MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 7 Sept 11

• Stuart Langridge, R.I.P  In late April 2011, the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) said it was doing an initial probe into the 2008 suicide of Corporal Langridge of CFB Edmonton.  Now, the MPCC says it’s going to hold public hearings into the suicide – no dates set yet.  More from the media here (Google News search).
• Libya Mission  One columnist’s view:  “…. If the foreigners’ motives really were humanitarian — they wanted to stop Gadhafi’s atrocious regime from killing his own subjects, and thought that Libyans would be better off without him — then they actually were using force as an instrument of love. Not “love” as in the love songs, but love meaning a genuine concern for the welfare of others. Most resorts to force do not meet this criterion (although those using the force generally claim that they do). The United States did not invade Iraq out of concern for the welfare of Iraqis, for example. But once in a while there is a shining exception, and this is one of those times. The British, French, Canadians, Swedes, Qataris and so on would not have done it if it involved large casualties in their own forces. (In fact, they had no casualties.) Most Western soldiers didn’t think the operation would succeed in removing Gadhafi, and the outcome has been greeted with surprise and relief in most of the capitals that sent aircraft. But they did it, and that counts for a lot.”
• 9/11 Plus Ten (1)  “Canadians are more concerned about a terrorist attack on Canada now than before 9/11, says a new (Ipsos-Reid poll conducted for Postmedia News and Global TV). Enhanced airport security, no-fly lists and Canada’s participation in the Afghanistan war are just some of the considerable measures taken after 9/11, but Canadians are still worried about potential terrorist attacks within our borders. Half of the respondents said they felt “no change” in safety levels with military intervention and just under half feel ‘more safe’ as a result of domestic security measures ….”
• 9/11 Plus Ten (2)  The CSIS Info-Machine is sharing some stories from officers about their feelings about 9/11 here and here – a bit of a “Canadian milestones in counter-terrorism since 9-11″ selected chronology here.
• Wanted:  some damned good number crunchers and technogeeks for breaking codes.  “It boasts some of the top math minds in the country, it’s looking to recruit more, and you still won’t find its name listed among any universities. The Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing is like a school for spies – a government-backed “classified research institute” that exists to entice academics who can help the government create and crack codes in the service of national security. The federal government has actually employed a small stable of arms-length academic cryptographers for several years now, but this summer it opted to redouble and rebrand the effort. In doing so, Ottawa has stepped up its quiet drive to lure some of the smartest PhD-calibre mathematicians away from ivory towers and into applied government work ….”  And where’d the name of the new institute, part of Communications Security Establishment Canada, come from? “…. In the 1940s, William Tutte, a math genius, figured out ways to spy on encrypted, high-level Nazi communications, a contribution so profound that some observers now credit him and his British colleagues for helping hasten the end of the Second World War. After the war, Mr. Tutte moved to Canada and had a distinguished academic career at the University of Waterloo ….”
• Afghanistan (1)  Canadian Major General Michael Day talks to Army News about the Afghan training mission (video of phone interview here), saying he sees some progress:  “…. Two years ago, the army was shrinking, literally we were losing more people than we were gaining. Today, not only are we growing by four to five thousand every single month, but we now have selection process that vets those individuals that are not suited. So we are in great shape on that ….”
• Afghanistan (2a)  7 Jul 11:  CF Info-Machine tells us Canadian takes over command of Consolidated Fielding Centre in Afghanistan.  ~6 Sept 11:  Foreign Affairs Info-Machine sends RSS feed notice that it’s decided to share this “news” on Canada’s main web page about Afghanistan.
• Afghanistan (2b)  What the dental surgeon used to do in Afghanistan (via CF Info-Machine) – he’s been back for a couple of weeks now.
• Afghanistan (3a)  A Macleans columnist reminds us to be wary about negotiating with the Taliban, even if that’s how things look to be unfolding. “…. In the event the Taliban do re-establish themselves in Kabul, those Afghans who go to the mountains will likely include those Afghans who most share our values and most desire our friendship. Then what will we do?”\
• Afghanistan (3b)  Terry Glavin reminds us to be wary, too.  “…. The Taliban have made it quite plain, by word and deed, that they have no intention of negotiating anything except the general outlines of the civilized world’s capitulation to them and the forward-planning terms of NATO’s surrender of the Afghan people to their custody ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch  English-language propaganda sites back online – for now.
