military

Wednesday May 26, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 26, 2021

Ottawa failed to properly implement sexual misconduct report, top Defence civil servant says

Canada’s deputy minister of National Defence says the military’s operation to end sexual misconduct in its ranks “lost its way” because the government failed to properly implement recommendations from a landmark report into the issue six years ago.

May 1, 2021

Jody Thomas said she wasn’t working for the Department of National Defence in 2015, when a scathing report into sexual misconduct by former Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps was released.

But Thomas said her “observation” is that the Deschamps report was treated like a checklist. She said the government did not “truly” implement it — something the military has been loath to say.

“It was not given the oversight it needed by the civilian part of the department, so my side of the department in terms of monitoring,” Thomas said in an interview on CBC’s The Current with Matt Galloway. 

“I think that as little was done as possible to make it look like the report had been responded to without any real change. No structural change, no legislative change, no outside the department, outside the Canadian Armed Forces reporting — those kinds of things that Madame Deschamps emphasized.”

Thomas’s comment is in stark contrast to what the military told Parliament last month.

Brig.-Gen. Andrew Atherton, director general of professional military conduct, told MPs probing sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces that all of the recommendations in the Deschamps report were fulfilled.

May 2, 2017

“From our perspective, we believe we have achieved all of those 10 recommendations,” Atherton said on April 15. “However, that is our opinion.”

Thomas told Galloway it’s time to be frank.

“My observation would be that it was treated almost as a checklist, and I think it’s time that we were just honest about that,” Thomas said.

The statement is a clear admission of failure when it comes to the Defence Department’s handling of sexual misconduct.

That said, Thomas did say she wouldn’t characterize Operation Honour — the military’s now-defunct campaign to stamp out sexual misconduct — “completely as a failure,” citing the creation of the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre and increased reporting. 

Eyre replaced Admiral Art McDonald, who stepped aside from the top job in February during an investigation into a sexual misconduct claim. McDonald had replaced Gen. Jonathan Vance, who is also under a military police probe over claims of inappropriate behaviour — allegations that he told Global News he denies. Several other senior leaders have also been swept up into the reckoning.

Eyre repeated his message that the military has “failed as an institution to properly address” sexual misconduct over the decades. He called it an “existential issue” that threatens to make the military “irrelevant” in society and not able to defend the country if it’s not fixed. (CBC) 

 

Saturday May 1, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 1, 2021

‘My recommendations will be implemented’: Louise Arbour prepares to review misconduct in Canada’s military

When faced with the idea of conducting an external review on sexual misconduct in the military — six years after a similar review was completed — retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour said her initial impression was: “Seriously? It’s been done.” 

October 18, 2016

Upon reflection, Arbour said she saw an environment in which she could make a lasting contribution, having been given a broader mandate from the federal government than the one handed to retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps when she conducted a similar review. 

“I have been given assurances that my recommendations will be implemented,” a point Arbour returned to several times in an interview with the Star on Friday, while acknowledging that “you might think it’s a bit naïve” considering the military’s response so far to the Deschamps review. 

“Six years after the Deschamps report, I think there’s better hope this time that something will come of this…If I was profoundly skeptical and cynical, I wouldn’t be doing this. I really have to believe that there is a window of opportunity.”

Arbour’s external review, announced Thursday by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, was immediately blasted by critics as a deflection tactic by a government and military that have failed to fully implement Deschamps’s recommendations. 

The Conservatives said it was meant to take attention away from ongoing questions about the government’s handling of an allegation against ex-chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance in 2018.

June 13, 2017

Deschamps — who concluded in 2015 that sexual misconduct is “endemic” in the military — told the Star she welcomed Arbour’s appointment, noting her broader mandate and that her review “would not be a mere repetition of what I did.” 

A former justice on the country’s top court, UN high commissioner for human rights, and chief prosecutor at the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Arbour brings a deep knowledge of human rights issues to her new task.

