Another Canadian soldier speaks out on “dishonouring the memory of Corporal Anthony Boneca” by Canadian media.
What is missing from these headlines and statements is context, readily available by making only a few phone calls, a bit of research at the file library, or a bit of thinking. Any journalist worthy of the title would have discovered that all service members, both Regular and Reserve, are volunteers. The same journalist would discover that Reserve soldiers additionally volunteer to go on a specific tour, and join their fellows in the task force for a six-month period of intensive training covering all aspects of the mission from fighting in narrow alleyways to administering first aid.
Journalists and editors would discover, through looking at files and public records that Canadian troops have been participating in combat operations in Afghanistan since 2002. They would have discovered, looking at those files and the public record, that the military chain of command, from the Governor General (the Commander in Chief) down to the Sergeants and Master Corporals, have constantly stressed the difficulty and potential dangers of the mission since 2002. Several Prime Ministers and Ministers of Defence have also repeatedly stated the difficulties and dangers that our troops may face in theatre to both the serving members and the public at large.
The Ottawa Sun recently reported in their article entitled AWOL Canucks have doubled, by Kathleen Harris, that the CF has experienced an increase in “Absent Without Authority” charges, and that the increase was indicative of wider morale problems within the military. The media’s “analysis” of the absent without authority statistics included a typically ill-informed and inaccurate comment from Steven Staples of the Polaris Institute. Mr. Staple’s agenda should be obvious to anyone who had taken a moment to research the aims of the institute for which he speaks. The aim of Mr. Staples and the organizations he represents is the effective disarmament of Canada by transforming the Canadian Armed Forces into something it has never been – a lightly equipped all peacekeeping force. Such a force would have no realistic means to assert the necessary practical aspects of an independent Canadian foreign policy in a world of increasing violence brought on in large measure by a hyper-escalation in religious extremism in the Middle East and Asia.The Polaris Institute aligns itself with a left-wing social policy and is an activist organization with virtually no credentials in the realm of defence policy. It is really just yet another “peace” group, yet not surprisingly it is dutifully sought out and quoted by an equally ill-informed and activist press.
Emphasis mine.
Over at the Corner, an amusing example of the exalted opinion some in the press have of themselves.
We have put journalism on such a pedastal in this country that many media people have forgotten that it doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to perform their jobs. You get a notebook. You observe public events. You write. It’s not child’s play, but it ain’t brain surgery, either. The Nation gets around to summarizing the Yearly Kos convention in Vegas, and what it means for left-wing media critics. Matt Bai of the New York Times Magazine (and formerly of Newsweek) quickly compared journalists to intensely specialized professionals, like…brain surgeons.
It’s more accurate to compare Journalism to a rather different “skilled” profession – that of screen acting. You know, that industry in which a ten year old can receive a leading role through nepotism and be rewarded with the Academy’s highest honours.
Not infrequently, bloggers find ourselves accused of “professional envy”, the theory being that having failed to attain our secret ambitions of becoming “real” journalists (or too insecure about our writing abilities to try), we tap away at our little “online diaries”, hoping against hope that someone important will notice and offer that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (and drop in pay) to join the rarified company of “the mainstream” media.
In remarking on the number of published articles I’ve written over the years covering various aspects of the multi-billion dollar industry of dog breeding and sport, I once looked at the question from the perspective of “trading places”;
How does that happen? I mean, in what other skilled profession do you find so many successful untrained amateurs moving in so effortlessly?
Consider how well you’d function in my profession, for example. How many professional journalists could walk into a bodyshop, untrained and unguided, and roll out a tour bus with three sides of custom graphics and signage 16 hours later, like I do? How would they do in any other skilled trade – carpentry, welding?
There’s insecurity about writing credentials in play, all right. But it’s not on our end. I think the thing that threatens mainstream journalists and columnists so much is the realization that there are so many, many ordinary people out there, doing exactly what they do, better than they do it, – and for free.
