Archive for March, 2010

We welcome Quebec member of Parliament Jean-Pierre Blackburn to his position as Veterans Affairs minister. Blackburn, who was sworn in as minister Jan. 19, is a veteran MP who served under Brian Mulroney from 1984 to 1993 and then returned to Parliament in 2006. He has been serving as minister of National Revenue and minister of state for agriculture since 2008 and, while he moved from National Revenue to Veterans Affairs, he retains his cabinet position of minister of state for agriculture. As Veterans Affairs minister, Blackburn will have a full plate. That much is obvious by the 56 resolutions related [...]

For several weeks last fall, a dusty and dangerous frontier town in Afghanistan was home for Legion Magazine staff writer Adam Day. Armed with a notebook and camera, Day spent his time in Salavat with a platoon of 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, deployed in an attempt to secure the town and win the trust of its people. The result of Day’s visit is a series of articles, beginning with Part 1, The Struggle For Salavat. Before we go there, however, we open with a story (Hearts And Minds) by freelance journalist Matthieu Aikins whose travels throughout Afghanistan have given him a perspective on how Afghans view international efforts to bring stability to their country.

For the first few days the platoon was uneasy. So much of everything was unknown. As a unit they were new to the war but they knew the war’s reputation for random savagery. As each patrol was leaving the little fortified schoolhouse over the first days, the soldiers staying behind would come out to see them off, pretending to tease them. Or maybe they would really tease them. There were always a few sombre last moments as the guys gave each other thumbs up or fist bumps on their way out, and then it would start. ‘Have fun at the war soldiers,’ someone might yell in a girl’s voice. ‘Watch out for those IEDs, tough guys,’ another might yell cutely. It seemed pretty clear the soldiers were worried about each other.

Abdul Wali was looking back over his shoulder, explaining to me how bad things had gotten for him, and about the gains the Taliban had been making in Kandahar, when, with a crunch, he rear-ended the car in front of us, another equally battered Corolla taxi that had been trying to take a left turn.