A passionate debate over how to define military valour and what a Canadian soldier must do to win the country’s highest battlefield honour has been raging quietly this year among veterans and the halls of Parliament. At its centre is a growing sense of dismay among some former Canadian soldiers over the military’s refusal to recognize some acts of heroism in Afghanistan with the modern version of the Victoria Cross.
Family members, friends and veterans gathered Sunday to pay their respects and remember the lives of Albertans who died while fighting in peacekeeping missions and support operations around the world.
Afghan farmers were upset when the Taliban banned opium cultivation this month and experts say the Taliban's cash-strapped, pariah government is unlikely to provide alternative livelihoods for the farmers.