by the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification …. The investment will enable Medicine Hat College to purchase three-dimensional rapid prototyping and scanning equipment. Unmanned systems are unpiloted, remotely controlled vehicles that can be equipped to perform a variety of tasks. Besides military applications, there is a diverse range of commercial and public safety applications, including security/police surveillance and mapping.  This initiative will benefit small- and medium-sized businesses across numerous sectors by facilitating business expansion through improved product design, development and commercialization. It will also help respond to the needs of industry by providing opportunities for students to learn the critical skills to excel in the workplace ….”
• Big Honkin’ Ships  “One of the world’s largest defence contractors is in Atlantic Canada this week looking for subcontractors to supply skills and materials to help build Canada’s Arctic offshore patrol ships.  U.S.-based Lockheed Martin is in charge of surveillance and command systems for the new ships.  Irving Shipbuilding was awarded the overall $288-million design contract last week and construction is expected to begin in 2015.  “What we’re really doing is looking around trying to find out what’s new and innovative,” said Michael Barton, Lockheed Martin spokesman.  As part of the deal, Barton said Lockheed Martin must include Canadian companies as much as possible.  “Anything we buy offshore, we have to bring an equivalent amount of money back in to Canada,” he said.  On Tuesday, more than a dozen New Brunswick companies met with Lockheed Martin in Saint John to hear how they can get a piece of the action ….” - a bit more here
• Where is Canada’s defence industry investing research & development bucks these days?
• Wanted:  someone to design & build “New Barrier Free Transitional Accommodations (BFTA) at CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia”
  
• “…. The 405 Long Range Patrol (LRP) Squadron will participate to Exercise Maple Flag in Cold Lake, Alberta.  To provide accommodation services in single occupancy to 23 CF personnel for a total of 18 nights starting 27 May to 08 June 2013 ….”
• Wanted:  someone to expand, restore warehouses in Aviano, Italy for almost 19 million Euros
• More work for Goose Bay:  “…. The work includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the supply of labour, material, supervision and equipment necessary for Asbestos Abatement and Mould Remediation, chapel area; cleaning of chapel, annex and offices. Provide testing after work is completed to ensure there is no asbestos present in the building, Building 388, Goose Bay, Newfoundland & Labrador …. The estimated cost for this opportunity is in the order of $176,000.00 ….”
  

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – March 13, 2013

• France’s PM:  Thanks, Canada, for the help in Mali
• French PM’s daily summary says meeting with Canada’s PM will be an “opportunity to give a new impetus to the historical relationship of friendship between France and Canada has most recently illustrated by the support provided by the Canadian authorities French intervention in Mali.”  Does that mean he’s going to ask for more time with Canada’s big honkin’ planes?  The latest commitment does wrap up Friday, after all ….
  
• Meanwhile, Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff meets with French counterpart, talks about stuff
• “Prime Minister Stephen Harper will present Military Honours on Parliament Hill.  He will be joined by Mrs. Laureen Harper….” this afternoon
• “The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, together with Mrs. Cheryl Gallant, Member of Parliament for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, will make an announcement at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Petawawa ….” this morning
  
• Postmedia News:  “Feds quietly institute another change to military’s name”  Not exactly – the official legal name of the CF has been for some time now, according to the National Defence Act, been “the Canadian Armed Forces”.  It IS interesting, though, how the Info-machine tends to use the legal name more these days.
• Anonymous former CF member (a doctor?):  Attrition through fitness test?  “Not all members of the Canadian Forces are convinced a new fitness test is just about trimming waistlines.  Some believe the exponentially more rigorous test is a misnomer for a forced reduction plan – and not just because its timing coincides with budget cuts to the department.  With budget cuts to the National Defence at 13% this year and overseas operations winding down, one retired military physician believes the fitness test offers the Canadian Forces a way to reduce its numbers and achieve savings – as members dismissed for inadequate fitness don’t receive severance or bonus packages.  Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a retired Canadian Forces member also questioned the decision to apply the test equally to all men and women regardless of age, wondering how the military can increase the number of women in the forces while prescribing a test that is measurably more challenging for women and older men.  “This is a much cheaper way to cut down the military while saving money by not offering any money for early release,” the former member said. “This is a concerted effort to cut older and female soldiers.” ….”  Riiiiiiiiiiiiight ….
  