“Maybe the most important part of (Deschamps’s) work was the diagnosis,” Arbour said. “It was really earth shattering, the assessment of the prevalence of this predatory, sexualized culture.” 

Arbour said she understands the frustration of survivors of military sexual violence, both those who have come forward, as well as those who never have due to lack of trust in the system.

“I understand their frustration and possibly their skepticism, about just another review by another justice. I get that,” she said. “I really want to say: Just bear with me. I think moving forward, this might be the right time for the right thing to get done.” 

Unlike Deschamps’s mandate, Arbour has been instructed to come up with recommendations on what external oversight of the armed forces should look like. She will also be studying the military justice system’s “systemic performance” in dealing with sexual misconduct allegations, as well as recruitment and promotion to senior leadership. (Toronto Star) 

 

Thursday May 28, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 27, 2020

Military report reveals what sector has long known: Ontario’s nursing homes are in trouble

Jacqueline Mitchell hasn’t been able to hug her 94-old-mother since March, and now, in the face of a shocking Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) report into the state of five Ontario long-term care homes, she is aghast. 

April 1, 2020

Mitchell’s mother has Alzheimer’s disease and has been a resident at Etobicoke, Ont.’s Eatonville Care Centre since 2017. That’s one of the homes listed in the report, which details disturbing observations made by military members who were called in to help after some of the province’s long-term care facilities were overrun by COVID-19 outbreaks.

The CAF report outlines instances in which members spotted equipment used on both infected and non-infected patients without being disinfected, as well as rotten food, cockroach infestations and a startling disregard for basic cleanliness.

“It is scandalous. It is shameful. It is shocking,” Mitchell said. “Our senior generation is living in that, and that is a national atrocity.”

There are many signs the provincial government knew, or should have known, what’s happening inside these homes, but it took military intervention to bring the details to light. 

February 29, 2008

For weeks, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been saying the province’s long-term care system is “broken.” And on Tuesday he said that he saw firsthand the limitations of the system when his brother, former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, was in palliative care before his death in 2016.

That, to Mitchell, signalled an acknowledgement on the premier’s part that something was very wrong with the system.

“That should have alerted him on a personal basis to what was happening in these homes.… He should not be surprised,” she said.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath slammed the government’s response, and called for the resignation of Minister of Long-Term Care Merrillee Fullerton.

“It’s shocking that the Canadian Armed Forces needed to lift the veil when Doug Ford and Merrilee Fullerton ought to have known about these horrific conditions, and did nothing to take the homes over,” Horwath said. “The premier cannot pass the buck, finger-point and express outrage about what his own government is doing on his watch.” (CBC) 

 

Thursday October 10, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 10, 2019

Turkey Begins Offensive in Syria After U.S. Stands Aside

Turkey has begun its military offensive into northeastern Syria to force back Kurdish militants controlling the border area, days after President Donald Trump said the U.S. wouldn’t stand in the way.

May 3, 2017

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the operation, code-named Spring of Peace, on Twitter and said it would also target Islamic State. Russia, Iran and a top EU official urged Turkey to act with restraint amid concerns that renewed chaos in Syria would lead to a jihadist resurgence and push the Kurds, America’s allies in the fight against IS, into the arms of President Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey has battled Kurdish separatists for years and had repeatedly warned it would not allow the creation of a Kurdish proto-state on its immediate border. Once it seizes the area, Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrian refugees, most of them Arabs, in the border zone, further complicating a combustible situation.

October 31, 2018

A small forward group of Turkish forces first entered Syria early Wednesday at two points close to the Syrian towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, according to a Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Turkish planes and shells pounded the towns as the incursion began. Residents fled though Kurdish forces had vacated positions before the attack, which is expected to involve tens of thousands of soldiers backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers from NATO’s second-largest army.

Turkey’s advance follows a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy. Trump told Erdogan in a phone call on Sunday that dozens of American troops who’d been working closely with Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State would pull back, effectively clearing the way for a Turkish incursion.

