Mr. Speaker, this House meets today, united in grief.
On Saturday afternoon, at CFB Wainwright, four members of the Canadian Armed Forces were killed and dozens more were seriously wounded during a training exercise.
This loss touches every corner of our nation.
Mr. Speaker, Armed Forces members from across the country come to train at CFB Wainwright to prepare to serve Canada.
Today, families from coast to coast to coast are grieving.
All of Canada shares their grief.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with this House what we know so far.
On Saturday afternoon, soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, and members of the Army Reserve training alongside them, were conducting live-fire exercises.
A fire was burning in the training area. Driven by ferocious winds, the fire jumped nearly a kilometre in less than a minute to where soldiers were gathered. The original cause of the fire is not yet known.
The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service is now leading a full investigation into this tragedy, with the support of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Some 50 investigators are on the ground. We will ensure that they have all the resources they need to complete their work thoroughly and expeditiously.
Mr. Speaker, what we know is that late Saturday afternoon, in the space of a few minutes, 39 soldiers were injured.
Four lost their lives:
- Private Aidan Goulding of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. From North Vancouver, British Columbia. Private Goulding met every hardship with a joke, and when others struggled, he shouldered more than his share without ever being asked.
- Private Shaun Farrell of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. From Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Private Farrell was a generous and deeply loyal friend, known in his battalion as the “Grand Master of Chess”, who planned to make the Forces his career.
- Private Hayden Lykkemark, also of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. From Langley, British Columbia. Private Lykkemark was known for his gift for lightening a hard day. He dreamed of a career in law enforcement. He and Private Farrell were best friends and were seldom seen apart.
- Sergeant Morgan Wong, of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment. From Edmonton, Alberta. Sergeant Wong served with our NATO Allies in Latvia and was preparing for his second tour in Europe. His family remembers him as someone who was always there for anyone who needed him.
These were sons, brothers, partners, and friends. Young men with bright futures who chose to serve our country and who died in that cause.
We will honour them always.
Mr. Speaker, as we gather in this House, many of our Armed Forces members are still fighting for their lives. For many others, their recovery will be long and difficult. Canadians carry them in their hearts.
To the families at the bedside of their loved ones in hospital, I want to say this: Canada is at your side.
To the families who have lost a loved one: your loss is Canada’s loss. We share your sorrow.
Mr. Speaker, the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces go wherever, and whenever, duty calls.
Their care, and the care of their families, rests with the Government of Canada.
The Minister of National Defence is in Wainwright with the soldiers’ commanders. The Minister of Emergency Management is in Edmonton, working alongside Alberta’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services at the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.
The Surgeon General is coordinating care with the provinces, so that every injured soldier receives the specialised treatment they need.
At every hospital, in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, and Wainwright, liaison officers are at the sides of the families.
Mental health teams and chaplains are in Wainwright, at the hospitals, and on bases across the country. Because this tragedy is felt everywhere in the Canadian Forces.
I would like to thank Premier Smith and the Government of Alberta for their seamless partnership. Alberta’s health workers are carrying an enormous load with extraordinary dedication, professionalism, and skill.
I would also like to thank the premiers from across the country, who immediately offered help. And our international partners for their support.
Mr. Speaker, when people see the Maple Leaf on a sleeve, they see hope. They get help.
The soldiers who were training at Wainwright on Saturday belong to that proud tradition.
For more than a century, the Princess Pats have fought for freedom, democracy, and our way of life. From the trenches of the First World War to the mountains of Korea, from peacekeeping missions to the front lines in Afghanistan, and wildfires across Canada, the Princess Pats have always been there when Canada has needed them.
That is the record, that is the commitment, those are the values of the men and women who were training on the Alberta prairie Saturday afternoon when disaster struck.
They were training to defend Canada. To serve Canada.
Now, Canada serves them.
Military and civilian crews fought the fire in some of the worst conditions imaginable.
STARS air ambulance crews flew in from Edmonton and Saskatoon.
Paramedics, nurses, and doctors in Wainwright, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Calgary are working around the clock to care for the wounded.
The community of Wainwright is taking care of its own. As Mayor Bruce Pugh told me, the people of Wainwright share their lives with the women and men at the base. Now they share their grief. And they are sharing their strength.
Canadians everywhere are finding ways to help.
Lining up to give blood.
Feeding and housing emergency crews who worked through the night.
Acts of compassion that testify to the acts of service, selflessness, and patriotism that our Armed Forces perform every day.
Canada at its best.
Mr. Speaker, every day, the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces protect our rights, our freedoms, and our way of life.
In Wainwright, they learn how to carry out the most difficult missions that our country can entrust to them.
The soldiers who were training on Saturday were preparing to join the Canadian Armed Forces’ Global Response Task Force, which can deploy within hours anywhere in the world Canada needs them.
Among other things, they were preparing to participate in Operation REASSURANCE in Latvia, where Canada leads NATO forces on the front line of Europe’s defence.
The wounded soldiers were preparing to defend Canada.
Those who lost their lives were serving Canada.
Today, it is our turn to serve them.
Mr. Speaker, in a few weeks, Canadians will gather at cenotaphs across the country – including the one in Wainwright – to remember those who have sacrificed so we can live freely.
This year, we will carry more names with us. To their friends and families, to their colleagues, to the people of Wainwright: please know that you have the entire nation at your side.
Because in Canada, we take care of one another.