Like Strategy Page, Belmont Club, Captains Quarters, and so many more. Or to name just two in Canada, CJunk and The Torch, where for balance, Mark Collins has praise for The Globe & Mail’s Christie Blatchford.
Excellent points, Kate. Over the past 30 years, one could find countless examples on CBC Radio of “presenters” who found their way on-air through relatives, college friends, significant others, etc. In Nova Scotia, a comely clerical staff member was offered a newsreader’s job which soon got her an offer from Toronto. It’s not that these folks are bad radio journalists; some are quite good, ethical and professional in their work; it’s that they began their careers with no specialized training or experience and little more than a personal connection to recommend them.
Excellent comments on both the Canadian Military, who are, whatever their role, all volunteers, and who must perform a military, not police (aka peacekeeper) role.
And excellent comments on journalism and the MSM. So many came to their position only as ‘friends of friends’ and the major problem is, as such, they are almost all Liberals, a purely fictional ideology, based on the empty relativism of postmodernism.
Again, what I find astonishing is how these Liberals self-define themselves as ‘progressives’, when their ideology of centralism, state engineered and controlled social service systems, anti-individualism, groupism – is pure regressive socialism. Nothing progressive about the Liberals.
“Or to name just two in Canada, CJunk and The Torch”
Or Raskolnikiv over at Dust My Broom.
Sorry to link dump, but this was too good to pass up: Via Coyne
“…suppose, rather than cut the GST by 1%, the Tories had increased it by the same amount. Would the press and opposition be dismissing the resulting rise in prices as trivial? Or would we be hip-deep in stories that began: “A dollar more on the price of a child’s snowsuit might not seem like much to most people, but to a single mom like Deedee Smythe, it’s the difference between…””
http://andrewcoyne.com/2006/07/heed-coyne-reverse-hypocrometer.php
I was “AWOL” 3 times when I was in the forces. Over 12 years I was late for work a grand total of 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cost me IIRC 50 bucks and 3 days confined to barracks. The Forces have no sense of humour about being late for work.
Now if that reporter had a single ounce of honesty she would have checked to see how many of those charges were for being “AWOL” less than,say 2 hours instead of writing a story implying hundreds of Canadian soldiers have deserted rather than go to Afganistan.
I’m sure that reporter did do her homework, which would explain her implying it rather than saying it! If there is no story, why let the facts stand in the way.
708 AWOLs in 2005 – more than two times the 340 of 2004, and he doesn’t address why but slags Staples and Harris?
It’s interesting to speculate what happened perhaps within Corporal Boneca’s family. First his uncle, fiance and her dad refer to conversations, letters and emails in which he voiced his worries. But then, his dad presents a completely normal spin without denying the emails and letters which unlike recall cannot be hearsay.
Maybe the family had a serious conversation about the presentation of their lost boy and shut down.
Wow, Lets let a member of the military comment. Reference the AWOL charges, over the last number of years in the interest of Quality of Life the military has contracted out a lot for the mundane security duties on bases to the Canadian Corp of Commissionaires. This was done to allow the troops when they are home to spend weekends with their families and not have to worry about weekend and evening duties. The flip coin of this decision is that since this is now being performed by the commissionaires we have no quick and immediate punishment for the troop who sleeps in or for whatever reason can seem to make it work on time. When I was a young private you slept in knowing that odds are you weekend is going to spent sitting in the fish bowl (duty office) and walking a big circle around the building all night. Since this option is now gone to a lot of units they try to address this problem with administrative procedures such as recorded warnings and or summary charges. Hopes everyone is falling this. So this will and no doubt does account for the increase charges of AWOL as I have noticed within my own unit. Its kind of funny, a bunch of Senior NCOs in my unit were just commenting on how we wish we still had some s**t duties to hand out to the young troops, one to teach them that everything has a consequence and two, to cut down on some of the GD paperwork of charging them for minor offences
An internet discussion with Christie Blatchford (Kate’s Doppelgänger?). Read it.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060710.wlivekandahar0711/BNStory/specialComment/home/?pageRequested=all
Mark
Ottawa
And to be fair and balanced on the Canadian media, also from “The Torch”
“Death in Afghanistan: The media scent blood”
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/07/death-in-afghanistan-media-scent-blood.html
“It is disgusting in the extreme and preposterous”
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/07/it-is-disgusting-in-extreme-and.html
“A Canadian soldier in Afghanistan speaks”
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/07/canadian-soldier-in-afghanistan-speaks.html
This does not relate to the media but is personal:
“U.S., British and Canadian troops launched a pre-dawn offensive …”
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/07/us-british-and-canadian-troops.html
Mark
Ottawa
good grief. 708? 10 bucks says the increase was due to a new base commander or base chief getting the new broom mentality and ordering a crackdown on people being charged for being late.
