HMCS Halifax sets off for deployment as part of NATO support for Ukraine
CBC
HMCS Halifax is setting off today for a six-month deployment supporting NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The live stream of the departure ceremony will be carried within this story starting after 1:15 p.m.
Families and friends of the 253 members of the ship's company hugged their loved ones and waved goodbye under a grey sky Saturday afternoon on a Halifax jetty.
The Canadian navy frigate will be active in the North Atlantic and join allied ships in the Baltic region as part of Operation Reassurance. The ship is also deploying with an embedded air detachment operating a Cyclone helicopter.
Cmdr. Dale St Croix, commanding officer of HMCS Halifax, is expected to offer remarks before the ship departs around 2 p.m.
Defence Minister Anita Anand and Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of the defence staff, are also expected to attend the event.
St Croix has told CBC the ship will be there to "help defend if need be" as countries like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland are all on the border of conflict.
He added that the ship may also need to assist with humanitarian efforts.
The deployment is supposed to last until July, but could be extended, said St Croix.
HMCS Halifax was originally slated to sail to the Middle East in the next few weeks for a counterterrorism operation. But the frigate and crew will instead head to northern Europe, retasked by the federal government as part of Canada's larger military support package.
It will be one of two Canadian ships overseas supporting NATO in the operation. Last month, HMCS Montreal arrived in the Mediterranean region as part of a previously scheduled deployment.
The Halifax-class frigates have been in service since the early 1990s. HMCS Halifax was the first ship of the class to be built.
Canada is finalizing plans for a fleet of new Canadian surface combatants, which would replace the aging frigates.
However, the current ships are still maintained on Canada's East and West coasts and are deployed on missions around the world.
WARNING: This story contains profanity and details of racist language.
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