Outlet: The Globe And Mail
Section: National News
Byline: Petti Fong, Ingrid Peritz
Page: A4
**Excerpt**
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was on the hustings again yesterday, promising to increase a military presence in British Columbia while campaigning on Vancouver Island accompanied by a war hero.
In Montreal, meanwhile, Liberal Leader Paul Martin used a photo opportunity to take on another issue involving the West - condemning those who sprayed anti-Semitic graffiti on an Edmonton synagogue over the weekend as un-Canadian, and using the incident to urge the country to be vigilant about preserving its vaunted values of peace and tolerance.
Mr. Harper said 20 to 25 per cent of the Conservatives' proposed military budget will go toward re-establishing operations in the West, citing years of neglect and the closing of B.C.'s only regular army base in Chilliwack.
He is proposing setting up urban army bases of 100 regular personnel and at least 400 reserve-force personnel in several Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg and Toronto.
The urban army forces will be better able to respond to natural disasters such as earthquakes and ice storms than current police or ambulance personnel in the cities, Mr. Harper said.
“Canada's military capacity in this region has been allowed to age and deteriorate,” he said. “British Columbia, which is in an earthquake zone, is now the only region of the country without a regular army presence.”
Mr. Harper said the Liberal government has said in the past that in the event of a B.C. natural disaster, Canada would rely on American forces from Seattle to help out.
In the Air Force base of Comox, Mr. Harper said the Conservative government will set in place a 650-person battalion for rapid-reaction response, and in the naval base of Esquimalt, another 500 personnel will be brought in.
The fleet's aging submarines will not be scrapped, Mr. Harper said.
Douglas “Duke” Warren, a Second World War decorated fighter pilot, said he liked the Conservatives' plan to increase long-range patrol aircraft, and the intention to rebuild.
“The Liberals have just been carelessly neglectful of our armed forces. It's not high on their priority. The Conservatives are doing something to rebuild and that's why I support them,” Mr. Warren said.
In pit stops down the Island Highway, Mr. Harper linked his military announcement with sovereignty issues, including the softwood-lumber dispute.
