As Ukraine struggles to fend off a series of punishing Russian air attacks, Canada is sending the embattled eastern European country more supplies — everything from munitions to mittens — Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Wednesday.
Just over $15.2 million in howitzer ammunition and $15 million in winter clothing make up the bulk of the latest military assistance package Anand announced as she sat down with her NATO counterparts in Brussels.
Canada also will provide another $15.3 million worth of the high-tech cameras the Ukrainians have been using on their drones, along with more satellite communication services.
The overall package is worth $47 million.
Anand’s statement builds on an announcement earlier this week that Canada is sending 40 combat engineers to participate in a training mission in Poland. They’ll be instructing their Ukrainian counterparts on the use of high-tech detection equipment.
Defence Minister of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak, right, and Minister of National Defence Anita Anand, left, attend a joint press conference in Warsaw on Tuesday. (Michal Dyjuk/The Associated Press)
In a letter early last month, Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, asked Canada for winter clothing. He also asked for more armoured vehicles and howitzers, in addition to what the Liberal government already has committed.
Anand defended the decision to not send more vehicles and artillery — equipment that would have to be taken out of the Canadian Army’s existing stocks and inventory chains.
“We are assisting with military equipment as I’ve announced today. We are assisting with training as I’ve just mentioned, and we are assisting with transportation from our hub in Prestwick, Scotland,” Anand said. She was referring to the C-130J military cargo planes that have been transporting donated allied equipment to the border with Ukraine.
The Liberal government set aside $500 million in the spring budget for military aid to Ukraine. That pot of money has since been exhausted — mostly through the purchase of 39 brand-new armoured support vehicles, a handful of which are in the process of being delivered now.
The meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels comes against the backdrop of Moscow’s stepped-up air campaign in Ukraine. Russia has lobbed dozens of cruise missiles and Iranian-made drones at critical infrastructure across the country.
Both the United States and Germany are in the process of delivering modern short- and medium-range air defence systems. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made it clear that more needs to be done.
“Ukraine is a big country, many cities, so we need to scale up to be able to help Ukraine defend even more cities and more territory against horrific Russian attacks against their civilian populations,” he said.
At least 26 people have died in such attacks in Ukraine since Monday. Germany recently announced it had sent the first of four promised IRIS-T SLM air defence systems.
The United States said on Tuesday that it had approved shipment of eight National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS).Two are expected to be delivered soon and six more are being sent over a longer timeframe, a senior White House official said Tuesday.
The Canadian Army has no air defence system to donate even if it wanted to, and its stocks of other equipment are equally strained, said a defence expert.
“I think we’ve have effectively exhausted all of the relatively easy and larger quantity types of donations we could make several months ago and now it’s a question of incrementally doing what we can and waiting for some of our own shelves to get restocked,” said Dave Perry, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, an Ottawa-based think-tank that occasionally has had events sponsored by major defence contractors.
A reluctance to part with more equipment is gripping an increasing number of Ukraine’s allies — who worry about their own capabilities should the West get dragged into the war with Moscow.
For some, it speaks to the need for the defence industry to ramp up production to a so-called wartime footing — something NATO ministers also wrestled with on Wednesday.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