• What’s Canada Buying?  Wanted:  four-wheel light utility vehicles for 1 Canadian Division (more details in part of bid document here), and checking if CF is using the best test to see if patients receiving transfusions need more or not.
• New Brunswick is looking for feedback on its ideas for job protection for Reservists.  “Finding the right balance can sometimes be a tricky and nerve-testing procedure. But efforts to do just that are exactly what’s happening these days within the part-time military community as officials juggle ideas in an effort to find ways to make the lives of reservist soldiers in this province a little more secure. In April, residents were asked to participate in a provincial government consultation process and provide their views on how to offer better leave protection to reservists working in civilian jobs or pursuing post-secondary studie …. Ideas were collected by the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour and placed in a preliminary report called “What We Heard: Responses to the Review of Canadian Forces Reservist Employment and Education Leave Protection in New Brunswick.“ (PDF) …. If you have ideas on how you would like to see reservists protected in this province, now is the time to step forward. Contact the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour.”  Contact info:  labour-travail@gnb.ca, fax (506) 453-3618 or snail mail at Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, Review of Reservists Employment and Education Leave Protections, P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5H1.
• Canada has has new deal for annual defence think tank get together.  “The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, announced …. that Canada is hosting the third annual Halifax International Security Forum from November 18th to 20th in Halifax, Nova Scotia. With Foreign Affairs as the media partner, this year’s Halifax International Security Forum features over three hundred politicians, academics, policy makers, and journalists from forty countries around the world. Following the 10th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks and Canada’s recent transition to a non-combat training role in Afghanistan, this year’s forum is especially poignant, focusing on key sensitive and emerging global issues …. As the only event of its kind in North America, the Halifax International Security Forum fosters discussions covering a wide range of topics, including the future of the transatlantic alliance, security initiatives in the Middle East, revolutions, responsibility to protect and making better use of resources to deliver on key security and defence commitments. The Halifax International Security Forum is even stronger with Foreign Affairs, the conference’s media partner. Minister MacKay took the opportunity to announce a three year funding partnership for the Halifax International Security Forum from both the Department of National Defence and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency ….”
• Remember the list o’ war criminals Canada was looking for your help in hunting down?  Guess where one of the guys on the original list is?  “An accused Serbian war criminal says his life has been ruined by an Ottawa-led manhunt, even though he left Canada for his homeland six years ago. Dimitrije Karic, also known as Dimitrije Mita, 51, of the Serbian municipality of Kovin, said he came to Canada in 2003 and filed a failed refugee claim. He complied with an order to leave Canada in 2005. “Is anyone, who was wearing a uniform in war in former Yugoslavia, a war criminal for you?” he said in an Aug. 30 e-mail to QMI Agency. “If it is so, there are several hundred thousand war criminals throughout Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.” He lived and worked at two companies in Medicine Hat, Alta., during his time in Canada, documents show ….”
• Remember Gilad Schalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas in June 2006?  His folks are telling reporters Canada should get Hamas to let him go.  What’s Canada saying so far?  “…. Chris Day, director of communications for Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, told the Tribune in an email, “Hamas is a listed terrorist organization. The government of Canada has no contact with Hamas.” Canadian aid is supplied to the people of Gaza through “established aid channels and with established organizations” and not via Hamas. Should Hamas and Fatah form a unity government, Day said, “Canada cannot support a government that includes Hamas.” In May, Canada was a signatory to the G8 Declaration of Renewed Commitment for Freedom and Democracy, which stated in part, “We demand the unconditional release of the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit [sic] without delay.” When asked what concrete action Canada can or will take in regard to Gilad Schalit, Day said, “Minister Baird has been very clear in calling – as G8 leaders did at Deauville – for Gilad Shalit’s [sic] release…. We will continue to press this case at every opportunity.” ….”  But not directly to the folks holding him, given the bits in green.
