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There's a phrase soldiers use to describe equipment they've bought themselves to augment what the army gives them. They call it Gucci gear, after the luxury fashion designer.
For Canadian troops deployed in Latvia, those private purchases have been decidedly more practical than luxurious — given the fact that they're taking part in more live fire training exercises meant to deter Russia from setting foot in the Baltic country.
They've been buying their own modern ballistic helmets equipped with built-in hearing protection that doubles as a headset. They've also personally purchased rain gear and vests and belts to carry water and ammunition. And the number of complaints about the ill-fitting body armour issued to female soldiers has been growing.
These purchases — usually made through online retailers — involve brand-name tactical gear or weapon accessories that make soldiers' existing gear more personal or more comfortable to wear.
Canadian troops in Latvia are grappling with more urgent equipment shortages as well. The battle group of roughly 1,500 soldiers, including more than 700 Canadians, lacks modern anti-tank weapons, systems to counter drones and a dedicated short-range air defence system to guard against helicopters and attack jets.
Those frustrations have only been compounded by the arrival of more allied troops — among them Danish soldiers who are in some cases arriving with Canadian-purchased gear that makes them better equipped than Canadian soldiers.
"In general, it was concerning verging on embarrassing to see the differences in issued soldier equipment between us and the Danes," said Lt.-Col. Jesse van Eijk, the Canadian battle group commander in Latvia, in a May 12, 2023, email obtained by CBC News.
"This was only exacerbated by the fact they were carrying more advanced Canadian-made Colt Canada rifles, mounting more advanced Canadian Elcan DR sights, and the fact that most of the systems our soldiers lacked were easily available on the open market and not some sort of closely guarded technology."
The Department of National Defence declined to let CBC News interview van Eijk, saying in a written statement that his email was a response to concerns raised during a recent staff visit from the army's directorate of equipment and program management. Read the full story here.
(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
The Quebec Remparts celebrate after defeating the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 in Memorial Cup final hockey action, in Kamloops, B.C., on Sunday. Read the story here.
Liberty Coalition Canada, a conservative Christian advocacy group, is trying to raise $1.3 million to recruit hundreds of Christian politicians and campaign staff to run at all levels of government. In a document marked "please keep classified" that was obtained by CBC News, the group says its ultimate goal is "the most powerful political disruption in Canadian history." Working alongside Liberty Coalition Canada are dozens of churches across the country, a number of small media outlets and at least one well-funded think-tank. While theological and political differences exist among them, many supporters of this movement share a vocal opposition to LGBTQ rights and other social justice causes. Several Canadian pastors in the movement also have ties to a controversial branch of evangelical Christianity in the U.S. known as reconstructionism. Read the full story here.Ultra low-cost carrier Flair is Canada's worst airline for complaints, with more than 20 per cent of its flights generating some sort of complaint to the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA), new federal data shows. While gripes about air travel are not unusual, the CTA, the quasi-judicial body that regulates air transportation, found Flair had the dubious distinction of trailing all other major carriers on customer satisfaction in the first quarter of 2023. In the January-March period, the CTA received 20.9 complaints for every 100 Flair flights. That compares to 10.7 for WestJet and 5.8 for Air Canada. Other low-cost carriers — which generally charge less for fares, only to add on ancillary fees for things like seat selection, baggage and live-agent customer service — performed better than Flair despite a similar business model. Read more on this story here.Amid a tempestuous debate among Canadian parliamentarians over China's interference in Canadian domestic politics, it's unclear if many MPs noticed a visitor in their midst. The leader of a deposed government from a remote tropical island came to share a cautionary tale: his own. It's about how his provincial government collapsed after it began opposing the pro-Beijing policies of the national government, in the Solomon Islands. It's an absorbing account involving allegations of bribery and counter-allegations, and political intrigue connected to one great geopolitical power struggle. Other capitals are becoming theatres in an emerging cold war between China and the U.S., from frosty Ottawa to the balmy island provinces of the Pacific. Read the full story here from CBC's Alexander Panetta.More than a 100 tenants in a Toronto apartment complex have stopped paying rent to protest proposed above-guideline increases of almost 10 per cent over the last two years, according to a tenant advocacy group. The rent strike, which started just over a month ago, is the second in Toronto spurred on by above-guideline rent increases that CBC Toronto has reported on within the last week. Residents of a three-building apartment complex were given notice of rent increases beginning on May 1, varying from 4.94 per cent to 5.5 per cent, according to copies of 2022 and 2023 notices shared with CBC Toronto by the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations. Last year, the proposed increase was 4.2 per cent. Tricia-Ann Israel, who has lived in the complex for 32 years, joined the strike out of fear she'll have to move due to the increase. She said she feels "like nobody cares" about the residents. Read the full story here.On a street in Istanbul, a group of anti-war Russians wear blue and yellow ribbons, and other Ukrainian symbols, as they hand out flyers to advertise a fundraising event for children's organizations in Ukraine. Nick, who didn't want us to use his last name, had a Ukrainian flag tied around his neck while taking part in the gathering on May 19. But when a police officer turned up to inquire about what they were doing, he hastily slipped away down a side street. He returned a few minutes later when the officer was gone. "This was a stressful moment," he told CBC News. The 18-year-old has been living in Turkey without proper documentation after his short-term residency application was rejected by the Turkish government. He is part of a group of Russians who left the country because they disagreed with the war and didn't want to end up fighting in it, but have limited options of where to settle. Read the full story here from CBC's Briar Stewart.Now for some good news to start your Monday: When a wildfire closed down Highway 631 between Hornepayne and White River in northern Ontario last week, two seventy-one-year-old cyclists found themselves stranded. Luckily, they were able to rely on the kindness of strangers. Listen to their their story here.
When Tait Gamble moved sight unseen to central B.C., she didn't expect her first proper Pride celebration to happen there. Read her column here.
The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.