Politics and the military
Two blog posts related to the Canadian military for readers to consider. My opinions and thoughts can be found in the comments to both.
I'm attempting to follow up on the allegations put forward in these pieces with the goal of posting the actual facts involved and allowing the community as a whole to voice their opinion.
Although I'm attempting to gather information through official channels, any and all unofficial information is welcome.
I'm attempting to follow up on the allegations put forward in these pieces with the goal of posting the actual facts involved and allowing the community as a whole to voice their opinion.
1. I can't believe itGiven the highly sensitized environment that the military is forced to operate in today, I'm concerned at even the appearance that they could somehow be complicit in what is being alleged.
2. Who cancelled Dr. Krieber's visit to Wainwright?
Although I'm attempting to gather information through official channels, any and all unofficial information is welcome.
posted by WE Speak at 5:27 a.m.
4 Comments:
Toronto Star today:
http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/214884
"Military rejects visit to base by Dion's wife
Officials deny politics involved, say they'll try to set up Krieber's meeting with families
Janine Krieber, wife of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, was rebuffed when she asked to pay a low-key visit to military families at Canadian Forces' base Wainwright in Alberta yesterday.
Military officials say there is nothing political behind the refusal and are reportedly trying to reschedule the visit.
But against the tense backdrop of politics, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his ministers regularly accusing Dion and the Liberals of being against Canadian troops, the incident is assuming political significance.
Krieber, who does not want to talk to the media about the controversy, reportedly asked the people at the Military Family Resource Centre at Wainwright if she could pay a call yesterday when she planned to be in Alberta.
Krieber is no stranger to the military – she works as a professor at the Saint-Jean campus of the Royal Military College, specializing in strategic and anti-terrorism studies.
According to an email obtained by the Star, Krieber "specifically requested no press, no fanfare, no PR what so ever. This was simply a quiet personal visit. She is not interested in meeting with base command or any other military brass."
But Trish MacGregor, executive director of the resource centre, was told the visit couldn't happen and that Krieber would have to seek permission from the office of Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor.
MacGregor complained in an email to military officials that Krieber was being "blocked" from the base and predicted this would make everyone look bad.
"How do I deal with the potential negative profile this could generate?" MacGregor wrote in an email. "Please, help me understand how telling Ms. Krieber that she is not allowed on base May 16th is an acceptable resolution."
Lt.-Col. Normand Rochon, the base commander reached yesterday, said he made the decision to refuse Krieber entry to Wainwright, though he acknowledged he did consult with higher-ups. In an email to the Star, he said there is a lot going on at the base right now, including a major training exercise with more than 3,000 soldiers involved. As well, Rochon added when he spoke by telephone yesterday that there were "international visitors" at the base, whom he did not want to identify.
"With this level of activity, and all the operational visitors, I felt that another period would be better suited for visitors to come and see the military families," Rochon wrote in his email. "I took the time to verify to see if this visit was of an operational nature, and it was not."
Major Daryl Morrell, an Ottawa-based spokesperson for the Canadian Forces, said "heavens no" when asked yesterday whether any political players had had a hand in the decision.
There was lingering confusion, however, over whether Krieber was visiting as an academic or in her political role. Morrell said there would be no problem if she was visiting in her professorial capacity, but said there was protocol to be observed if she was planning to be on the base as a political person.
Still, there was some sign yesterday that the visit will be rescheduled, to remove any suggestion that politics played a part in the refusal. Morell said meetings were continuing to find a suitable date and Rochon suggested that June would be a good time."
Mark
Ottawa
CanWest has it too:
"Military postpones visit by Stephane Dion's wife to Alberta base
On the eve of her first solo tour on behalf of her husband, Liberal leader Stephane Dion, Janine Krieber found herself in a dustup yesterday over visiting an Alberta military base - the one part of her trip that was not intended as political at all.
By the end of a day that began with Liberal suspicions that Conservative Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor had intervened to have Krieber's visit to CFB Wainwright cancelled, the commanding officer at the central Alberta base was personally involved in arranging her welcome there next week.
Krieber is a political and sociology professor at the Royal Military College campus in St. Jean sur Richelieu. She planned to visit the Wainwright military family resource centre at the suggestion of Liberal Senator Lucie Pepin, who encourages politicians to visit military families to show support and get a better understanding of their challenges.
Krieber had planned her visit for yesterday, before hitting the barbecue circuit for Liberal candidates in Alberta until Saturday.
While Krieber herself declined comment, an official in Dion's office confirmed an Internet blog report that her visit had been cancelled by the military. Dion's aide did nothing to dispel speculation O'Connor was the culprit.
But his spokesman said not only did the minister not intervene, he was not even aware she had requested a visit. Krieber had made her request as a professor, not as a political spouse, which would have required her going through O'Connor's office.
"There was no political interference," said Isabelle Bouchard, his director of communications.
Army spokesman Major Daryl Morrell could not pin down whether Krieber had a visit scheduled for yesterday but said if she did, "it was not cancelled, it was postponed."
He said the military is happy and proud to show her the military family support resources."
Mark
Ottawa
So basically the original excuse is that she was going to be too partisan, etc etc and that it would be political.
But if she was asking to meet with some of them, in her role as a sociologist and member of faculty at the RMC, with no media and no PR involved, how is it possible that it was going to be political? I mean, I suppose she could have convinced one person that the LPC loves the troops, but that hardly seems like a bold move guaranteed to win elections.
I swear, this government knows next to nothing about media optics or even common sense.
"She planned to visit the Wainwright military family resource centre at the suggestion of Liberal Senator Lucie Pepin, who encourages politicians to visit military families to show support and get a better understanding of their challenges."
Dr Kreiber is on a sabbatical from RMC. If the above quote is correct, she was using her status as a Professor to do an end run around the rules and visit the base. She should have arranged her visit through the Minister's office and none of this would have occurred.
This situation and how it is being used by the Liberals are a perfect example of why the rules and protocols are in place - to protect both the perceived and actual neutrality of the military.
The Base Commander should never have been put in the situation of having to make a decision on this.
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