The Canadian Armed Forces Advisory Training Team Tanzania 1965–1970

At the beginning of the 1960s Canada embarked on an increasingly interventionist policy in Southern Africa that included a significant number of peacekeeping, military, and technical assistance programmes1. In addition to peacekeeping efforts in the Congo (1960–64), Canada provided military assistance to Ghana (1961–68), Zambia (1965), Tanzania (1965–70) and Nigeria (1963/1968–70). While the Zambia and Nigeria missions were essentially responses to emergencies, the Ghana and Tanzania missions were more calculated affairs. To help foster democratic governments Canada agreed to assist in the establishment and training of professional armies and air forces which, when combined with governmental assistance and other infrastructure building, would firmly support a pro–Western rather than communist regime in the two countries. While the mission for Ghana began in 1961, the Canadian Armed Forces Advisory and Training Team Tanzania (CAFATTT) was officially authorized on December 8th, 1964, after Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson made the announcement in the House of Commons. Over the next five years the Canadian contingent built the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force (TPDF) from the ground up, creating everything from Tanzania’s National Defence Act to the instructional pamphlets used for teaching weapons classes. Throughout the CAFATTT mission both Russian and Chinese advisory teams who were also competing for Tanzania continuously challenged the Canadians, initiating a game of Cold War chess with all of Southern Africa as the prize. In the end, the Canadians were unable to sway Tanzania towards the west and were forced to leave only five years after they had first arrived

A Lesson in Success: The Calonne Trench Raid, 17 January 1917

The Allied armies slugged it out on the Western front for nearly four years before finally achieving the breakout sought since November 1914. The four-division strong Canadian Corps led this “spearhead to victory.” Its commander was Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie, and his corps was commonly referred to as the “shock troops” of the British Expeditionary Force and as “the enemy’s elite soldiers” by the German high command. This reputation stemmed from the Canadians’ impressive record of success in raiding the German lines throughout the war. The Canadian Corps’ flexibility, and initiative, the aggressiveness of its soldiers, and their ever improving skills of fire and movement continually added to the growing legend of Canadians being masters of the art of the trench raid. One operation in particular, a raid against the German lines along the Lens-Bethune railway northeast of Cite Calonne on 17 January 1917, was almost flawless in its planning and preparation, and near text-book in its execution and resulting effect

Canadian Soldiers in West African Conflicts, 1885–1905

This article examines the role played by Canadians at the turn of the century in West Africa. Though not intended to draw sweeping conclusions about the influence of such operations on the Canadian army as a whole—such analysis must follow at a later time when more contextual evidence is available—it does rediscover a largely forgotten chapter in the origins and evolution of the army, as well as raise a number of questions that obviously deserve greater attention. Most important, perhaps, this article demonstrates that a new approach to the analysis of the pre–1914 Canadian army is required, one that focuses as much on the influence of those who left Canada for military service as those who remained within the ranks of the institution at home. There is little question that the development of a better undersatnding of the pre–Great War Canadian Army is long overdue. Existing literature too often focuses solely on how the British army controlled and influenced a nascent Canadian militia. As this article reveals, not only are such analyses incomplete but they do not reverse the lens and examine how Canada and Canadians influenced the British army and its operations abroad during the same period. A more complete picture of the Canadian army evolution can only exist through such an examination, and this article touches on but one topic that brings new evidence for that reassessment

A Force of Reason: Canada, Central America, and the \u3cem\u3eGrupo de Observadores de la Naciones Unidas para Centro America\u3c/em\u3e

Though the Cold War never led to open hostilities between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, the two superpowers did engage in a seemingly endless series of wars by proxy in their struggle for dominance over international affairs. One of the major arenas was Central America, where regional politics influenced by ideologies led to decades of internal and external strife. Yet a glimmer of hope for peace emerged in the early 1980s even though acrimonious relations persisted between the US and USSR. Central and South American governments, with the encouragement of more distant nations, began a process of negotiation that eventually led to a reversal of the cycle violence. Canada played a leading role in providing substantial diplomatic and military assistance. It was not the first time that the country had assumed the role of impartial arbiter in international affairs. However, Canada’s political involvement and its subsequent participation in the Grupo de Observadores de la Naciones Unidas para Centro America presented unique political and military challenges that foreshadowed the tremendous difficulties Canadian peacekeepers would face a few years later in the Balkans

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

The Canadian space program: from Black Brant to the International Space Station

Canada’s space efforts from its origins towards the end of the Second World War through to its participation in the ISS today are revealed in full in this complete and carefully researched history. Employing recently declassified archives and many never previously used sources, author Andrew B. Godefroy explains the history of the program through its policy and many fascinating projects. He assesses its effectiveness as a major partner in both US and international space programs, examines its current national priorities and capabilities, and outlines the country’s plans for the future. Despite being the third nation to launch a satellite into space after the Soviet Union and the United States; being a major partner in the US space shuttle program with the iconic Canadarm; being an international leader in the development of space robotics; and acting as one of the five major partners in the ISS, the Canadian Space Program remains one of the least well-known national efforts of the space age. This book attempts to shed a clearer light on the progress made by the CSA thus far, with more ambitious goals ahead. Technical information, diagrams, glossaries, a chronology, and extensive notes on sources are also included in this volume