Kathy Grant, centre, representing Agatha Dyer, not pictured, holds a portrait drawing of Ms. Dyer’s son Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, during a groundbreaking ceremony launching the construction of the National Monument to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan in Ottawa, on Monday. Cpl. Dyer died in April, 2002, as a result of a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
The federal government unveiled the future Ottawa site of the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan on Monday, as the Senate debated a bill calling for broader recognition for the role veterans played in the conflict.
Jill McKnight, Minister of Veterans Affairs, officially launched the construction phase of the monument on LeBreton Flats, which will recognize more than 40,000 Canadians, including soldiers, civilians and government officials, as well as Afghan allies, who were involved in Canada’s mission from 2001 to 2014.
“This is an important opportunity for us to have a space that Canadians can come together to recognize the meaningful contributions that have been made,” she said.
The announcement was made weeks after the introduction of Bill S-246 by Senator Hassan Yussuff, which aims to expand the definition of wartime service.
Modern Canadian missions are designated as special duty service. Under the Pension Act – which provides benefits to Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and dependents – only those who fought in the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War are recognized as war veterans.
The special duty service designation includes CAF members who served in Afghanistan. In practice, that means Afghanistan-era veterans are generally supported through a newer framework under the Veterans Well-being Act, rather than some legacy programs under the Pension Act.
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Ms. McKnight said she appreciates the work that parliamentarians and veteran advocacy groups are doing. She added the designation of special duty service does not indicate the service was less significant.
“In no way does that designation of special duty service change the risk, the complexity, or the importance of that service, or indicate a lesser degree of anything,” Ms. McKnight said.
“We will continue to engage in conversation with the community, to gather perspectives – to ensure that the voices are heard as we shape the steps forward that are to come."
Marcie Lane, a Silver Cross Widow and CAF veteran who attended the ceremony, said the monument is meaningful. She said it will give veterans and the communities that support them a place to gather to share experiences, commemorate and also to lean on one another.
“Having a monument is a physical representation of all those experiences,” added Ms. Lane, whose husband, Scott Vernelli, died in combat in Afghanistan in 2009.
Beyond recognition, Ms. Lane said she would like to “see our government refer to what it really was – a war.”
Language is important, she added, and the use of terms such as “conflict” or “mission” may not give Canadians a clear picture of the CAF’s service and its impact on them.
For Ms. Lane, that is where the monument comes in.
“I think that this monument could play a role in that, because one of the roles of this monument is the education piece. And I think the education piece is important, not only for Canadians today, but for Canadians and the youth of the future,” she said.
Canada participated in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan for 13 years, the longest deployment in Canadian history, and the country’s largest since the Second World War.
A total of 165 Canadians died in Afghanistan, including 158 CAF members and seven civilians.
More than 176,000 people in Afghanistan were directly killed in the conflict between 2001 and 2021, including 46,319 Afghan civilians and 69,095 national police and military members, and at least 52,893 opposition fighters, according to a 2021 Brown University study.
Editor’s note: An earlier photo caption misspelled the last name of Agatha Dyer. The caption has been corrected.