by Canuck:
here . Pretty scarey how info flow's being shut down so quickly up north.....

_{"at some point I'm hopeful I'll figure out something to put here"}

Media to be barred from covering repatriation of Canadian soldiers' remains

OTTAWA (CP) - Media will be barred from the airfield when the plane carrying the remains of four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan lands at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ont.

Military sources say reporters will not be be allowed to cover the repatriation of the remains when the aircraft lands at the base Tuesday evening.

In the past, the media have been invited to cover the arrival of the remains of soldiers who have fallen overseas.

On April 1 the media covered the repatriation of the remains of Pte. Robert Costall, an Edmonton-based soldier who was killed in a firefight with Taliban insurgents near Kandahar.

Military sources would not say why the decision was made, but that a news release was to be issued by the Department of National Defence Monday evening.

Department of Defence officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

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I do not agree the media should be banned from all future coffins arriving at Trenton.

The decision that should have been made was the media’s presence is up to the individual grieving families. Base commanders do have the authority to make decisions regarding the media. The decision was a political one. They may regret making it on behalf of the families involved. Military families are as diverse as any other family. Some would welcome the media being there and others wouldn’t. Whether the Prime Minister took a page out of President Bush’s book no longer matters, the perception is there that he did. Their decision is arbitrary, with no consultation with the military. Had President Bush also consulted with the military, it wouldn’t have been spun the way it has. Ditto what should have been done at Dover Air Force Base. Democracy is fragile—so easily lost. Lord help the media who are welcomed by families that don’t make their coverage in a tasteful, respectful and non intrusive manner.

As for the flag being raised and lowered at the Peace Towers in Ottawa, I agree with the return to tradition that has been in place for many years to lower it on Remembrance Day and in keeping with other traditional protocols that are in place. Royal Canadian Legions and their membership support Remembrance Day—wear a poppy on that day and never forget the sacrifice they made. From listening to a radio talk show today where this was debated, I do have to say, I am disappointed that many Canadians don't seem to be aware of that long-standing practice.

The media, fellow Canadians, and the government need to pay tribute to the fallen and it has to be done in a respective manner. What I deplore is the media or anyone else using their deaths as a means for furthering their own agenda. Ask the grieving families involved.

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As an aside, the media hounded the families of Pte. Robert Costall, and is probably the reason this government made their error. The coverage was despicable. They were given access and abused that privilege.

Rosie DiManno | April 26

The Toronto Star - Fine words, this Canadian government has for its soldiers, especially when they die at their country's bidding.

But words without pictures — except from a distance. Without even — any longer — witnesses.

As if a nation should look away when the casualties of war come home in a box. Such is the defensive posture of a government that doesn't trust its own principles, the very ideals that put a country's lifeblood, its uniformed men and women, in harm's way.

Soldiers serve. Politicians are self-serving. Unlike our troops, they run from a fight. They duck and cover at the first hint of trouble, trembling at the optics of flag-draped coffins arriving at CFB Trenton, as if Canadians must be spared the spectacle of repatriated remains.

So quick, the Conservatives were, to yoke themselves to the valour of troops fighting in Afghanistan; portraying themselves as superior to their predecessors in their higher regard for a military beggared through years of neglect and diminishment by the Liberals.

But Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor is a coward for banning media coverage of four slain soldiers whose bodies were returned to Canada yesterday. And since surely no such decision would have been made without the approval of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that makes him a coward too.

Does anybody really believe, as O'Connor has posited, that this abrupt and unilateral shift in policy was undertaken out of respect for the families of the dead? It is precisely respect — a nation's acknowledgment of the sacrifice made by Cpl. Matthew Dinning, Bombardier Myles Mansell, Cpl. Randy Payne and Lieut. William Turner — that is being denied those grieving families.

Watching isn't voyeurism. It's shared mourning, for all those who can't attend funerals or mumble their condolences at visitations.

more at link.

[Comment - I frequently don't agree with Rosie, but this is one of the times that I do. This policy is going to come back and bite us in the ass very, very hard. I'd love to know what some of my PAFO acquaintances think of this, but I'll bet that I'd have a hard time getting the unvarnished views out of them. We've finally gotten the Canadian public actually paying attention to the fact that people get killed on operations and that the guys are doing a damned fine job - looking like we're trying to sweep things under the rug like this, that's a big, big mistake. If I wanted to attack the decision and get the vocal support of 70% of Canadians all I have to do is draw the parallel to the Bush administration, just or not.

Silly me, I thought we'd gotten away from the obfuscation, like in Dan Gunther's death - that was travesty and this is rapidly heading the same way. ~ JPD]

"We declared war on terror, it's not even a noun, so, good luck. After we defeat it, I'm sure we'll take on that bastard ennui." - Jon Stewart.

Rosie DiManno | Wingham, ON | April 30

The Toronto Star - In a small town, one young soldier's death leaves a big hole, an abyss.

And it seemed yesterday as if the whole of Wingham turned out to fill that empty space.

Fittingly, given the central place that hockey played in the life of Cpl. Matthew Dinning — as abiding a passion as the military career that replaced youthful pursuits when the boy became a man — it was to the rink that friends and neighbours and strangers came to both grieve a loss and celebrate a life ended too soon, in a distant land.

[snip]

From a flower-draped stage, Dinning told the audience pointedly: "Now, I would like to show you some of the video that Mr. Harper wouldn't let you see close up of Matthew's arrival home on Tuesday night."

Then, on a giant screen, came newsreel images — shot from behind a fence at CFB Trenton — of Matthew Dinning's flag-draped coffin emerging from the rear of a transport plane.

The public sharing of these images put the lie to the Conservative government's contention that its unilateral decision to ban the media from repatriation ceremonies was undertaken out of respect for the families of dead soldiers. This family was never consulted.

more at link above.

[Comment: And that, Mr. Harper, is what happens when you piss off an old, experienced OPP officer. You just got hung out to dry in the court of public opinion by an old hand, a guy you didn't even care to know. There's a long list of reasons why many influential folks on the operational level of things characterize pols who make decisions like this as "barrel suckers" and other less savoury epithets.

Unfortunately the photo of Cpl. Dinning's funeral that ran in my morning paper isn't available online - the rink was crammed with mourners, and for as far as the eye could see there were CF folks with bars, crowns and bright red berets (military police - Cpl. Dinning was an MP) - I'd wager that yesterday would have been a real good day to pull a crime at CFB Borden. ~ JPD]

"We declared war on terror, it's not even a noun, so, good luck. After we defeat it, I'm sure we'll take on that bastard ennui." - Jon Stewart.