Section: Ottawa Citizen (Canada)
Ukraine’s quest for NATO membership will take some time
By David Pugliese Defence Watch Ukraine’s prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, says his country will request that it be allowed to join NATO. If Ukraine were part of NATO at the time of the Russian military action, alliance nations including Canada would have been obliged to come to its aid in fighting off Russian forces that had entered the...
Peter Pigott: Franklin and the cult of death
A short walk from Canada House in London is Waterloo Place. On the square’s eastern side is Kathleen Scott’s statue of her husband the doomed Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott. The statue of Sir John Franklin, Scott’s Arctic counterpart, stands on the west, the two tragic figures eternally staring at one another across the...
Air force exercise involving U.S., Canada and Russia cancelled
An Air Force exercise involving the U.S., Canada and Russia was canceled because of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, a spokesman for NORAD told the Associated Press. More from the Associated Press article: The North American Aerospace Defence Command is comprised of U.S. and Canadian forces and is charged with detecting and...
Questions about whether Russian military aircraft buzzed HMCS Toronto – conflicting reports
By David Pugliese Defence Watch Three Russian military aircraft flew over HMCS Toronto, with at least one buzzing the Canadian frigate as it was in the Black Sea. Well, that’s what the Canadian government said a few days ago. “While the Russian military aircraft that circled the HMCS Toronto did not in any way pose a threat to the Canadian...
Ukraine delegation in Ottawa looking for weapons
A delegation from Ukraine’s national guard is in Ottawa meeting with defence firms as it tries to acquire weapons and other military equipment. The visit was set up by Arthur Andersen Defence Consulting Inc. of Toronto and involves meetings with 39 Canadian companies. The delegation is looking for anti-tank weapons, helicopters, ammunition,...
Harper to change tack, address the UN General Assembly
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has tended to skip the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, has decided to attend the high-profile event later this month and deliver a speech to the UN General Assembly. The address will come at an uncertain time in world affairs: the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL);...
NATO at the heart of a new Cold War, says former Ambassador
By James Bissett Defence Watch Guest Writer The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was meant to be a purely defensive organization. When the Brussels Treaty of 1948 established the European Defence Alliance of five European countries, it was Canada’s Minister of Foreign affairs, Louis St. Laurent, who proposed the alliance be...
Jennifer Lawrence’s nude photos dwarfed a bigger online crime
Here’s the funny thing about the world today: We’re far too interested in shiny objects. The perfect example? Late on Aug. 31, a hacker dumped nude photos of about 100 celebrities onto the Internet, sparking one of the largest online stampedes the world has seen. Truth be told, even though the virtual scavenger hunt began on the 31st,...
15 Canadian Army soldiers in Poland for exercise – Nicholson says this shows Canadian commitment to Eastern Europe
Fifteen Canadian Army soldiers are participating in Exercise MAPLE ARCH 14, from September 8-18, 2014, in Lublin, Poland, according to a news release from the Department of National Defence. Exercise MAPLE ARCH 14 fosters international military relations, interoperability among contributing nations and promotes security and stability in Central...
Russian warplane makes ‘provocative’ pass over Canadian frigate
Russian military jets made “provocative” flyovers on a Canadian frigate taking part in a multinational naval exercise in the Black Sea this week, ratcheting up the war of words a notch. HMCS Toronto has been serving in the Mediterranean in recent months as part of the Standing NATO Maritime Forces. Last week, though, the frigate sailed into the...
