Tribute to Canada’s Afghan mission still a work in progress with a month to go

OTTAWA – With just over a month to go, the Harper government’s plan to commemorate the country’s 12-year military mission in Afghanistan is not final despite four years of planning.

The idea of honouring those who fought the brutal guerilla war and helped train Afghan forces was highlighted in the Conservative throne speech last fall and Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently set aside May 10 as the day.

Yet, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson has told a House of Commons committee that details are still being worked out and he wouldn’t say how much the tribute might cost.

He says the program is a work in progress.

That was evident in the government’s sudden about-face on the question of paying for families of the dead to attend the Ottawa event.

Letters went out recently to relatives of the 158 soldiers who died as a result of the mission, encouraging them to attend but saying it would be on their own dime — a position Nicholson quickly reversed.