Toronto Star April 26, 2006
Return of fallen not for public
By Bruce Campinon-Smith and Tonda MacCharles
The airport ceremony was precise, well-practised, and for the first time in years, off limits to reporters.
This is the new face of Canada's war in Afghanistan.
A military Airbus, bearing the bodies of the four Canadian soldiers killed in Saturday's roadside blast north of Kandahar, touched down at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario at 6:25 p.m. yesterday.
But in sharp contrast to the reception given Canada's "fallen heroes" in the past, the government tried to bring home the latest casualties of the Afghan conflict away from public eyes.
The bodies of Cpl. Matthew Dinning, of Wingham, Ont., Bombardier Myles Mansell of Victoria, B.C., Lieut. William Turner of Toronto and Cpl. Randy Payne from CFB Wainwright, Alta., were returned to Canadian soil — and the care of grieving family members last night.
But in an unprecedented and controversial decision, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor banned all media from the air base to cover the repatriation of the four slain soldiers. That reversed the department's long-standing policy of allowing reporters on to the base to cover the return of deceased soldiers.
A beefed up cadre of military police officers patrolled the property to keep reporters and photographers off the base.
It was left to Capt. Nicole Meszaros, the base spokesperson — who had escorted media on the base at previous repatriation services — to explain the new ground rules set by the Tories.
"Here in Trenton, you're not allowed on any (defence department) property," she told one reporter.
Instead, reporters, television camera people and photographers were left peering through the chain-link fence at roadside as the solemn repatriation ceremony unfolded on the tarmac. A row of satellite television trucks lined the road outside the base.
Once the jet had come to a stop, family members were ushered out of the terminal and on to the tarmac. From there, they watched as one by one, the flag-draped caskets were carefully unloaded from the jet's cargo hold and carried to four waiting hearses.
Within an hour, the sad procession of hearses was on its way to Toronto, where, typically, autopsies would be done.
But if the goal of the government was to block the images of the caskets coming off the plane, it didn't succeed. From their vantage point, the cameras could still capture the sombre scene on the tarmac.
Even from a distance, the faint strains of a piper could be heard, the sharp salutes of the honour guards could be seen and the grief of the family members was sadly apparent as they gathered at the open door of each hearse for their airport rendezvous.
A handful of residents joined the media at roadside to show their support for the troops and mourn this most recent loss. Among them was Ann Bennett, who clutched a Canadian flag that fluttered at half mast on her home-make flagpole.
As the mother of a son headed for a third tour in Afghanistan, she said the government should do more to honour the sacrifices made by military personnel, by lowering the flags atop the Peace Tower and letting the media cover the solemn ceremony when bodies are brought home.
"They have given the ultimate for Canadians," said Bennett, of Trenton. "We shouldn't turn a blind eye."
The decision to try and keep last night's return under wraps had the Conservatives on the defensive in Ottawa yesterday, as they fended off charges they are trying to cover up the toll of war.
This comes at a time when the government was already taking heat for its refusal to lower government flags in tribute.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, under fire from the opposition, defended the surprise decision, saying it was done to protect the privacy of the families.
"It is not about photo ops and media coverage. It is about what is in the best interests of the families," he said during question period in the Commons.
But Liberal Leader Bill Graham asked Harper if he had the "courage" to reverse his policy.
"We are speaking here of a military ceremony, and the presence of the press to report of the repatriation of our soldiers permits the nation as a whole to pay their respects, to mourn their loss," he said.
"At these events, the press have always respected the grief of the family," he said.
But Harper accused Graham of taking partisan shots.
"I would suggest to the leader of the Opposition that politicizing these funerals is unbecoming of his office," he said.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Garth Turner (Halton) said he's been "besieged" by angry phone calls from constituents about the casket ceremony and about the new flag policy.
He said callers panned the move as disrespectful to the fallen soldiers and to regular Canadians who feel they're being shut out of an event of national mourning.
"Right now (the calls are) probably running 30 to 1 (against the government)," Turner said.
"There's a great deal of concern, confusion and uncertainty about why the government has adopted the position that it has."
But Alberta MP Leon Benoit, in whose constituency Payne lived, said the family didn't want coverage of the event.
John Pike, a military analyst at GlobalSecurity.org, says that the government likely fears that allowing images of the returning caskets "would undermine public support for the war effort."
"It's normal for Americans to come home in body bags. It just doesn't happen in Canada. You went for half a century without any combat deaths. Now it's happening big time," he said in a telephone interview.
He says the image of caskets coming home is an essential part of comprehending the human toll of war.
"There must be some way of balancing the needs of the family with the needs of the Canadian people, to honour their sacrifice," he said.
Steve Staples, of the Polaris Institute, a left-leaning, Ottawa-based think tank, warns the Tory edict could mark a tipping point for public support for Canada's presence in Afghanistan.
"It does make people think immediately `what do they have to hide,'" he said.
"The government and the military have asked the public to become engaged in what our forces are doing ... and the sacrifices members of our forces make," he said.
"Yet at the same time they're trying to put it under the rug." Premier Dalton McGuinty declined comment on Ottawa's decision to keep the media away. But he noted that Legislature Speaker Mike Brown has ruled that flags at Queen's Park will be lowered on the day of the funerals for the soldiers.
The flag on Canada's embassy in Washington remained at full staff because embassy staff received no instructions to lower it. In fact, they have received no instructions to lower the flag for any deaths since Harper was elected.
They did lower the flag for Canadian fatalities under the previous Liberal government.
With files from Rob Ferguson, Tim Harper, Canadian Press
© Copyright 2006, Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
