posted 02-03-2004 12:24 AM            

A little background first. I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1971 and grew up on the Canadian prairie in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The males in our family have always had an interest in aviation. My father worked for the government and my mother worked for the local Winnipeg Free Press newspaper.

In the early 1990s I remember seeing a newspaper article in the Winnipeg Free Press that kind of pissed me off...which is the only reason I still have a memory of it.

The article was published in part because the thirty year "silence" period for the release of information through the US FIA had elapsed on this particular series of events. The essence of the article focused on permissions the Canadian government granted to the US government to deploy chemicals over Canadian cities during the 1960s. Since I wasn't born yet, I figured the article didn't really apply to me, but I was rather upset about the covert nature of what was done and the implications that MY government would authorize another country to carry out testing on its people. Ok, I was rather naive. The article stated that harmless chemicals were "dropped" over a number of larger Canadian cities but did not indicate the purpose or nature of the "tests." If they didn't have some intended impact, then why do it? However upset, I did not find it surprising, particularly because of the Cold War situation during the period (my uncle worked on the northern DEW line, mostly funded and run by and for the US), and because of the geography and military impotence of Canada. The thing that I found most disturbing was the lethargy of the Canadian people with respect to the article. That was essentially it. But it did provide an indication that the US government admitted to deploying chemicals over heavily populated areas, even if it was in another country. I guess it's not that surprising. Ergo, it shouldn't be that surprising that the US military would also do the same to its own people.

On another note, I want to apologize for not being able to provide additional evidence. Had circumstances in 2001 been different, I might be in a position to provide some evidence. In October 2001 I was visiting family on Vancouver Island (I currently live and work in Florida) and met a strange man on chance ferry crossing. He engaged me because the rental car I picked up in Seattle had Massachusettes plates. The meeting was rather disturbing due to his history. He was chemist consultant who had previously worked with the Canadian military developing chemical weapons in Suffield, Alberta during the cold war. What he recounted was a disturbing race to beat the Soviets in the development of chemical agent warfare. What was taking place was a joint effort between the US and Canadian governments to isolate effective and STABLE chemical agents. Although he gave me his business card (which was nothing spectacular), I was afraid of being searched at the border and getting caught with a business card of that nature especially during that time period. At that point the (road) border was routinely closed for security reasons. He did however corroborate my recollections of events in the newspaper article, but I don't recall if he knew what was deployed. I am really kicking myself now because if I had kept his card or the article it would provide something, but by the same token, the article is out there, it was published, and has to be in the newspaper archives. My mother retired from the newspaper last year, and I don't know what connections she has there. But, I guess if anybody cares, I could always attempt to retrieve it, although I am not sure if it is of any value to anybody here.

Anyways, that's my story...just wanted to share it. Good luck in your search for truth.