• “The re-incarnated NHL’s Winnipeg Jets (have) unveiled their new uniforms …. The Jets, who returned to Winnipeg with the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to Manitoba’s True North Sports and Entertainment in May, held a news conference to unveil the team’s new uniforms at Royal Canadian Air Force base 17 Wing. The jerseys consist mostly of two shades of blue: Polar Night Blue, found on many of today’s RCAF aircraft, and Aviator Blue, which is similar to historical colours used by the RCAF ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 29 Jul 11

• Libya Mission  What CF-18 pilots are up to.  “They are wars apart but while he never pounded the hard-baked fields of Panjwaii on foot, Lt.-Col. Daniel McLeod shares more with Canadian soldiers returning from Kandahar than he cares to admit. As a career fighter pilot flying the air force’s premier CF-18 jets, McLeod recently got a cold introduction to the stark choices that have to be made in the electronic-twilight environment of today’s wars. High above the vast deserts of Libya, McLeod spotted what he thought was rocket fire in the distance — an impression quickly confirmed by drones or other surveillance aircraft that crowd the sky near the embattled country in north Africa. He was what the air force calls “feet dry” over the coast on a interdiction mission _ an armed air patrol that looks for targets of opportunity on the ground. It’s a task that makes up about 80 per cent of the missions flown by Canada as part of the NATO operation to dislodge Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. And on that day, McLeod thought he had a target ….”
• Canadian paratroopers jumping out of Ukrainian planes on Exercise Rapid Trident 2011 – more on the exercise in Ukrainian and in Google English.
• “Three white P-3 Orion aircraft, each bearing an eye-catching red disk on the side near the fuselage, carrying over 60 members of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force recently landed at the 19 Wing Comox Valley airstrip. They taxied down the Valley on Thursday afternoon, and upon embarking from the planes, they were welcomed by LCol. David Robinson along with other military personnel of the 407 MP Squadron. There was also a group of Japanese Canadian civilians from Comox Valley, Courtenay and the Mainland who came out to welcome the visitors from the Far East. The Japanese contingent stayed in the Comox Valley for a week, spent time with the Canadian Air Force as well as experiencing the local culture. “We came here to deepen the friendship as well as to train with Canadian Air Force,” said commander Hajime Urata, of the VP3 Atsugi in Japan, through an interpreter. “The other purpose is to understand the missions of both.” …. “
• Reconnaisance course training in the woods and rocks of northwestern Ontario near Kenora.
• What’s Canada Buying:  Big Honkin’ Ship Buliding  “Quebec City’s Davie Yards’s bid for the federal government’s multi-year, $35-billion National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy has been approved by Ottawa. Davie’s eleventh-hour detailed bid was submitted just before the July 21 deadline expired. Its Lévis yards had just been acquired by a consortium of Upper Lakes Group, Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Montreal engineers SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. The major $25-billion portion of the government contract will be awarded to build about 20 warships. Another $8-billion contract will go to building Coast Guard icebreakers and navy supply ship replacements. Finally, $2 billion is to be spent on small craft and repair work. Davie’s bid is expected to focus on the $8-billion contract to build non-military vessels. The federal agency in charge of bid tendering accepted the Davie offer ….”  Public Works Canada news release on this here, and more from CBC.ca here.
• What’s Canada Buying? (x)  “…. Cheryl Gallant, Member of Parliament for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, and the Honourable Julian Fantino, Associate Minister of National Defence, announced the awarding of a contract for integrated heavy bomb suits to Allen-Vanguard Corporation of Ottawa, Ontario. Ms. Gallant made the announcement at the company’s manufacturing facility in Pembroke, Ontario …. Under the five-year contract, the company will provide 94 complete Med-Eng bomb suits. The Med-Eng bomb suit will provide Canadian Forces members with chemical and respiratory protection and cooling to mitigate heat stress before, during and after missions. The contract is valued at approximately $7.5 million and most of the work to produce the suits will be done at Allen-Vanguard Corporation’s manufacturing facility in Pembroke, Ontario. This contract will maintain more than 50 local Canadian jobs.”
• F-35 Tug o’ War:  How’re the F-35′s doing in the U.S.?  Check Popular Mechanics here.
• Update:  “The “From the Investigator” (FTI) initial flight safety report for the November 17, 2010, crash of CF-18 aircraft number CF188789 near Cold Lake, Alberta, is available on the Air Force Directorate of Flight Safety website …. This initial report indicates that the pilot was conducting a night training mission using Night Vision Goggles and became disoriented during an instrument approach when his landing light reflected off the falling snow. The reflected light also washed out the instrument indications in his Head Up Display. The pilot ejected safely without injury, and was recovered by a Search and Rescue crew. The aircraft crashed and was destroyed on impact. The Flight Safety investigation team continues to focus on human factors associated with the accident, including disorientation, organizational pressures, and training practices. 1 Canadian Air Division has already put in place measures to ensure that pilots have more night flying experience before undergoing Night Vision Goggle training ….”  More from mainstream media here and here.
