Canada: NATO Infrastructure Committees Visit


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June 22nd 1990
Published: November 1st 2011
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Just two weeks after our quick trip to northern Norway, we had our annual official visit to another host nation; this time to Canada.

Although spouses were invited, I didn't take Linda along as we had been to Canada many times before, although not to Quebec; and we would be taking home leave to the States and western Canada just a little over two weeks after returning from the Canadian trip.

22 June 1990 Friday. The trip began with a flight in a military cargo aircraft to the Canadian Air Force Base a Lahr, Germany in the Rhine Valley. There we had a brief tour of the base and its facilites, and then boarded the weekly passenger jet flight that took Canadian forces personnel back and forth to Canada.

Our first stop was at Gander Air Force Base in Newfoundland, where we refueled. Our flight had been no smoking, so some of the smokers on the committee were desparate for a puff when we landed. However, we were told to stay on the aircraft as the stop would be brief. The smokers all stood in the open door and down the steps of the jet aircraft. Soon we were on our way.

The next stop was another airbase near Montreal where a number of Canadian forces members deplaned. Then we were off to our final destination, an air base near Ottawa. We were met and escorted to the Chateau Laurier, the nicest hotel in downtown Ottowa, where we checked in. We had the evening to tour the town and find dinner. I turned in early due to the time difference.

23 - 24 June 1990 Saturday and Sunday. As it was the weekend these two days were devoted to cultural activities around Ottawa. We saw the Changing of the Guard at the Canadian Parliament. We toured the Parliament buildings. We walked along the Rideau Canal. We crossed the river to Hull to see the Canadian Museum of Civilization. This is a fantastic museum with tableaus of key events, peoples and their habitats throughout Canadian history.

25 June 1990 Monday. Our official schedule began with briefings at the Ministry of Defense. We all knew that Canada was bilingual, but the briefing started in just English. Soon the French representative asked if the briefing could also be given in French. This caused a bit of a stir as none of the officers knew French. My former secretary, Laura, whom I got a job with the International Staff and who was with us, was bilingual so we had the unusual opportunity of having an American translate into French.

Then we were off to see some defense industries. Most of what we saw on the visit to Canada was less of civil works infrastructure and mostly hardware and electronics infrastructure. In our visits to Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec CIty we visited the following defense industries:
- Bombardier, who in addition to making Skiddos, regional jets, and subway cars, also makes military equipment.
- MDA which makes the Canadarm for the space shuttle.
- Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE) which makes flight simulators for commercial and military aircraft.
- DeHavilland, the maker of the D-9 Caribou, a short landing and takeoff miltary cargo aircraft used extensively in the early years of the Vietnam war.

That evening we were hosted at a dinner by the MOD.

26 June 1990 Tuesday. We took a charter bus from Ottawa, following part of the Rideau Canal, to Toronto where we visited a defense industry and then checked into our hotel.

27 June 1990 Wednesday. We took the bus to Niagara Falls, where we could look across to the United States...so close but so far. I would be inviting the committee and spouses to visit the United States in October of 1991. After visiting the Falls we drove to tour a vinyard in St Catharines. We were amazed that they produced such good wines until we were told that St Catherines is the same latitude as Rome, Italy. We then walked around the quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake before returning to our hotel in Toronto.

28 June 1990 Thursday. We boarded the bus again to follow the north shore of Lake Ontario to Kingston, where we stopped to visit Fort Henry. This fort was built to defend Canada from an attack by the United States. Fortunately, it was never used for such and is now a tourist destination where they have reenactors.

Our next stop was the open air museum of Upper Canada Village. We had lunch there and toured the various farmsteads and village shops.

Then we continued on to Montreal, where we checked into our hotel. The evening was free to explore and discover some good restaurants.

29 June 1990 Friday. We toured some defense industries in the morning and in the afternoon we toured the town; visiting the Mount Royal Park that provides a great view of the city, and the Basilique Notre-Dame with its amazingly beautiful interior, especially the gold alter backlit in blue. We returned to our hotel in time for dinner.

30 June 1990 Saturday. Another weekend, and this time in Quebec City, one of my favorite cities in North America. The reason is because it strongly resembles an Old World city. Of course, living in Europe, we have plenty of the original European cities, but nevertheless it's nice to have such a city in the New World. So after a short drive up the St Lawrence River we arrived and checked into our hotel. We toured the old town with its cobblestone streets and sidewalk cafes, and the fortress on the hill where the British defeated the French and took ownership of all of Canada.

1 July 1990 Sunday. Canada Day. Sunday was also free to tour. Today was Canada Day. In every other province Canadian Maple Leaf flags would be hanging from every building and lamp post. However, this being Quebec Province, and despite the British defeating the French, it was very much a French outpost in North America. No Canadian flag was to be seen. Only the Quebec Fleur de Lis flag flew from every building and lamp post. I'm not sure what our Canadian MOD hosts thought of this display of disunity; but we did take the opportunity to ask what was going on even though we knew the answer. They took our kidding quite well.

2 July 1990 Monday. We finally got to visit some defense installations. We visited a Navy base and an Army base, receiving a briefing on the Canadian forces role in reinforcing Europe, and then tours of both bases.

3 July 1990 Tuesday. We flew back to Brussels, arriving the following morning on the Fourth of July...American Independance Day...they got us out just in time!






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1st November 2011

Fort Henry
Some good shots of Fort Henry at Kingston Bob. I suppose NATO were impressed with Canada's readiness.
8th November 2011

Fort Henry
NATO was very impressed with Canadian fortification technology, but felt that several European patents had been infringed.

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