Written by Scott Taylor
24.01.12
What started out as a rather minor news story about a navy intelligence officer charged with espionage has developed into a full-fledged, nation-wide media feeding frenzy.
Everybody loves a good spy story and the minute it was alleged — but never officially confirmed — that Canadian military secrets were being passed to the Russians, this saga had all the necessary ingredients to produce a James Bond spellbinder.
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Written by Scott Taylor
14.12.11
For the past two weeks, Defence Minister Peter MacKay has been taking a considerable amount of flak for his use of a Canadian Forces Cormorant helicopter to airlift him from a private fishing lodge. When the story first surfaced this past September, the July 2010 incident was dismissed by MacKay as being part of a longplanned search-and-rescue exercise, and that it provided him a long-overdue opportunity to see first-hand such operations. That ruse enabled MacKay to temporarily put the issue on hold.
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Written by Scott Taylor
19.10.11
Last week, Foreign Minister John Baird flew into Tripoli to remove any remaining doubt that Canada’s participation in the Libyan civil war has been a noble venture. Officially, Baird’s visit was to re-open the Canadian Embassy and to pledge $10 million in aid money to the newly installed National Transition Council (NTC). The media accompanying Baird dutifully did their part for the Canadian war effort by noting that the money committed was to be used to “secure all arms stockpiles, including deposed dictator Moammar Gaddafi’s unaccounted for weapons of mass destruction.” And so begins the re-writing of history.
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Written by Scott Taylor
28.09.11
On the evening of Sept. 15, CTV News ran a story detailing the costs associated with the Chief of Defence Staff’s use of the government’s VIP Challenger aircraft. The reports claimed that General Natynczyk had cost taxpayers nearly $1.5 million since 2008, jetting himself and his staff to sports events, fundraisers, and even a Caribbean holiday.
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Written by Scott Taylor
24.08.11
At a dockside ceremony in Halifax on Aug. 16, Defence Minister Peter MacKay officially re-branded the air and sea elements of the Canadian Forces as the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy, respectively. This move had long been in the works with top level lobbying for the change active right inside the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Royal designation had been in use with the navy since its inception in 1910; and when the Canadian air force was officially stood up in 1924, it too was granted Royal assent. These monikers remained in use until the controversial unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968.
At that juncture, the three service branches were re-designated as Maritime Command, Air Command and Land Force Command. Unofficially, sailors, soldiers and aircrew all referred to their affiliation as being navy, army or air force, but all official recognition of the term “Royal” was dropped.
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