Unit punishment, Ken? My heavens, what a violation of human rights.
I’ll put them on a “pedastal” (sic) when they learn how to spell it.
Staples is a left wing hack with minimal credentials for anything. A Bachelor of Eduction degree with a major in history, University of New Brunswick, yet he is consistently used by the msm as an “expert” on everything from the enviroment to the military. He was on Question Period yesterday expousing his silly left wing views on the deployment in Afganistan. I got the impression from Craig Olivers body language, that even Oliver sees him as nothing more than a useful idiot.
“I think the thing that threatens mainstream journalists and columnists so much is the realization that there are so many, many ordinary people out there, doing exactly what they do, better than they do it, – and for free.”
Sorry Kate I have to disagree with you. I agree there are many ordinary people out there doing exactly what they do. The better part is done by a very much smaller group – “ordinary” is not the word I would use to describe them. I think what threatens mainstream journalists and columnists is the realization that they will have to leave their comfort zone … and actually do their jobs … if they think a piece of paper with “credentials” on it will help, so be it.
You are anything but ordinary, Kate.
greg: Actually I thought Mr Oliver was the idiot for so aggressively trying to put the Afstan mission in a negative light. Mr Staples was just the support he wanted. Except perhaps Mr Staples’ negative views were too poorly presented. On the whole I would have preferred Kojack.
Mark
Ottawa
anyone else see CBCpravdas newsworld tonight with the latest group of pseudoKhadrs lining up to bash their adopted country.
actually they named Lebanon as their country 3 times and blamed Canada.
the CBCpravda newsbitch had the body language of a crown prosecutor during the whole propoganda speil.did everything but wag her finger at Harper.
cal2: See:
“Steve kills Canadians”
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/007020.html
Mark
Ottawa
cal2: See:
“Steve kills Canadians”
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/007020.html
Mark
Ottawa
Oops.
Mark
Ottawa
mark; Point taken. It’s usually all I can do to keep from throwing things at the TV whenever I watch that program.
Oliver brought up the “What ever happened to Paul Martins great idea to increase the size of the G8 into the G20” ,from left field.
And
“How can we turn public opinion against our military efforts in Afganistan.”
Or there abouts.
He is still actively angling for a senator-ship.
ET…thank you
I have been saying for a long time…
the “progressives” actually define regressive
Oliver = ordinary
You can smell the fear coming from the MSM. Smells sorta like liberano!
CBC is increasing its anti-Harper propaganda (is that possible?). It is relentlessly anti-American and then, links Harper to ‘Bush’.
I don’t watch CBC or CTV anymore, but, when ‘surfing by’, sometimes catch what is going on. Today, yet another anti-American, anti-Bush monologue (Passionate Eye) – with some kind of focus on the rise of fundamentalist Christianity in the US – and somehow, linking that with Bush. Whatever – both are viewed as evil.
Has such Christianity beheaded hostages? Has it blown up people sitting in restaurants and trains? No. But, the CBC doesn’t do programs on Islamic fascism; instead, it focuses its relentless Liberal propaganda against the West.
