Canada crawls towards helping while Afghans continue to suffer

 by Melad Ahmadzai OPINION: Canada has remained numb to the recent actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan as the world is beginning to recognize the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan. The group best known to Canadians and worldwide as insurgents is quickly gaining popularity, but this group and affiliated groups attacked

Empty promises from Prime Minister Trudeau are not helping people trapped in Afghanistan

 Oped by Melad Ahmadzai The ground work for political collapse may have started well before, but on August 15, 2021 the Afghan army completely collapsed. Today, the Taliban is forcefully controlling all areas in Afghanistan without ever being elected to govern. The country’s sworn President, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country to seek asylum

The Canadian government failed its Afghan allies

 ABOVE: A surge of people rush the Kabul airport as the Canadian government waited until the last minute to help, despite early warnings. (SOURCE: CBC.CA) By Mike Lalonde When Canadian special forces first entered Afghanistan in late 2001, we and our allies had very little intelligence on the region, its

What is happening in Afghanistan

 by Sean M. Maloney The sudden Taliban offensive and the apparent collapse of the Afghan security forces has shocked those of us who have had extensive dealings with that country and its peoples. At this point we are inundated with a plethora of simplistic analogies: ‘Afghanistan is Vietnam’ predominates and

Remembering Canadians from all conflicts

 The guns of the First World War fell silent 101 years ago, and Remembrance Day as we know it came into being. Every year since, Canadians have commemorated our war dead and our veterans. Twenty-five years ago one could still see First World War vets, albeit in small numbers. Now

Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr

 Focusing on one of Canada’s most controversial cases, Guantanamo’s Child is a documentary which tells the story of Omar Khadr, a Toronto-born Canadian citizen who was captured in Afghanistan by American forces in 2002 and convicted of war crimes at the age of 15. After spending a decade behind bars

Honouring Our Veterans

 While members of the Métis Nation fought alongside other Canadians in wars and peacekeeping initiatives, their contribution has rarely been recognized. That is starting to change. In  the  past,  Métis  veterans,  like Métis fought in both World Wars, the Korean War and other conflicts such as Afghanistan, and have also served

Top 25 People in the Capital 2015

 The Top Among Us This year marks the 15th anniversary of Ottawa Life Magazine’s TOP 25 People in the Capital. Over the last decade and a half, OLM has shined the spotlight on some of Ottawa’s newsmakers, leaders, and most interesting people. Our 2015 list touches on the themes of innovation,

Five Ottawa Authors Shortlisted for 2014 Trillium Book Award

 The literary world was set abuzz on May 21, as the finalists for the 2014 Trillium Book Award were released. The shortlist features five Ottawa-based authors, who are all French-language finalists for the award. The Trillium Book Award is presented every year, administered by Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC). It

The disgusting attack on General Andrew Leslie is wrong, wrong, wrong.

 Lieutenant-General Andrew Brooke Leslie, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD is a retired Canadian Forces general officer who served with distinction and in harm’s way in many theatres in his career including Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. Among his military accomplishments and commands, he was assigned as a Canadian officer to the UN force in Yugoslavia as Chief for Sector South before

Canada’s Presence in Afghanistan: Why We Are There And Why We Would Do A Disservice To The United Nations And Ourselves If We Didn’t See The Mission Through

 The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is that august organization's single largest special political mission. Nineteen UN agencies are in Afghanistan to help the Afghan people and its democratically elected government establish a solid and secure democratic society. Twenty thousand troops from 37 countries (including over 2,500 Canadians

Afghanistan and the Polls: Change the Question – Change the Numbers

 Quick media conclusions on polls released regarding Canadian participation in the Afghanistan mission are flawed. Part of the difficulty in interpreting the polls lies in the fact that the two principal polling firms involved with the longest databases use very different questions in their polls. Strategic Counsel, which is the

Chain of command lets Rockcliffe military community down

 By  Colonel Alain Pellerin One of the outcomes of the recent tragedy that took the lives of two Canadian soldiers and injured three of their comrades just outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, was to witness the closeness of a military community as it quickly came to the support of the grief-stricken

In opposition against “a Phantom Prime Minister”: An interview with Stephen Harper

 By: Peter Gill Ottawa Life Magazine: If you were Prime Minister, how would you deal with Canada's declining military? How much money do you think needs to be invested in it? Stephen Harper: A lot. Numbers have been thrown around by various groups. The consensus seems to be you need