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.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will present his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy when he meets with MPs in Nanaimo, B.C., today.
The party announced Carney’s new role as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth as MPs arrived for the caucus retreat Monday, where they are planning their strategy for the upcoming election year.
Carney will be reporting directly to the prime minister and the committee responsible for drafting the Liberal election platform.
The former bank governor’s comments will be made privately to caucus, but he is expected to address the media afterwards.
The Liberals have made other attempts to focus on economic and affordability issues since taking a major hit in the polls last year, but those efforts haven’t resonated in the polls.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also expected to address his caucus as a whole for the first time since several of his MPs have expressed privately and publicly that he is not the person to lead the party into the next election.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
The Israeli Government is carrying out a Starvation Campaign against the People of Gaza, or so says Democracy Now and the United Nations. While multiple trucks filled with humanitarian supplies and food wait to enter Gaza, the Israeli Forces hold them back for inspection and security reasons, so few enter this region of crisis.
Well over a year has passed as Israeli Forces continue to besiege Gaza claiming to be trying to eliminate Hamas as a military force. What many journalists, international politicians and Middle Eastern Specialists see is a nation-state military trying to drive millions of Palestinians out of their homeland by whatever means possible. Airstrikes, and tank and armoured vehicle movements strive to destabilize life in Gaza and make these native residents fear for their lives and very survival. Similar actions were carried out by the Germans when they invaded Poland long ago. Military actions have seemed to remain the same, as to their purpose. Eradication of the “Palestinian Problem” has been the goal of the Netanyahu Government all along, seizing Gaza for Israeli use and driving the perceived Palestinian threat away for good.
The United Nations special rapporteur on the right of food Michael Fakhri accused Israel of carrying out a starvation campaign against a civilian population. This action is internationally viewed as criminal and answerable to the International Courts in the Hague. 2.2 million people in Gaza need food urgently and they are being treated as pawns within a game of international intrigue and conflict management by the superpowers and their allies.
Look to the American elections as a time when Israel will open the doors to humanitarian aid just as election day arrives. Israel’s leader Netanyahu is a friend of former president Trump. Interesting idea?
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca
Note: Remember when Iran held American Hostages only to release them just before a election. That action empowered Ronald Reagan to victory. Interesting methodology of Republicans eh?
WASHINGTON – One of Canada’s most influential business lobby groups is warning Ottawa about damage to the relationship with the United States after the Biden administration escalated efforts to halt the federal government’s tax on large foreign digital services companies.
The Business Council of Canada called for the digital services tax to be revoked after the Office of the United States Trade Representative requested dispute settlement consultations under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.
In a Sept. 9 letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng, Goldy Hyder, the council’s president and CEO, said retaliatory measures by the U.S. would be harmful to Canadian families, businesses and the economy, while also negating any projected tax revenues.
Hyder cautioned the tax could also be destructive to Canada’s relationship with the U.S. ahead of the review of the trade agreement in 2026.
“In successive meetings with senior U.S. officials, we have been repeatedly told that if Canada’s unilateral DST remains in place it will imperil the upcoming mandatory review of the CUSMA,” Hyder wrote.
Americans have been critical of the three per cent levy on foreign tech giants that generate revenue from Canadian users. It means the companies will have to pay taxes on that revenue in Canada.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, after requesting dispute consultations in August, called the tax discriminatory and said it is inconsistent with Canada’s commitments not to treat U.S. businesses less favourably than Canadian ones.
If the two countries are unable to resolve America’s concerns within 75 days, the U.S. may request a dispute settlement panel to examine the issue.
Ng and Freeland have remained steadfast behind the tax. They said last month that consultations under the trade agreement’s dispute mechanism will demonstrate Canada is meeting its obligations.
Hyder said Ottawa’s strategy will neither address nor assuage U.S. concerns. Instead it will risk undermining the trade agreement and “our most important trade and investment partnership,” he said.
The digital tax was part of the Liberal election platform during the 2019 campaign. Both the Conservatives and New Democrats proposed similar levies.
The Liberal government, however, delayed its implementation in order to give more time to global efforts to establish a broader, multinational taxation plan.
But after significant delays to that process at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada went ahead with its own tax.
The Canadian ministers have said the preference has always been a multilateral agreement.
Greta Peisch, the former general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said concerns around Canada’s approach to the tax have been raised for a long time.
“I think the United States has been clear about how serious it is,” said Peisch, a partner at Wiely Rein in Washington, D.C.
“The argument is not that you can’t have a DST, it’s just that it should be neutral and not be inconsistent with our trade agreement.”
Peisch said the issue is around global revenue. Canada’s tax applies to foreign and Canadian digital services providers that earn total annual revenue from all sources of 750 million euros or more, and annual Canadian revenue more than $20 million a year.
Peisch explained American’s issue with the tax: if two companies provide the same service and have the same revenue from people in Canada, the foreign company will be treated differently.
“We have commitments in our trade agreements not to discriminate based on national origin among the trade agreement partners, that would be inconsistent with our trade obligations,” Peisch said.
The digital services tax has drawn opposition from trade associations and business groups on both sides of the international border.
Last month, Google announced it will implement a 2.5 per cent surcharge for ads displayed in Canada starting in October. Groups representing Canadian advertisers have warned other companies could follow the tech giant’s lead.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
