Fighting for freedom far from home. That’s where CTV National News finds two Canadians preparing for their second deployment to the front lines in Ukraine.
Connecting with fighters in an active war zone involves trust on both sides. Many soldiers from are concerned their identities and locations will be compromised.
Wary of Russia’s ability to track their movements and become targets, we’ve agreed to withhold the real names and location in Ukraine where we met two former Canadian Armed Forces members from Montreal.
For our interview, we travel down a muddy, bumpy rural backroad. As we arrive in a wooded area, they reveal their story and their call signs on the battlefield – Speedy and Tanto.
Both are young men in their twenties. The taller of the two, Tanto, says he decided to come to Ukraine after seeing videos of children on the news crossing the Polish border with only a passport and a teddy bear.
“I still have the image in my head right now,” he admits.
As for Speedy, he felt it was his duty, saying, “I wanted to help fight, help the population.”
His first combat tour in Ukraine lasted six months. For Tanto, it was four months. Both recently returned to Ukraine and reflected on the difficulty they experienced back home.
“When I get back to Canada, it’s really hard to adapt to a normal life after what you’ve seen, [after] what you’ve done,” says Speedy.
Tanto found it difficult to hold down a regular job, saying it felt like “no one really knows what’s going on in Ukraine.”
Since their return to Ukraine, the two Canadians are now facing another challenging reality.
“All of our friends are wounded,” says Speedy.
Tanto shares that many have also died. As he grapples with this tragic reality, he says, “going to the hospital and seeing them wounded is really difficult. They have serous shrapnel injuries to their heads and legs.”
Neither are covered by insurance should they get injured, or worse, while on the front lines. Accepting the risks involved, Speedy is at peace with what may or may not come.
“I know that I can die here, I know I can get wounded,” he says.
Tanto, who shares that he’s an uncle, says, “I don’t want to die. I came here to help but I’m not planning to die, you know. If it happens it happens.”
Neither experienced active combat while with the Canadian military, but that changed once they arrived in Ukraine.
Speedy laments the style of warfare being deployed.
“It’s more like World War II,” he says. “There’s trenches, there’s artillery. It feels like the Russians have infinite ammo. I don’t know how to explain it. They shell you and shell you. They never stop.”
While serving with several different allied fighter groups, the pair share they’ve uncovered Russian spies within the ranks.
“They had a bunch of Russian spies who initially joined. They got caught,” claims Speedy. “At one point you know they’re not legit. They got caught and taken away. We never saw them again.”
At the beginning of the war, it was easy to show up and get deployed, now there’s much more paperwork, according to the two young Canadians. Each are waiting for their papers to clear this time so they can begin getting paid by the Ukrainian military.
They decline to say how much they’ll make, but Tanto says that without payment “I’m not staying. I have to get paid.”
Combined, they estimate they spent about $45,000 buying gear and supporting themselves during their first trip as foreign Canadian fighters. Both say they’re here for the long haul this time, as long as they can make a living while helping on the battlefront.
Speedy and Tanto, along with a third French Canadian, have launched Black Maple Company, a site where people can purchase merchandise. Part of the proceeds will go toward helping their fellow fighters injured in battle.
“Whatever we can give to wounded soldiers to help lift their morale,” says Speedy.
Tanto is concerned that Canadians and the global community will soon turn their gaze away from Ukraine.
“[The war] is still happening everywhere in Ukraine,” he says. “Children are dying, don’t forget about this war.”
Ottawa says it’s unknown exactly how many Canadians have travelled to Ukraine to join the fight. It’s believed at least three Canadians have died while fighting in Ukraine over the past year.
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
