by Tom MacGregor Members of the 44th Field Engineer Squadron construct a 40-metre Bailey bridge at the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area near Creston, B.C., in September 1999. The bridge, which is on the Trans Canada Trail, is named after Master Corporal Mark Isfeld, affectionately known as Izzy, who was killed removing land mines in Croatia in 1994. The Trans Canada Trail is nearing completion but it still has gaps where there are rivers and ravines to cross. The challenge of building bridges for these gaps has ...

Top: Marley Léger accepts the South-West Asia Service Medal awarded posthumously to her husband, Sergeant Marc Léger who was one of the four Canadian soldiers killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Above: Master Corporal Eric Normand Savard accepts his medal. The first several hundred of an estimated 7,000 or more Canadians who participated in and continue to serve on land, sea and in the air on operations against terrorism in Afghanistan and neighbouring Asian countries since the de...

by Ray Dick The men and women of the under-manned, under-equipped and stressed-out Canadian Forces are looking for financial relief from an upcoming federal budget after a summer of discontent and a possible request for even more Canadian military support for looming conflicts in the Middle East. One hopeful sign, at least, is acknowledgement for the first time by both Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Defence Minister John McCallum that the Forces need more funding, a situation that both military and civilian officials and analysts and even the auditor general have been warning ...

by David J. Bercuson The frigate Regina lies at dock before patrolling Canada's portion of the North American coastline. Pat Buchanan is well known as one of America's most acerbic right-wing political commentators. A former speech writer for the late president Richard Nixon, Buchanan has himself displayed presidential ambitions on a few occasions, both as a Republican and as an independent. Buchanan doesn't often comment on Canada but when he does, it's plain he hasn't got a lot of respect for this country's defence effort. When Foreign Affairs Minister ...