• “The military has awarded a mentally injured war veteran the Sacrifice Medal a year after his father “kidnapped” him from CFB Petawawa, accusing army medics of neglecting his son as he struggled to deal with the trauma of two front-line tours of duty in Afghanistan.  A senior officer will award the medal to 31-year-old Mast. Cpl. Jonathan Woolvett later this month at CFB Borden, where Woolvett has served since being treated for alcohol addiction.  “It’s a validation of his service and some recognition of his efforts,” Woolvett’s father Greg said Monday. “Getting the medal will help him a lot.”  The Sacrifice Medal, comparable to the U.S. Purple Heart, is considered a mark of respect to someone who has been injured in combat ….”
• “Bernie Currie is committed to seeing his goal through to the end, even if it is with a heavy heart.  The Pictou man has been an outspoken critic of the food served at the Northumberland Veterans Unit at Sutherland Harris Memorial Hospital, where last spring the Pictou County health authority switched to serving food that was precooked and then frozen.  Last November, the authority agreed to review the food and Currie, whose father Joe was one of 20 residents of the veterans unit, was appointed to the review committee, along with other representatives of care staff, residents, family, the Royal Canadian Legion and Veterans Affairs Canada.  Next week, the committee will complete its draft report and forward its recommendations to the authority, but Currie’s father won’t be there to see it — Joe Currie died Feb. 20. He was 88.  “Anybody that knows me and knows my family (knows) losing my father doesn’t deter me one bit,” Currie said Tuesday ….”
  
• “Workers arriving at Maritime Forces Atlantic headquarters in Halifax now have to surrender their wireless devices as they enter the building.  The security policy came into force in January, says Capt. Peter Ryan, an army officer who is a public affairs spokesman for the navy.  “The Department of National Defence security policies are continuously being reviewed and are updated on an ongoing basis,” Ryan said in a telephone interview Monday.  Although the policy came into force just a couple of months ago, it’s been in the works since 2005, Ryan said ….”
  
• Canada’s War Poet on J.R.R. Tolkien’s WW I experiences
• “Federal (U.S.) health officials said Agent Orange and other herbicides sprayed at a Canadian military base posed no health risks to the thousands of National Guard members from Maine and other states who trained there for decades.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s findings are unlikely to satisfy veterans who think their health problems are linked to weeks they spent training in the dirt at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick ….”  You can read the CDC’s “ATSDR Review of Gagetown Herbicide Spray Programs” report (9 page PDF) here.
  