• “A member of the so-called Toronto 18 terrorist cell who is scheduled to be released from prison this fall has renounced his right to a parole hearing. Ali Dirie exercised his right to cancel his appearance, officials with the Parole Board of Canada said Thursday. That means the board will now render a decision without hearing from Dirie, said spokeswoman Carole Menard. “The decision will be rendered on file,” she said. “At any time, it’s the right of all offenders (to renounce if) they don’t want to be seen in the time frame that we’re proposing.” Dirie was among 18 people named in 2006 for plotting to cause bloodshed and panic in Canada by bombing nuclear power plants and RCMP headquarters and attacking Parliament ….”
• “A government spy agency that’s prohibited from monitoring Canadian citizens is now using “information about Canadians” to zero in on foreign threats. The ambiguous statement, found in a new government report detailing the activities of Communications Security Establishment Canada, could sanction a range of intelligence-gathering activities – including the controversial practice of mining “metadata” from digital communications. Metadata – often called data about data – are found in e-mails and their attachments, and contain digital signatures that can reveal when, where and by whom documents were created. The collection of metadata has caused controversy in other countries, but never in Canada, where the Communications Security Establishment Canada operates as an ultra-secretive agency. About the only thing that is known about the classified practices is that they were halted and resumed after some “major changes,” including directives signed by Defence Minister Peter MacKay. “I cannot comment on specific operational activities,” Adrian Simpson, a CSEC spokesman, told The Globe. He stressed that reviews upheld that the activities in question were “carried out in accordance with the law, ministerial requirements and CSEC’s policies and procedures.” ….”
• “After training generations of Canadian submariners, a proud warrior is on her way to a new life as car parts or razor blades. HMCS Olympus, one of Canada’s four retired submarines, was floated by special barge into Hamilton Harbour Thursday morning on her way to a “ship breaking” yard on Lake Erie to be turned into scrap metal. The sub’s journey from Halifax to Hamilton and on to Port Maitland was accomplished by two Hamilton companies, McKeil Marine and Heddle Marine Services Inc. Heddle provided a floating dry dock on which the sub was loaded while McKeil provided the tugboats that pushed and pulled the warship up the St. Lawrence River and across Lake Ontario ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 15 Jan 11

• Remember these guys Asian media sources say are training in Waziristan for attacks back in Canada? The Mounties say they’re looking into the report – more here and here.
• Tough love, CF style, in Afghanistan. “Months of sometimes tough and bloody fighting by Canadian, U.S. and Afghan forces over the summer and fall weren’t enough to pacify a village that remains a refuge for insurgents in southern Afghanistan.  That’s when the Canadians, with plenty of cash for “icebreaker” projects designed to get young men more interested in jobs than war, decided to just bypass Nakhonay and fund a flood of development projects for its closest neighbours.  Canada’s soldiers have taken on a newer, tough-love approach as two deadlines loom — their summer pullout from Kandahar, and, preceding that, the traditional spring start of another insurgent fighting season ….”
• We’re hearing some new messaging out of Jack Layton this week about his opposition to Canada’s coming mission in Afghanistan.  1)  Anyone Canada trains could end up on the bad guys side (more in same vein here).  2)  Why help a corrupt good guy? 3)  Even if we start training Afghan security forces, we’ll get incrementally sucked back into a combat role. Text to his Thursday speech here and his Friday speech here.
• How one recovering Canadian soldier uses music as therapy.
• “F-35 is Great – No It’s Not” Update (1): Canadian PM sells F-35 benefits at Montreal aerospace company visit – more here, here, here, here and here.
• “F-35 is Great – No It’s Not” Update (2):  Le Devior says Quebec won’t get its fair share of the contracts – original in French here, Google translation here.
• Speaking of aircraft, the PM calls a new deal with a company to maintain Canada’s Griffon helicopters “great news for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limited workers in Calgary, Mirabel”.
