Royal Canadian Legion 24/106 - NDG Branch/Filiale

08/21/2026

08/11/2026

🇨🇦 PRIVATE DAVID BLIER: 11 HOURS OF ROUTE CLEARANCE, INJURED, AND HE NEVER STOPPED 🇨🇦

On September 15, 2007, in Afghanistan, Private David Blier was hurt in the middle of an eleven-hour route clearance operation. Rocket and small arms fire didn't let up. Neither did he.

He wasn't an officer. He wasn't a section commander. He was a private — junior NCM, no leadership title, no formal authority over the men beside him. And yet when it mattered most, he led anyway. Not with orders, but with example. That's a different kind of leadership, and arguably a harder one to summon.

Eleven hours is too long to run on adrenaline alone. At some point the fear wears off and what's left is just pain, fatigue, and the grinding awareness that the danger hasn't passed. It would have been excruciating to keep going. No one would have blamed him for stepping back — he was hurt, and he'd already given more than most ever will.

But he couldn't stand the thought of letting his buddy down.

So he stayed in it. He kept working. He helped hold the line for his section and helped secure the Combat Team, hour after hour, under fire, while injured. His actions that day earned him a Mentioned in Dispatches — recognition for exceptional courage and professionalism under conditions most of us will never have to imagine.

This is the only way Canadians know how to fight: shoulder to shoulder, for the person next to them, long after it stops being easy.

Private David Blier — we remember, and we thank you for your service. 🇨🇦🫡

08/11/2026

Canada and Japan Honour Sailors in Halifax

Members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force joined Canadian representatives in Halifax on Monday for a wreath laying ceremony at the Sailors’ Memorial in Point Pleasant Park.

The ceremony formed part of the visit by the Japan Training Squadron and provided an opportunity to pause and remember the sailors who lost their lives at sea, while also recognizing the close and growing maritime relationship between Canada and Japan.

Halifax has long served as a meeting place for allied and partner navies, and visits such as this are about far more than ships coming alongside. They strengthen professional relationships between sailors, build interoperability and reinforce the friendships that underpin cooperation at sea.

Canada and Japan today share a strong defence relationship built around common interests in maritime security, freedom of navigation and a stable rules based international order. The Royal Canadian Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force increasingly operate together in the Indo Pacific, making these personal and professional connections between their sailors all the more important.

The wreath laying at the Sailors’ Memorial was therefore both an act of remembrance and a symbol of a modern naval friendship that continues to grow across the Pacific.

Photo: Mike Lamb / CTV News Atlantic

08/10/2026

08/02/2026