Reconciliation Monument in Ottawa
On the 9th August, 1974, a United Nations Buffalo aircraft flying over Egypt was shot out of the sky by a Syrian air defence missile. On that plane were nine Canadian Armed Forces personnel involved in a peacekeeping mission who were killed on what was supposed to be a routine resupply mission to the presence in the Golan Heights. To this day, it is still the largest single loss of Canadian lives since Canada began participating in UN Peacekeeping missions in 1948. That is why the closest Sunday to the 9th August is selected as National Peacekeepers’ Day every year with this year’s remembrance ceremony being held at the Reconciliation Monument, Ottawa, on Sunday the 10th on a clear, hot, day.
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This year, besides commemorating the fallen members of the CAF, RCMP, and other police forces and civilians, this ceremony also remembered 65th anniversary of the UN Mission in the Congo and the 60th anniversary of the India-Pakistan Military Observer Group.
The reviewing officer for the UN Veterans, CAF members, and Police contingent members was MGen. (ret’d) Lewis MacKenzie who, along with the parade commander, RCMP Chief Superintendent Josianne Phénix, Elaine Maisonneuve, RCMP Corps Sergeant Major, CAF CDS Gen. Jenny Carignan, and CAVUNP Past President Wayne Mac Culloch, quickly moved down the front rank of the parade contingent, stopping to speak to a few peacekeepers along the way about their service.
There were several speakers during the ceremony starting CAVUNP National President Fern Taillefer and followed by Aurel Dubé (land acknowledgement), MP Anita Vandenbeld, and ending with MGen. MacKenzie. All the speakers sang the praises of those who served on United Nations missions but it was MGen. MacKenzie who would later change the tone of the speeches after the commemorative portion of the event.
In commemoration, it is tradition at this ceremony to place bouquets of flowers in the barrels of three cannons rather than to lay wreaths. The first bouquet was placed by MGen. MacKenzie as reviewing officer and MP Anita Vandenbeld on behalf of the Government, with the second placed by CDS Gen. Jenny Carignan on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces, along Chief Superintendent Josianne Phenix of behalf of the RCMP. The third bouquet was place by Ms. Corleen Muir on behalf of the veterans families along with Veterans Ombudsman Col. (ret’d) Nishika Jardine on behalf of veterans. An addition to this year’s ceremony was a wreath laid by Ms. Theresa Simpson, sister of Cpl. Michael Simpson, who was one of the soldiers who died in the downing of the aircraft by Syria on August 9th, 1974.
Ms. Theresa Simpson lays a wreath to commemorate her brother, Cpl. Michael Simpson, who died on august 9th, 1974
It came time for MGen. MacKenzie’s remarks and, while again praising those who served and currently serve on U.N. missions, did not have any kind words for the New York Headquarters of the United Nations under whose orders these missions took their guidance. He stated that three missions, which were ill defined in their mandate and inadequately supplied from New York, signalled the end of peacekeeping as it was known at that time because the missions in Rwanda, Somalia, and Yugoslavia “… [weren’t] peacekeeping, it wasn’t even close.”.
In the former Yugoslavia, Canadian peacekeepers were directly attacked and shelled by Croat forces while they protected as many Serbs as they could from ethnic cleansing and the PPCLI used deadly force to protect themselves and the Serbs. In Rwanda, Canadian peacekeepers were forced to deal with a genocide that New York had been warned was coming, yet they did nothing to protect the soldiers nor fulfill their mandate to protect people.
Somalia was another failure, even after 28,000 U.S. troops arrived to support the mission. The Canadian Airborne troops had been housed in a demolished school which they had rebuilt and supplied it with what it needed with packages from families at home in Petawawa. They became an example to other nations of how peacekeeping should be done. Not long after the incident documented in the film “Blackhawk Down” where the Americans lost 18 soldiers, President Clinton withdrew the American contingent and the mission broke down.
MGen. Lewis MacKenzie addressing the guests at the Reconciliation Monument
As a result of these failures of organization and command, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan apologized for all three missions and several countries with a record of supporting peacekeeping missions, stopped doing so: Norway, Denmark, Finland, France, Brazil, Argentina, the U.K. and Canada “… pulled the pin on it.”. Before this, Canada had over 3,000 peacekeepers deployed whereas today Canada varies from 10 to 50 in the field as advisors.
In closing, MGen. MacKenzie applauded those who served by saying “ Be proud of what you achieved in Canada’s name helping to keep the peace for so many who had never seen it before and might never see it again”.