• “Previously secret documents released in the Mohamed Harkat terrorism case reveal that the judge wrestled in closed court with how to gauge the credibility of spy agency informants. Harkat, 42, has been declared a security threat and faces deportation to his native Algeria, where he says he will be tortured or killed. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) relied on at least two “human sources” in building its case against Harkat, a former Ottawa pizza delivery man. One of the sources failed a lie-detector test in 2002, a fact that was not disclosed in court until May 2009. Judge Simon Noel ultimately decided that the source’s information could only be relied upon if corroborated. Another CSIS source was deemed sincere and reliable after Noel reviewed his file. Noel relied on the source’s information in concluding last month that Harkat was a member of the Osama bin Laden terrorist network. He said Harkat remains a threat to national security ….” More from the Federal Court of Canada here, here and here (all PDFs).
• “The union representing thousands of national defence workers has launched an online campaign urging the government to reconsider outsourcing 91 national security jobs, a transfer current employees say would put the country’s safety at risk. As of Friday, each time anyone searches the names of certain government officials using Google — including that of Defence Minister Peter MacKay — a sponsored ad appears, pointing to Securityforsale.ca, said John MacLennan, national president of the Union of National Defence Employees. The ads and website are part of the “first phase” of a campaign aimed at grabbing the government’s attention and warning Canadians of a plan to outsource dozens of jobs at Communications Security Establishment Canada, the low-key federal agency responsible for monitoring foreign signals and military intelligence, MacLennan said ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 23 Dec 10

• Corporal Steve Martin, R22eR, R.I.P. He’s home.  More here, here and here.
• The last gang returning from ROTO 10-1 expected to arrive in Petawawa on Xmas eve – better late than never.
• Louise Arbour, a former Canadian UN judge, UN human rights boss, and president/CEO of a security think tank, tells is straight when it comes to Afghanistan: “…. In the coming months, Canada and other NATO partners are likely to face a critical choice between supporting constitutional review or standing by silently as the Afghan government implodes. The alternative for Afghans is constitutional change – giving power back to the people rather than centring it in Kabul – or a return to full-scale civil war. After so many years of sacrifice on the battlefield and financial generosity at home, Canadians must recognize that their continued engagement in Afghanistan must rest not on wishful thinking but on a policy grounded in reality.”
• Someone in the translation contractor’s office has some ‘splainin’ to do…. “A company that supplies Afghan translators for Canada’s mission in Kandahar may have mistakenly raised the interpreters’ hopes of emigrating to Canada, according to a newly released document.  A contingent of Canadian military and civilian officials say International Management Services, or IMS, told interpreters that their immigration papers were being considered — even though not every application was.  The officials noted the finding in a report to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which they submitted in March after spending three weeks in Kandahar reviewing applications made under a special immigration program …. “Complications arose when (blank) contacted IMS, the prime contractor for many of the CF’s interpreters and other language assistants, to confirm employment records,” the report says.  “(Blank) reported that IMS, staffed in Kandahar by local nationals, informed some program applicants that they were being considered. Given that the list submitted to IMS was only of individuals that were potentially eligible, this likely raised false expectations among applicants.” ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban claims 6 Canadians killed on patrol in Zhari, but nothing in mainstream about such an incident.
• UN:  Taliban causing more than 3 out of every 4 civilian casualties in Afghanistan lately (PDF, page 13).  Taliban spokesperson:  Lies!  All Lies! Taliban web site:  Lies!  All Lies! (links to non-terrorist site)
• The UN’s senior official in Afghanistan speaks to the Security Council about how things are going in Afghanistan.  What did he say?  Depends on what you read.
• Year-end message from the head of Canada’s Expeditionary Force Command:  LOTS of changes and work in 2010, but “We don’t know what’s coming next; we only know that the CF is ready, willing and capable of dealing with it when it does.
• Ottawa is extending the deadline for applying for compensation for illnesses linked to the use of Agent Orange and other plant killers at CFB Gagetown in the mid- to late-1960′s. “A New Brunswick widow who lost her husband to cancer six years ago is praising a decision by the federal government that will allow more people to qualify for Agent Orange payments. Bette Hudson, whose husband Ralph died of bone cancer after two decades in the military, said Wednesday that Ottawa finally got it right in loosening the rules on who can get a $20,000 ex gratia payout. Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn announced in Fredericton that the government is removing a controversial condition that required applicants to be alive on Feb. 6, 2006 — the date the federal Conservatives came to power. “It makes me feel as if my husband is worthy,” she said at the announcement, moments after Blackburn outlined the changes ….” Here’s the Veterans Affairs Canada news release and backgrounder, the Order in Council approving the change and a Canadian Forces page with various history and documents on the issue.
