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An item from the Legion Magazine.

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Canada’s Ultimate Story : Canada and the Cold War

Caring for the fallen: A new volunteer program to maintain war graves in Canada

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An item from the Legion Magazine that may be of interest to members.

Commonwealth war graves at Yorkton Cemetery in Saskatchewan. The grave on the far left is that of Leading Aircraftman Wilfred Tibbits of the Royal Australian Air Force. [Courtesy Brittany Johnson]

Caring for the fallen: A new volunteer program to maintain war graves in Canada

STORY BY RICHARD FOOT

Brittany Johnson is expecting her first baby in July. But the mom-to-be is no stranger to nurturing needy souls.

For the past year, Johnson has been carefully tending the memories of 25 veterans buried in Commonwealth war graves in and around her home of Yorkton, Sask.

She regularly visits each grave across 10 cemeteries—some on remote stretches of prairie along the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border—to inspect, catalogue and clean the headstones of men, and one woman, who served their countries in the First and Second world wars.

As a volunteer caretaker with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), Johnson does this out of the goodness of her heart and a desire to give back.

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Dustin Hare (centre), a non- commissioned member in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves and the business manager of the Carpenters Union Local 1946, gives Helmets to Hardhats Canada outreach specialists Normand Trepanier (right) and Pat Rizzo (left) a tour of the London, Ont., facility in summer 2025. [Helmets to Hardhats Canada]

A conversation with Helmets to Hardhats

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

When military veteran Justin Curtis hung up his uniform after eight years of service, he asked himself the question that countless comrades throughout the history of the Canadian Armed Forces have asked before: what next?

The challenges that others have faced in navigating civvy street were not lost on the former infantryman. Nevertheless, explained Curtis, his own transition proved to be “seamless” after discovering Helmets to Hardhats (H2H), a program that pairs military community members with jobs in the unionized skilled trades.

An impactful conversation with an H2H liaison officer set him on his chosen path. Within two days, Curtis was already in constructive talks with Halifax union representatives. It wasn’t long thereafter that he was working in construction itself.

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An item from the Legion Magazine.

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Speaking loud: In his first public update video, Carney channels Major-General Isaac Brock

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An item from the Legion Magazine.

Mark Carney reflects on the legacy of Isaac Brock in a video posted to the prime minister’s YouTube channel. [youtube.com/Mark Carney]

Speaking loud: In his first public update video, Carney channels Major-General Isaac Brock

STORY BY RICHARD FOOT

Who knew that Prime Minister Mark Carney kept a tiny toy solider on his desk?

Canadians learned this last week in a remarkable video Carney released—the first in a series of occasional public updates he is promising to deliver from the Prime Minister’s Office via YouTube.

The inaugural video posted on Sunday, April 19 was an internet-era version of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous fireside chats, an effort to both comfort and energize the country through tough times ahead. In Carney’s case, he laid out the economic and security threats facing Canada and how his government plans to deal with them.

Sitting prominently in front of him during his chat was a small, red-coated figurine of Major-General Isaac Brock, the British commander whose heroics helped save Canada from American conquest in the War of 1812.

Veterans Ombud Nishika Jardine. [Stephen J. Thorne/LM]

Veterans Ombud Nishika Jardine on defending veterans

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

“Being able to respond to individual complaints that come into us is the bread and butter of our office,” explained colonel (ret’d) Nishika Jardine, Canada’s veterans ombud. “That is the service we provide, a free and independent service for fairness for veterans and their families. That is our number one priority. It will always be our number one priority.”

Neither an advocate for Veterans Affairs Canada nor, strictly speaking, for veterans themselves, Jardine’s job—along with some 30 colleagues—is to determine what’s right and just. Whether the issues involve VAC’s benefit-related decisions, broader health-care provisions or fundamental support for former personnel, the veterans ombud strives to resolve disputes between the government and those in its care.