On failing to support the troops

The CP reports that it wasn't just families of military personnel who were concerned with the Cons' media blackout on the repatriation of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, as officials within the Department of National Defence itself argued against the change:

Senior military officials opposed the Conservative government's controversial ban on media coverage of homecoming ceremonies for soldiers killed in Afghanistan, documents obtained under the Access to Information Act suggest...

The department gathered pictures of journalists standing by the highway outside the Trenton, Ont., military base during the April 25 repatriation of four fallen soldiers...

"This may cause safety issues and generate even more frustration, particularly in winter," Lt.-Col. Richard Lavoie, a departmental public-affairs director, wrote in an e-mail in which he forwarded the photos to several colleagues.

Military officials found other ways to express their displeasure: they cleared equipment from the airport tarmac so the news media outside the base could have an unobstructed view of the ceremony.

Today's revelation only makes it all the more clear that the Cons' decision was purely political, and imposed contrary to the wishes of effectively all the stakeholders in the repatriation ceremonies. And the Cons' determination to override the wishes of Canada's military on this point among others seems to be a far more accurate indication of their true attitude toward Canada's soldiers abroad than their willingness to throw money at Gordon O'Connor's old buddies.