Defence minister and military at odds on use of G-Wagons: documents

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And earlier this month, a Canadian soldier died in a traffic accident when his G-Wagon collided with another vehicle 35 kilometres southeast of Kandahar, far from camp.

Records released under the Access to Information Act indicate that O'Connor's May 30 statement to reporters, which was also made to a Commons committee, left military officials aghast and scrambling.

"We're going to limit nearly all the G-Wagons to the camp itself, inside the camp that moves supplies around and thing like that," O'Connor said.

"There may be an exception here and there, of putting a few G-Wagons out beyond the camp . . . (but) most of the G-Wagons will be staying on base."

The minister's statement followed the deaths in April of four soldiers who were killed when a roadside bomb tore apart their vulnerable G-Wagon near Gumbad, about 75 kilometres north of Kandahar.

After learning about O'Connor's statement, the military's public-affairs arm quickly drew up so-called media response lines to "reflect the actual operational situation in theatre . . . not what the MND's office would like it to be, based on his statement yesterday," says an internal e-mail.

The minister's office "needs to be upfront about this," it continued.

A military official did contact O'Connor's press secretary, Etienne Allard, who was "adamant that the line used by the MND . . . is accurate, i.e., that the G-Wagons rarely go outside the wire," Lt.-Col. Roland Lavoie reported in an e-mail.

"I perceive an apparent contradiction," Lavoie wrote.

The public affairs office eventually produced a statement saying "the G-Wagons will continue to operate when and where deemed appropriate, both inside and outside Kandahar Airfield, based on threat assessments made in theatre." It did not try to resolve the discrepancy between O'Connor's statement and actual military policy.

A military spokesman would not comment on the issue last week, referring all questions to O'Connor's office.

Allard, the minister's press secretary, declined an interview but sent an e-mail saying "Canada is still using the G-Wagon outside of Kandahar Airfield when required, but with specific operational restrictions. The restrictions are implemented to mitigate associated risks as best possible."

The G-Wagons, also known as LUVWs and manufactured by DaimlerChrysler, were purchased as a quick replacement for the even more vulnerable Iltis jeeps, standard army issue for years.

The Canadian Forces prefer the sturdy South African Nyalas, which are more blast-resistant, when its soldiers venture out on patrol in southern Afghanistan. The military took delivery of 50 Nyalas this spring, and another 25 are on order for fall delivery.

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