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – March 9, 2013

• Mali  Column  “This war is not over by a long shot …. Canada’s decision to commit one heavy-lift transport plane to the effort — probably for a long time to come — is looking wiser by the minute. But chaos is spreading, and as an old Middle Eastern hand remarked to your correspondent the other day, “roll up the maps of North Africa, the borders aren’t there any more.” “
• Ooopsie (1) …. “National Defence was put in the embarrassing position Wednesday of having to correct how it planned to spend $776 million in additional funding a few hours before appearing before a House of Commons committee.  According to government spending requests and a recent report by the parliamentary budget officer, the department was asking for more money to cover increased costs for contracted professional services.  But Defence Minister Peter MacKay told the Commons defence committee that the department incorrectly coded the request. The cash is actually for a revised severance program for military members.  The error was pointed out to the defence committee in a letter just hours before MPs were asked to consider the appropriation request. The department promised to fix the problem.  “The payments will be correctly coded and the public accounts will accurately portray the nature of the transaction,” said the letter, filed with the committee chair, Conservative MP James Bezan.  MacKay had come under fire at the committee and the Commons for the dramatic surge in private contracting at the department ….”
• Speaking of spending and committees, “Funding cuts won’t impact the department of defence’s “readiness” to respond to domestic or international situations, the Defence Minister Peter MacKay assured a committee Wednesday. The House of Commons defence committee met to discuss budget estimates in a meeting that was cut short because of parliamentary votes, but held long enough for both sides to make their disagreements known.  NDP MP Jack Harris questioned MacKay’s request for $455 million to be spent on external consulting and contracts, which contradicts a report from several years ago that recommended the department achieve significant savings by cutting back on outsourcing.  Liberal MP John McKay questioned accused the minister’s responses as “fun with numbers” saying the budget cuts – particularly to the army – would impact the Canadian Forces’ ability to do their job, despite MacKay’s assurances they wouldn’t.  “It is inevitable that we will have reduced capabilities ….”
• Afghanistan  “Figures put before Parliament show Canada’s training of fledgling Afghan army and police units is expected to cost more than $500 million, an estimate which comes as behind-the-scenes negotiations to end NATO’s overall mission appear deadlocked.  The figure was laid before the House of Commons defence committee this week as it considered a request by the Department of National Defence for a budget top-up.  Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the total operational estimate for the 950-soldier contingent, over four years, is expected to be $522 million by the time the mission comes to an end next year.  The figure, like all Defence estimates, represents the incremental cost — the amount of money the department spends over and above the routine expense of maintaining an army.  It pales in comparison to the projected $7.9 billion spent fighting Taliban militants in the southern province of Kandahar between 2006 and 2011.  The Canadian training mission, based in Kabul, is slated to end in March 2014 with the last of the troops and equipment out of the country by the following August ….”
• Joshua Baker, 1985-2010, R.I.P. (1)  One of those charged, found guilty in Baker’s death is appealing his conviction & sentence
• Joshua Baker, 1985-2010, R.I.P. (2) “A military judge is now deciding the fate of former Canadian soldier Paul Ravensdale.  Ravensdale — now retired — was convicted of ignoring safety rules when he led a weapons test in 2010 in Afghanistan.  A land mine misfired, killing Cpl. Josh Baker, who was 24, and injuring four other soldiers.  Defence lawyer Lt.-Cmdr. Patrice Desbiens asked the judge to spare Ravensdale from going to jail, instead suggesting he be punished with a reduction in rank and a severe reprimand.  In his sentencing submissions before the court martial, Desbiens said Ravensdale did the best he could in a difficult situation.  Desbiens said the fault lies with superiors who gave Ravensdale too many responsibilities, leaving him unable to properly focus on soldiers’ safety.  The prosecution said Ravensdale should be sent to prison for four years ….”
• Translation:  Canada is giving control of a nursing home for veterans so civilians can also have access to the spaces  “The employees of the federally-run veterans’ hospital in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue protested this afternoon against what they feel is a lack of consultation.  The federal government has, for years, spoken about transferring the hospital to the province.  It’s finally scheduled to happen on Sept. 30.  Ste-Anne’s Hospital’s 650 unionized employees are concerned over what the transfer means for their jobs, salaries and benefits.  The Union of Veterans Employees has asked for a committee to determine the terms and conditions under which the hospital will be transferred.  The union also wants to ensure the continuity in care for the veterans now at the hospital.  As for the plan to admit civilian patients, Kim Coles, the national executive vice president of the union said, “We know, as we go along with the aging demographics, that it’s inevitable.”  “This is a first-class facility. We want it to continue on. And we’ve always recognized the need to open the doors to civilians,” she continued.  Minister of Veteran Affairs Steven Blaney’s spokesman said in a statement that the government is also concerned over continuity of care — and that’s why they’re transferring the hospital to Quebec.  “Our government wants to transfer the hospital to the province of Quebec as soon as possible in order to preserve the quality of care provided to veterans, as well as to maintain jobs and to allow the province to make the more than 100 beds available to Montrealers,” said Blaney’s spokesman ….”
• Convicted Royal Canadian Navy spy not appealing his conviction or sentence
• Some RCN ships around Halifax harbour, courtesy of the Halifax Shipping News blog
  
• Way Up North  “Stakeholders from Denmark, Norway, the United States, Canada, Finland, Iceland and the European Union are set to meet in Copenhagen this May for Defence IQ’s Arctic Patrol & Reconnaissance event.  Continued ice-melt in the Arctic holds the potential to revolutionise commercial activity and business, as additional shipping routes emerge in the region. Whilst significant activity increase may be decades down the line, the Arctic nations are acting now in order to ensure their long-term regional security.  A call to action from Cdr Kenneth Boda, USCGC, that a “reliable maritime presence is required to protect the safety, security and stewardship of the Alaskan Arctic waters” stresses the need for polar icebreakers and similar vessels in a region that has become increasingly accessible. Read the full article in the Arctic Patrol & Reconnaissance resource centre.  Denmark and Canada are amongst those who have introduced a formal policy of increasing their military presence in the region, whilst Russia has recently re-opened several of their most Northern air-bases to increase their arctic reconnaissance capabilities ….” - no  speakers from Canada on the speakers’ list, though.
  
• Oopsie (2) …. “When Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned in September 2011 that “Islamist terrorism” is the greatest threat facing Canada, it generated headlines across the country.  It seems Canadians weren’t the only ones who took notice — newly released documents show the comments also stoked international anger.  In fact, the reaction was so strong that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was forced to back-pedal during a meeting with one of the Muslim world’s most important leaders last year.  NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said the incident should serve as a warning to the Conservatives to be more careful with their words in the future ….”
• “Tracking unidentified flying objects now seems to hold little interest for the Canadian government, according to documents obtained under the Access to Information Act.  Various federal agencies, including Transport Canada, the RCMP and the Department of National Defence, used to track and investigate UFO sightings to some degree, but documents obtained by CBC News suggest those days are over.  It’s now up to civilian volunteers to report what’s going on up in the sky.  Any information on UFO sightings received by the various agencies is passed on to Chris Rutkowski, a civilian science writer who has produced the Canadian UFO survey since 1989 ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – March 5, 2013