If your media pundits all follow one ideology – that is no longer journalism; it’s propaganda. Exactly similar to the communist countries. And that’s what our public broadcasting system does; it is pure propaganda. For one political party – the Liberal/NDP socialist party.
I must be a masochist.
just watched PeterPansbridge.
He was so stuck on “the government isnt reacting” that Andrew Coyne made fun of him.
then they had some guy from Ottawa press that whined about middle east politics being about nuances. naunce a missle into his backyard and see how he thinks. what a liberal crap mouth puke
looking for some dialogue solution to a 2000 year old hate war.
sell CBCpravda to FOX.
Craig Oliver – CTVtass – has pretty much cornered the market on enhanced outrage that used to be Ed Broadbent’s sole acting skill.
“Im outraged- this poor woman has an ingrown toenail and the Canadian government wont fly her out of Tuktoyutuk—” eyes bugged out, slobber coating the microphone.
Saw it, Cal2, Coyne was great. In response to Russo’s suggestion that Harper has yet to pick on on the “nuance” of the ME, Coyne mentioned something Churchill said about “not being impartial between the fireman and the fire.”
And he refered to “some reporters” (Boag?) along on the G8 trip who were perhaps “a little miffed that (Harper) wasn’t talking to them…”
Finally, on this whole manufactured crisis of Canadians trapped in Lebanon being the fault of the Harper government, he noted that there are 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon, and asked if we are going to “shepherd them in and out during every ebb and flow” in the region.
OT But is this just plain nuts?
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/07/17/1688484-sun.html
OTTAWA — Being a member of a terrorist organization won’t necessarily land someone on Canada’s no-fly list, The Canadian Press has learned.
Proposed criteria would limit inclusion on the roster to those who pose “an immediate threat to aviation security,” Transport Canada internal briefing notes say.
Sorry for the internal cross-post but I think this bears repeating:
Objective reporting in action from the Star article previously referenced:
http://tinyurl.com/ge9ge
“Harper’s seeming lack of nuance, empathy and people skills are making his week-long diplomatic foray, which included a visit to Britain before attending his first G8 meeting, an excruciating exercise.”
Curious minds want to know for whom it was so excruciating…
Women and children first. CBC reporters on jetty standby to let go all. England expects that every man will do his d-u-t-y.
Two questions I’ve asked on this website in the past day or so. How fast can Canada get a Naval Sqdn into the Med and why are there 16,000 Canadians in Leb?
I’ll ask again. Where is the Standing Force Atlantic right now, ie AOR… (by the time they all cross the brow there will be many medical cases); and why is there now potentially 50,000 Canadians to be evacuated?
Who are all these people? From 16,000 to 50,000 in 24 hours and 4 boats out of Cyprus carry how many??
Time for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to tell the CBC that Liberal MP business cards don’t count as passports anymore. Will Boag demand to re-enact the final scene from the evacuation of Saigon?
It’s is sooo obvious Keith Boag became a journalist because he was beat up in school a lot. Don Cherry… what’s your opinion?
a rise from 16000 to 50000 Canadian Lebanese in about 48 hours. Dont be surprised if we find ourselves home to some of the “social agencies of Hezbollah” . Somehow over 1% of Lebanon seems to be Canadian and its not tourist season. And one third of them are within the Hezbollah controlled area.The Isrealis have offered to help evacuate – perhaps they can screen the arrivees before they get here.
The CBCpravda critics seemed to forget Canada has no mediterranian fleet, no helicopters, and an overextended military caused by 30 years of inaction.
Given the current Sea King debacle, chances of escaping would be lower riding in one of those 30 year old garbage scows.
again, I think I must be a masochist.
Watched part of the Passionate Eye last night. supposed to be about the war on terror.
It was done in the style of Micheal Moore- even the sound track was put in with circus like sounds whenever George Bush or Donald Rumsfelt were making statements. They may have even used tape loops aka Hitlers victory dance. I had to turn it off.