• Canada’s special forces are getting new vehicles (when there’s better ones to buy):  “Canada’s special forces are holding off on buying new vehicles until technology catches up to its needs. The Ottawa-based Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) had been looking to replace its Humvee vehicles, now being used in Afghanistan by units such as Joint Task Force 2, but had to cut short its plans after the trucks being examined were determined not to meet various technical specifications. Industry sources say one company, U.S.-based Lockheed Martin, bid on the program, estimated to cost a little less than $80 million. The new vehicles were supposed to be acquired next year and were to be located with the Canadian Special Operations Regiment at Petawawa ….”
• More on Canada’s Communications Security Establishment moving into a brand, spanking new building right next to a brand spanking new building for the Department of National Defence (including a few details of a “private-public partnership” for building/running some of the buildings?). More on the usually-low key CSE here, including a letter to the editor from this week here explaining why they need bigger digs.
• Could possible cuts in US funding for their F-35 fighters increase the price of Canada’s proposed buy?
• Who do people responding to an online survey trust more, Canada’s government or Canada’s military? “Canadians have more trust and confidence in Canada’s armed forces than they do in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, according to a new study. The study, based on polling conducted by Leger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) and released exclusively to iPolitics, found that 75.7 per cent of respondents had trust and confidence in the Canadian Forces to do a good job compared to only 54.1 per cent who trusted the federal government. While faith in both the Armed Forces and the federal government tended to rise with age, one of the sharpest divides was among English-speaking respondents — 80.3 per cent of whom trusted the military and 52.7 per cent of whom trusted the federal government ….”
• More end-of-year interview stories, this one from CBC.ca:  “Defence Minister Peter MacKay is calling on the Afghan government to “pick up the slack” as the Canadian military hammers out the details and logistics of its new training mission in Afghanistan. As NATO allies continue to try to limit corruption and improve Afghanistan’s fledgling democracy and governance, the defence minister cited “incremental progress” in the country in 2010. “There are definitely improvements, tangible improvements that we can see, that we can point to,” MacKay told the CBC’s James Cudmore in a year-end interview. “And yet, all of it is tenuous as far as, will it last?” But MacKay insisted those gains translate into a “shifting of attitudes” among Afghans toward not only Canadian soldiers, but the tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police they are training ….”
• First, NORAD pimps Santa for some good exposure and PR (followed by Canada’s Air Force).  Next:  NAV CANADA, the agency that runs air traffic control at civilian airports, gets into the act.  The latest to hop on the “let’s milk Santa for some attention” bandwagon?  Canada’s Minister of Immigration:  “Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney today reaffirmed Santa Claus as a Canadian citizen during a special citizenship ceremony. “We wish Mr. Claus all the best in his Christmas Eve duties again this year,” said Minister Kenney. “And rest assured, as a Canadian citizen living in Canada’s North, he can re-enter Canada freely once his trip around the world is complete.” Santa was on hand to reaffirm his citizenship while 100 new citizens from 32 countries were sworn in ….”
• In other security news, scumbag anti-Semite who shared info on best way to kill Canadians is back online: “The resurrection of a website advocating the genocide of Jews and Canadians, founded by a Toronto extremist who is wanted by police, highlights the difficulties of policing the Internet, where public postings can be generated and disseminated from almost anywhere. The website was founded by Salman Hossain, 25, a Canadian extremist who fled Canada earlier this year during a police investigation into use of the Internet to promote terrorist violence in Canada. Police subsequently charged him with five hate crimes — two counts of advocating genocide and three counts of promoting hatred — but so far, have been unable to locate him. The site was shut down after the charges were laid. The National Post reported last month that the site had re-emerged on a U.S. free-speech server but was again shut down. This month, it found a new home, through Internet servers based in Switzerland ….” More details on who’s hosting the site now, and the Interpol notice for the chap in question here at Army.ca.