Cpl. Paul James Davis

[FiveParadox]

Another Canadian life has been lost abroad, fighting terrorism and extremism — Corporal Paul James Davis lost his life in Khandahar, Afghanistan. My concolences go out to his family and friends, and to Canada for having lost one of those who risked, and lost, his life for the sake of Canada, our principles and values.

The Honourable Jack Layton, the Member for Toronto—Danforth and the Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, issued a statement today in relation to the tragedy. Mr. Layton went on to thank every member of the Canadian Armed Forces who put their lives at risk for our nation.

It was with great sadness that we learned this morning of the death of Corporal Paul James Davis, of Bridgewater NS, and the injury of six Canadian soldiers. All were members of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba, and serving our country in Afghanistan.

Click here for the entire statement.

The Honourable Bill Graham, the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and the Member for Toronto Centre, also issued such a statement on behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada.

I speak for our entire party and I’m sure all Canadians when I say that we are most grateful for the service and sacrifice of all the men and women in the Canadian Forces. At times of tragedy such as this, we mourn together as a country. We are immensely proud of the fact that there are extraordinary men and women such as Cpl. Davis who are prepared to put their lives at risk to protect our cherished values and our way of life and, in particular, we offer our continued and full support to the Canadian Forces members in Afghanistan as they undertake this important mission. It is a dangerous mission but one that is crucial in our efforts to help bring peace and security to the people of Afghanistan.

Click here for the entire statement.

Neither the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, nor Gilles Duceppe, the Member for Laurier—Ste. Marie have issued statements in relation to this event as of yet.

:?: Sources
1. Click here for the Liberal Party of Canada Web site.
2. Click here for the New Democratic Party of Canada Web site.

 

[FiveParadox]

Statement by Her Excellency

I neglected to mention that Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, the Governor General of Canada and Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, also issued a statement in relation to the passing of Cpl. Davis today. In keeping with the pattern started by two prominent opposition leaders, she thanked members of the Canadian Armed Forces for their continued and unabridged dedication to Canada.

I was very sad to learn of the accident which claimed the life of Corporal Paul James Davis and injured seven others. My husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, and I want to express our deepest sympathy to Cpl. Davis’ family, friends and colleagues. May we all take comfort in knowing that he served Canada with honour and great courage, and dedicated himself to the restoration of peace and stability for the Afghan people. We are truly grateful.

Click here for the entire statement.
Cliquez içi pour cet article en français.

:?: Sources
Click here for the Web site of the Governor General of Canada.

 

[Jay]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/03/02/davis060302.html

"I believe Paul died serving his country and serving the free world and that's the message I would like to get out," his father said.


That's the message we need to hear.


A sad day indeed.

 

[Mogz]

I find it funny how the Liberal and NDP parties, parties which time and time again throughout our history have sold our Forces short, offer such pretty words. These are the same people who've casued dozens of deaths by not replacing decrepit equipment such as the Sea Kings and Labradors. The aircraft that are past their prime (Sea Kings being over 40 years old) crash time and time again, killing their crews. These are the people that have failed to purchase enough body armor for troops heading overseas, often forcing soldiers to share flak vests, ballistic plates, and ballistic eyewear. These are the same people that failed to purchase quality submarines; a decision that resulted in the death of a sailor almost two years ago when the sub he was on caught on fire due to poor electrical systems. These people in short are hypocrites.

 

[Jersay]

I find it funny how the Liberal and NDP parties, parties which time and time again throughout our history have sold our Forces short, offer such pretty words. These are the same people who've casued dozens of deaths by not replacing decrepit equipment such as the Sea Kings and Labradors. The aircraft that are past their prime (Sea Kings being over 40 years old) crash time and time again, killing their crews. These are the people that have failed to purchase enough body armor for troops heading overseas, often forcing soldiers to share flak vests, ballistic plates, and ballistic eyewear. These are the same people that failed to purchase quality submarines; a decision that resulted in the death of a sailor almost two years ago when the sub he was on caught on fire due to poor electrical systems. These people in short are hypocrites.

What the heck are you talking about with the NDP. They haven't even been in government. And where were the COnservatives under Brian Mulroney to fix all these problems, he was in for a long time, why wasn't the problems fixed then. I believe the Conservatives were in office too when the Sea Kings were having problems.

And I will change my tune if, and that is a big if the Conservatives under Harper make inroads in the military. Right now they are just as hypocritical as the Liberals.

 

[Sassylassie]

Full fathom five thy father lies ,of his bones are coral made.
Those are pearls that were his eyes. Nothing of him doth fade, but doth suffer a sea change into something new and strange.

The Tempest.

Rest in Peace Corporal Davis.

 

[Mogz]

What the heck are you talking about with the NDP. They haven't even been in government. And where were the COnservatives under Brian Mulroney to fix all these problems, he was in for a long time, why wasn't the problems fixed then. I believe the Conservatives were in office too when the Sea Kings were having problems.

And I will change my tune if, and that is a big if the Conservatives under Harper make inroads in the military. Right now they are just as hypocritical as the Liberals.

What is it with people on these forums? Did I ever ONCE in my post say the NDP party was ever in power? No, however I did say they've sold our military short time and time again, and they have. In fact their platform in the 90's actually called for a scaling down of the Canadian Forces. The NDP place no value in a robust military, yet have the gaul to make flowery statements about soldiers that are killed in the line of duty. "For their service and sacrifice we are deeply grateful." Bullshit you are, you don't care about any of them. If you did, you'd make giving them the equipment they've needed for over a decade a top priority of your platform. As for the Conservatives, the problems didn't begin to fully surface in our military until the mid-90's, AFTER the Conservatives lost to the Liberals. The problems that did exist were being worked on, for example a restructuring of 4 Brigade in Germany to make it more combat effective (the Liberals disbanded 4 Brigade and closed our base at Lahr Germany, thus removing all our ground forces from Europe). The Navy was set to receive new destroyers by 1996 to replace the aging Tribal Class (the Liberals canceled this project in 1994, a project they never reopened while the Tribals got older and started to fall a part). Lastly with regard to the Sea Kings, the Mulroney Government had placed an order for $4.8 Billion dollars to replace the entire fleet of Sea Kings with 50state-of-the-art EH-101s. When the Liberals obtained power in '93 they canceled the contract at a cost of $500 million in cancellation fees. Before you try to blather on about something, I suggest you do your research. Your vaughnted Liberal Party did just as I said they have. They corn-holed the Air Force out of 50 amazing helicopters, at a cost of millions to the Canadian tax payer.

The Conservatives are, and always have been (with the exception of Diefenbaker) the best thing for the military. The budget increase we'll be seeing in the 2006 fiscal year (starting in April) will be a great windfall to the Forces. If the Conservatives are given a chance, they'll revamp the military. However i'm sure the Liberals and their weakminded electorate will screw it up some how.