You would think that CBCpravda would have the sense to not show a show claiming there is no Taliban organization and that the “war on terror” is made up ,while the next program they are screaming that not enough is being done to extricate people from the ME. But I suppose the union boys had the tapes ready and they left Trona
at 4pm and left the tape machine to do the rest.
Two good pieces July 18:
1) Brigitte Pellerin in the Ottawa Citizen: “You’d complain too, if you were a soldier”;
http://www.brigittepellerin.com/2006/bitching.htm
2) Christie Blatchford in the Globe and Mail: “With a rifle or a wrench, these troops make it work” (full text not officially online).
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20060718.AFGHAN18/TPStory/National/columnists
Mark
Ottawa
“There’s insecurity about writing credentials in play, all right. But it’s not on our end. I think the thing that threatens mainstream journalists and columnists so much is the realization that there are so many, many ordinary people out there, doing exactly what they do, better than they do it, – and for free.”
BINGO!
The Polaris Institute?
Oh, dear, dear me.
What’s next? The Scientology take on this?
It’s time to re-think dual-citizenship for Canadian passport holders.
apparently 5000 are vacationers. the other 45000 are holders of Canadian passports ( the passport of convenience- dont leave your homeland without it).
45000 dual-citizenship types who are tax exempt but “save my a$$” eligble.
For those like “Michael” prattling on about the evils of dual citizenship, a reality check:
Yes, Canada allows dual nationality. Of course, Canada could insist that those becoming Canadian citizens renounce their former citizenship.
But this would merely be a symbolic gesture with no legal basis.
Obviously, all countries reserve the right to determine their own citizenship requirements. It’s not up to Canada to decide whether someone is a Lebanese citizen or not; it’s up to Lebanon.
Effectively, a person who “renounced” their former citizenship to become Canadian could still be legally considered a citizen of that country regardless. It’s the country’s call, not the individual’s.*
The only way to ensure no “dual citizens” in Canada would be to restrict citizenship to those born in Canada (even so, many of these could still be dual citizens by default).**
So you’re effectively shutting down all immigration.
* Remember that female Canadian journalist in Iran? As far as Iran was concerned, she was Iranian.
** Example: if your Dad was born in Newcastle, England but you were born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, you’re a British citizen, chum.
If the numbers truly are 30 – 40 thousand people not on vacation but in Lebannon then something is seriously wrong with our immigration policy.How can you be an immigrant but not have emigrated?
If any of this group are just “landed” they should be sent back [I know they are already back, but you know what I mean]
I came to Canada to find a better way of life, I am now a proud Canadian.
The USA does not allow adults to hold dual citizenship perhaps Canada needs to do the same!
“The USA does not allow adults to hold dual citizenship perhaps Canada needs to do the same!”
Sorry, wrong. I know LOTS of adults who are dual citizens of the US and another country.
The US simply has no authority to STOP someone from becoming a dual citizen – other than by refusing citizenship to those who hold a foreign nationality (but then it would have to halt all immigration).
I quote from an American, Rich Wales:
“Countries usually frame their citizenship laws with little or no regard for the citizenship laws of other countries. In my son’s case, for instance, the US does not care that Canada thinks he is a Canadian citizen, and Canada does not care that the US thinks he is a US citizen. Sometimes a country may seek to restrict dual citizenship by requiring one of its citizens born with some other citizenship to renounce (give up) the other citizenship upon reaching adulthood. Newly naturalized citizens may similarly be required to renounce their previous citizenship(s); the US has such a requirement, for example, but Canada does not. In some cases, a country will automatically revoke the citizenship of one of its citizens who acquires another country’s citizenship by naturalization, even if no explicit renunciation was involved.
Where one country requires a citizen to renounce the citizenship of another country, this renunciation may or may not be recognized by the other country.”
Summary: Neither Canada nor the US has any authority to strip someone of citizenship in another country. What Canada and the US could do is refuse citizenship to “foreigners.”
