A former soldier whose bravery in Afghanistan almost 17 years ago won him Canada's second-highest citation for bravery in combat the Star of Military Valour has died.
A paraplegic former member of the Canadian military shocked MPs on Thursday by testifying that she was offered, in writing, the opportunity for a medically assisted death and that the Department of Veterans Affairs even offered to provide equipment.
A passionate debate over how to define military valour and what a Canadian soldier must do to win the country’s highest battlefield honour has been raging quietly this year among veterans and the halls of Parliament. At its centre is a growing sense of dismay among some former Canadian soldiers over the military’s refusal to recognize some acts of heroism in Afghanistan with the modern version of the Victoria Cross.