On Thursday November 24th one Canadian soldier was killed and four were wounded when the armoured vehicle crashed and rolled off the road during a “routine patrol” on the main highway 45 kilometres northeast of Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan. The Lower Mainland’s anti-war coalition Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO) responds, demanding an end to the Canadian occupation of Afghanistan and to bring the troops home now.

The death of 24-year-old Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, who was born in Victoria, has brought the reality of the Canadian occupation home to the Woodfield family and to people in BC and across Canada. Adding to this blow was the injury sustained by another BC man, 30 year old Cpl. Shane Dean Jones of White Rock, BC. Braun Scott Woodfield has been the eighth Canadian soldier to be killed since the Canadian occupation of Afghanistan began in October 2001.

In response to the death of Woodfield, Lieutenant General Marc Dumais, of Defense Headquarters’ overseas operations, remarked, "There are significant risks involved in these operations.” This comment echoes Canadian Defense Minister Bill Graham’s October 13th statement, “when we move our troops to the Kandahar region… it will actually be more in the line of a combat mission.”

Premier Gordon Campbell added to these Defense Department statements, saying that Woodfield “died serving a grateful nation and continuing the proud legacy of Canadian soldiers who have served honourably in the pursuit and protection of peace around the world."

In response to these government statements around the tragic death of Braun Woodfield, Kira Koshelanyk, co-chair of the Lower Mainland’s anti-war coalition Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO) issued a statement on November 25th. Koshelanyk stated, “The Department of Defense, the federal government, and even the provincial government explain very well that a Canadian soldier has tragically died. But they do not explain why.”

Koshelanyk explained, “If the Canadian occupation serves a ‘grateful nation’, then why is Kandahar a ‘combat mission’? Canada is not a ‘peacekeeping’ force in Afghanistan and the Afghan people oppose the Canadian occupation as a force of destruction against them and their country. We place the blame for the death of Braun Woodfield squarely on the shoulders of the Canadian government.”

In the wake of Braun Woodfield’s death, Mobilization Against War and Occupation continues its call for an Independent Public Inquiry into the Canadian occupation of Afghanistan to open debate across Canada about why billions of taxpayers dollars are being pumped into the government of Canada’s war drive.

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