• One minimum fitness test and standard for all the CF, male or female, all jobs – more here and here
• Minister of Defence:  Yeah, we’re cutting budgets, but we’re still spending a hockey sock full of money on Canadian industry – more from the same general song sheet here
• Meanwhile, “The impact of defence budget cuts on Canadian Forces Base Kingston will be minimal and have been planned for since last year, said the base’s commanding officer.  Col. Stephen Cadden said the federal government’s announcement earlier this week that it would reduce the amount spent on the military by 13% was not unexpected.  “We’re really trying to focus on cuts being in the right spot. We’ve had lots of notice. We’ve been planning for reductions since last October,” Cadden said Friday afternoon. “It’s really a planned process rather than a scramble at this point.”  Monday, the federal government announced plans to reduce military spending by $2.7 billion, 13% less than the previous year.  The cuts are part of an effort to trim 2% off the total federal budget. The total proposed budget for the fiscal year 2013-2014 is $252 billion ….”
• Afghanistan  Canada’s Army boss drops by
• Joshua Baker, 1985-2010, R.I.P.  “A sentencing hearing for a retired Canadian soldier convicted in a deadly training accident was postponed Monday due to bad weather.  The hearing for former warrant officer Paul Ravensdale was to start in his court martial at CFB Shilo near Brandon, Man.  But highways were snow-covered and visibility poor due to a storm that Environment Canada predicted could dump as much as 25 centimetres of snow ….”
  
• More calls from vets to have Veterans Affairs hire more vets.  Remember, though, that no matter who’s on the front line, they would have to enforce the rules currently in place – it’s the rules that are the problem.
• Way Up North  “Amid revelations this week that Canada’s military is being forced to decrease its presence in the Arctic because of federal budget cuts, a U.S. study on thinning polar ice has produced the first maps showing predicted new shipping routes through Canada’s Northwest Passage, Russia’s Northern Sea Route and even directly across the North Pole.  Two UCLA researchers using a series of climate-change forecasting models to generate their data have concluded that the polar region will become “much more accessible than ever imagined,” ….” – more from media here, and from UCLA’s info-machine on the study here, and more on the work being done here

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights –February 28, 2013

• Editorial on defence cuts:  “…. The Conservative government should be careful to avoid a repeat of the “decade of darkness.” ….”
• Remember this bombing from three summers ago at a Quebec recruiting office?  Cops have arrested (and released) someone in connection with the attack, and the investigation continues.
• Remember the proposed bill to make it easier for foreign nationals to become citizens if they join the CF, and allow the removal of citizenship from those committing acts of war against Canada?  Bill C-425 has passed Second reading (here’s who voted which way in the 276-3 vote), and moves to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration for further study.
  
• From the Info-machine:  “Through the door of what looks like an ordinary ocean freighter shipping container is a world of high-tech machines and highly trained technicians working to identify insurgents hoping to harm Canadian soldiers ….”
• Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs:  Thanks, Queen’s University, for offering priority hiring to vets
• House of Commons debate on nursing home beds for vets (and how Canada seems to want to get out of the business of supplying them?)
  
• “Marcella Cormier doesn’t think she’s asking for much.  A veteran’s widow of three years, she’s now in her own battle – with Veterans Affairs Canada.  The 68-year-old said she needs the housekeeping service from their Veterans Independence Program, but is being unfairly denied.  “I guess the main reason is we didn’t get it when my husband, Paul, was living. I was a little bit younger then and I felt I didn’t need it at the time, but now I would certainly like to be able to get a bit of help.”  Veterans’ surviving spouses are eligible to receive the housekeeping and/or grounds keeping assistance through the program. However, not all widows are treated equally, depending on what benefits the veteran was receiving at the time of death ….“
  
• Defence Minister to sign some paperwork with Peru tomorrow
• “Prince Philip is planning a lightning trip to Toronto this spring.  The Duke of Edinburgh will travel to the city on April 27 to present a new regimental colour to the Third Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.  It’s his only engagement during what Ottawa describes as a “private working visit.” ….”
• Way Up North  “(Aboriginal Affairs) Minister Valcourt Announces Plateau Site in Cambridge Bay as Location for Canadian High Arctic Research”
• Ooopsie …. “A health care executive who Prime Minister Stephen Harper once appointed to oversee the national spy agency is now a wanted man.  Quebec’s anti-corruption squad issued arrest warrants Wednesday for Dr. Arthur Porter and four other men embroiled in allegations of fraud swirling around the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal’s English-language hospital network ….” – a bit more here