Section: Ottawa Citizen (Canada)
Defence dilemmas: 2016 holds hard choices for Canada’s military
By Murray Brewster THE CANADIAN PRESS Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s new defence minister, is uniquely qualified to know how Ottawa’s abstract policy decisions can be bent, twisted and mangled in the far-flung corners of the globe – sometimes to the detriment of those in uniform. He’ll need every ounce of that special understanding as...
Pope issues Christmas Day indulgence, praises those helping refugees
By Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis issued a Christmas Day prayer that recent U.N.-backed peace agreements for Syria and Libya will quickly end the suffering of their people, denouncing the “monstrous evil” and atrocities they have endured and praising the countries that have taken in their refugees. Speaking from...
Photos: Canada’s military photographers chronicle land, air and sea operations
Defence Watch makes use of the Canadian Forces Combat Camera/CF imaging technician photos. Here are some of the most interesting photos of the last little while, captured by the CF’s photographers during operations and exercises: Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Moncton, a Kingston-class maritime coastal defence vessel, at anchor in Albert...
Diplomatica: New ambassador from the Ukraine wants costly Russian sanctions increased
The new ambassador of Ukraine believes the best way to get Vladimir Putin’s forces out of Ukraine is to make his expansion efforts so costly that the Russian leader has no choice but to retreat. “We want to make sure that at some point, this invasion is so costly for the Russians that they have to pull back,” Ambassador Andriy Shevchenko...
Jenkins: There are plenty of empty cabins yet in the Canadian ark
Canada’s major cities, for most of their lives, have been arks, with people from all over the world, borne on waves of immigration, coming aboard and attempting to live together in close proximity. As often as not, it has been a distant conflict that has propelled those waves. Initially at ports, and nowadays at airports, families and the...
Canada-linked website exposing pilots’ identities to extremists, Russians say
A Ukrainian website with links to Canada plans to continue to publish personal information about Russian pilots flying bombing missions in Syria, despite concerns such details are putting aircrews at risk from Islamist extremists. Russia has protested to the Canadian government about the website, which has its servers in Montreal, and has...
Putin says the West’s actions in Middle East has created a “zone of chaos” in Iraq, Syria and Libya
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called Thursday for “one powerful fist” to fight terrorism, hinted at more sanctions against Turkey and accused Western powers of creating “a zone of chaos,” the Associated Press writes. Here is the rest of the Associated Press article: Speaking in his state-of-the-nation address televised live, Putin...
Canada’s mission to Iraq could be expanded to include police training, says Dion
The scope of the Trudeau government’s reconfigured mission in Iraq will be broader than just the military and could include a sizable police training contingent, Canada’s foreign affairs minister said Wednesday. Stephane Dion found himself repeatedly buttonholed in the polished hallways of NATO headquarters over the last two days,...
Fashion United: Sisters continue tradition started by their mother 38 years ago
Tamara Stepchuk-Forrest and Olenka Stepchuk went to university to study art history and forestry, respectively. What they didn’t know at the time was if they fast-forwarded 20 years, they’d be running a family fashion empire. The Stepchuk family’s story is all about staying power. To have that in a world where everything changes...
Canada donates mine clearing equipment to Ukraine
Canada has provided Ukraine with demining equipment worth $2.5 million, Ukraine’s defence ministry announced. On November 28, the Canadian military attache’s representative delivered $2.5-million worth of mine clearance equipment to the Ukrainian military, the statement from the ministry noted. …read more Source: Ottawa...
