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Kandahar trip kept hush-hush
orces swear guests to secrecy
OTTAWA -- Canadian Olympians and members of the business elite invited to join the military's top soldier on a trip to war-torn Kandahar have been sworn to secrecy about the timing and details of their tour.
And an Ottawa engineering firm set to bid on a multi-million-dollar tender to replace the army's trucks has pulled out of the junket only 48 hours before the scheduled departure.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier is surrounding himself with top athletes such as speed skater Catriona Lemay Doan and hockey legend Guy Lafleur as well as a select group of business leaders for a trip to Kandahar, where they will visit the 250 Canadian troops serving in the war zone.
He will also be joined by CBC comedian Rick Mercer, who slammed Conservative defence critic Gordon O'Connor yesterday for criticizing the tour.
Mercer said he won't be taking along a TV crew or entertaining the troops during his brief stint in Kabul and Kandahar, but will be getting a taste of the soldiers' work.
"When I agreed to go I agreed not to talk dates or who is going," Mercer said in an e-mail exchange, adding the value of the trip is purely "personal" for him.
"I have found these trips very personally rewarding in the past and have made a commitment long ago to do what I can when requested by the CF. They asked, I said 'yes,' end of story."
The Canadian Forces remained tight-lipped about their guest list, but did confirm that Dew Engineering's representative is no longer going.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Bill Graham distanced himself from the tour yesterday.
Rene Filiatrault, Graham's director of communications, refused to confirm whether Graham is even going to meet up with Hillier's delegation.
Filiatrault said Graham will head to Kabul aboard a different plane to meet his Afghanistan counterpart and Afghani President Hamid Karzai to discuss Canada's role in providing security and helping to rebuild the country.
orces swear guests to secrecy
OTTAWA -- Canadian Olympians and members of the business elite invited to join the military's top soldier on a trip to war-torn Kandahar have been sworn to secrecy about the timing and details of their tour.
And an Ottawa engineering firm set to bid on a multi-million-dollar tender to replace the army's trucks has pulled out of the junket only 48 hours before the scheduled departure.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier is surrounding himself with top athletes such as speed skater Catriona Lemay Doan and hockey legend Guy Lafleur as well as a select group of business leaders for a trip to Kandahar, where they will visit the 250 Canadian troops serving in the war zone.
He will also be joined by CBC comedian Rick Mercer, who slammed Conservative defence critic Gordon O'Connor yesterday for criticizing the tour.
Mercer said he won't be taking along a TV crew or entertaining the troops during his brief stint in Kabul and Kandahar, but will be getting a taste of the soldiers' work.
"When I agreed to go I agreed not to talk dates or who is going," Mercer said in an e-mail exchange, adding the value of the trip is purely "personal" for him.
"I have found these trips very personally rewarding in the past and have made a commitment long ago to do what I can when requested by the CF. They asked, I said 'yes,' end of story."
The Canadian Forces remained tight-lipped about their guest list, but did confirm that Dew Engineering's representative is no longer going.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Bill Graham distanced himself from the tour yesterday.
Rene Filiatrault, Graham's director of communications, refused to confirm whether Graham is even going to meet up with Hillier's delegation.
Filiatrault said Graham will head to Kabul aboard a different plane to meet his Afghanistan counterpart and Afghani President Hamid Karzai to discuss Canada's role in providing security and helping to rebuild the country.