April 13, 2018

The White House statement appeared to surprise allies at home and abroad. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said they would defend their “own people,” potentially relegating the battle against Islamic State.

The Kurdish YPG militia that forms the backbone of the SDF has been one of America’s closest partners in the fight against Islamic State and is holding thousands of jihadist fighters and their families in camps and detention centers in northeastern Syria.

October 6, 2016

While Trump said Turkey would become responsible for the detainees, who include foreign fighters from Europe, it was not clear if there was a mechanism in place to transfer them to Turkish custody. Trump was criticized at home for a decision that could see Islamic State fighters escape or regroup.

A number of Trump allies, including Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said the move was “a shot in the arm for the bad guys.” Analysts said a U.S. pullback could ultimately play into the hands of Russia, whose military intervention helped turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in favor of Assad. As the Turkish offensive got underway, the Associated Press reported that the YPG had asked Russia to mediate talks between them and the Assad government. (Source: Bloomberg) 

 

Thursday April 11, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 11, 2019

Ontario must take steps to hit vaccination targets and debunk measles myths

We’re losing the fight against measles. In this day and age, that’s an amazing statement. Three years ago we talked about them being almost eradicated. Now we’re losing the battle.

April 11, 2019

This week Ottawa reported measles cases. There have been outbreaks in British Columbia, in several U.S. states and in Europe. In New York City, a health emergency has been declared. 

And the worst part is that we know exactly why. A relatively small group of so-called anti-vaxxers is making effective use of — what else — social media to spread misinformation, which is leading to more and more parents not getting their kids vaccinated, and to more adults choosing not to be revaccinated.

A recent report from the Toronto Star shows that nearly 30 per cent of seven-year-old students in the Greater Toronto Area aren’t getting their shots. A vaccination rate of 90 to 95 per cent is needed to afford herd immunity, which is required to prevent outbreaks. Ontario is very far from that target. 

December 22, 2016

Actions are being taken. The Ontario Medical Association has launched a public awareness campaign, using traditional and non-traditional media, specifically taking at aim of some of the most common myths about vaccines. 

Myths that suggest measles and similar diseases aren’t really that dangerous. The fact is that complications happen in about 10 per cent of cases. For every 1,000 cases, one or two victims will die. Then there’s the widely-debunked claim that the measles vaccine causes autism. It doesn’t. There is no scientific evidence to support that claim. Large studies around the world have shown there is no link, and yet the life-threatening myth survives.

April 29, 2016

Or this: The idea that nosodes are a substitute for vaccination. Nosodes, also called homeopathic vaccines, are not a substitute for real vaccines. There is no scientific evidence to show they prevent infectious diseases. Nosodes are made from bacteria, viruses, tissue or other material from someone with a particular disease. They are so diluted there are no active ingredients left by the time they are administered.

Or this one: Breastfeeding protects babies from infection. While it offers some protection against certain types of infections, the protection is incomplete. Breastfeeding is not a substitute for vaccination.

February 6, 2015

And finally, this: We shouldn’t put foreign substances like vaccines into our bodies. It’s hard to believe anyone would fall for this, but they do. The germs that cause communicable diseases like measles are natural, but that doesn’t make them good. Plants and berries are natural things, but they yield some of the most poisonous substances. Vaccines, on the other hand, are made from natural sources, some from safely-altered germs. They stimulate our immune system in the same way the disease would, but without making us sick.

At this point, all the good work being done to educate the public isn’t stopping the new spread of measles. It may be time for tougher medicine.

April 30, 2009

There are two legal exemptions for not vaccinating kids. One is a medical exemption, which obviously must remain available. Another is non-medical exemptions, where parents must sign an affidavit saying vaccines conflict with their “sincerely held convictions.”

U.S. states like California, Mississippi and West Virginia have ended non-medical exemptions. And their vaccination rates have dramatically increased. Perhaps it’s time Ontario and other Canadian provinces did the same thing. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

Measles, disease, virus, vaccination, herd, immunization, vaccine, military