Did the Toronto Star and Canadian Press reporters attend the same dinner?

The CP story has a rather, er, political subtext:

This week’s surprise visit to Afghanistan by Prime Minister Stephen Harper was a huge boost to the Canadian soldiers working in the war-torn country, Canada’s top soldier said Thursday.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier told the Canadian Press annual dinner that Afghanistan is a tough mission for men and women in uniform who are so far from home, calling it a sometimes lonely and frightening job with high costs measured in lives.

But Hillier said any signs from home of support for the troops can result in a big boost in morale for the soldiers who put their lives on the line every day.

"Political parties notwithstanding, the prime minister of Canada visits our soldiers that is a powerful thing for all concerned," said Hillier.

"He is the actual, visible representation that this country is appreciative of what these young men and women are doing, and they are remembered and maybe, just maybe, that convinces them that the next day they can get up and do their business and accept that risk because we ask them to do it."..

Whereas this Star story's focus is on substance:

The Canadian military is undergoing a revolution in what it does and how it does it – designed to let the country take its deserved place on the world stage, Canada's top soldier says.

Canadian Forces will be deployed in large groups, under Canadian commanders, to give the country a more noticeable military presence during conflict so politicians can take a greater role in post-war discussions, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in a speech in Toronto last night.

"We're trying to give Canada a seat at the table, an opportunity to influence a region, a country, an event in accordance with our interests and with our values because of our (military) contribution," Hillier told reporters after his speech at the annual Canadian Press dinner...

Hillier said that for decades the military has been trying to be the public service of Canada, and that too will change.

"We are the Canadian forces and our raison d'etre is to conduct operations and at times, on your behalf, actually apply disciplined managed violence," Hillier said in his speech.

The primary role of the military is to protect Canadians at home.

And there's a renewed focus on that, he said.

The military is refining the special forces, and training and equipping them for possible counter-terrorist activities on Canadian soil, he added...

Some days you gotta like the Star. But, while the current Afstan mission clearly reflects the approach sketched by Gen. Hillier, I have no confidence that a non-Conservative government would support this view of the CF's role.

As for the CF's future, here is a pretty good column by Barbara Yaffe in the Vancouver Sun.

Update: More from Gen. Hillier, following the death (by what amounts to a land mine) of Corporal Matthew McCully:

Public's support crucial to military, Hillier says

And a good column by Rex Murphy:

Afghanistan will define this PM