But then it gets complicated.
If you are serious about ending dual citizenship, you essentially have to put an end to all immigration or emigration; you’re also going to have to prevent any Canadian citizen from being born in another country or marrying a foreigner.
Good luck!
Obviously the privilege of being a Canadian is being abused here as these people obviously do not want to live as 99% of other Canadians i.e. in Canada.Are they in or are they out?
Is Canadian citizenship just an insurancy policy for them?
50,000 Canadians in Lebanon,… last night the CBC was saying 100,000.
Undoubted most of these 50,000 voted liberal for their own identity politics,(free surgery anyone?) So these fake Canadians will understand that since their vote was a scam for personal benefit, so was Canada’s promise of supporting them in jetting out of one of their summer residences overseas if they ask.
The MSM really believe that the 50,000 trapped Leba-adians will be the “Gotcha”
that will aid them in breaking the Harper that they made.
Most Canadians are asking ,… WTF,…How many Canadians in Lebanon????
JJM
So glad that you’re on top of the ‘facts’ on dual citizenship and passports… but you don’t seem to be strong on solutions. An immigration lawyer, perhaps? There’s a major disconnect on current passport-citizenship practises whether YOU can see it or not, chum.
There is no immigration problem with single citizenship. One simply has a law that states that once an immigrant is granted Canadian citizenship, that citizenship is conditional on the person’s providing proof that they have renounced their other citizenship. If no such proof is provided within, say, six months, the citizenship is revoked.
Whether or not the first country of citizenship accepts the renunciation is irrelevant. And the law must provide that if in the future it becomes apparent an immigrant Canadian is still using another citizenship (e.g. has a foreign passport, votes in a foreign election, accepts office in a foreign government) Canadian citizenship is automatically revoked.
Mark
Ottawa
Kate, this is one of your best post so far. I love it.
Dual citizenship is a non-issue and always has been.
And there is NO “solution,” no matter what you might think – unless you are prepared to waste time and effort on ridiculous draconian measures such as those suggested by Mark Collins.
I suggest that while you might certainly have legal success revoking the citizenship of a foreign-born Canadian, you would quickly run into trouble attempting to deprive a native-born Canadian of their citizenship.
If citizenship is no longer seen as an immutable birthright, then the status of all Canadians – you, me, Mark and Kate – is also up for grabs.
In an age of increasing globalization, there are going to be dual, even triple citizens. That’s simply a fact.
And there’s a large expat Canadian community across the world. Would you now deny Canadian citizens, even native-born ones, the right to live and work overseas? What would that do for our economy and trade?
The Canadian government already does take measures against Canadian citizens who, whether native- or foreign-born, spend more time overseas. There are various tax implications and you can even lose the right to vote if you do not maintain Canadian residency requirements.
And finally, enforcing “single citizenship” will not enhance Canada’s security one iota.
It’s worth remembering that amongst the 17 would-be bombers in Toronto and the UK 7 and 21 July 2005 culprits, many were were native-born citizens of their respective countries.
The fight against Islamist extremism is an ideological struggle; arguments over citizenship are pointless and a complete red herring. To the Islamist extremists, citizenship and passports are of no consequence; at best, they’re a useful means to an end.
And no, I’m certainly not a lwayers.
Oops!
I’m neither a “lwayers” nor a “lawyer.”
Do you people here think the young Canadian soldiers in middle east all enjoy war??? They are very young and have probably seen far too many people die in their short lives. That’s got to be hard on these kids and they are for the most part kids. Get informed this war is wrong. The Muslim people do not want us interfering in their affairs.We used to be welcomed as peace keepers not America’s war allies. We can do more real work over there with humanitarian aid. Not to mention how much is this costing the Canadian people in lives ,money and emotional cost to the soldiers. This is not a game. And the majority of Canadians hate George Bush and his policies so why are we there??? A lot of us are wondering why!!!