Canada Post unveiled the second of five stamps celebrating Canadian emergency responders today at Québec’s Valcartier base, which is home to roughly 6,000 members in the Second Canadian Division Support Group and the 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. Members from the base have assisted in Operation LENTUS missions.
This second issue commemorates the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), which conducts evacuations, delivers aid, provides transportation and executes search and rescue missions, among other tasks. When called upon by a provincial or territorial government, the CAF can deploy members and assets – including ships, aircraft and vehicles – from the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy. These missions are known as Operation LENTUS.
This year, the armed forces have answered the call for help in August (at the almost 600 forest fires in British Columbia); May (during the evacuation of 140 people threatened by fire in Manitoba and flood relief in British Columbia and New Brunswick); and April (at the floods at Kashechewan First Nation in Ontario).
Past missions include flooding in Québec in the spring of 2017; fires around Fort McMurray in 2016; flooding in southern Alberta in 2013; and Newfoundland and Labrador after Hurricane Igor in 2010.
FIVE-STAMP SET
The CAF stamp was the second of five “Emergency Responder” stamps to be unveiled this week at events across the country.
A stamp honouring paramedics was unveiled yesterday in Fredericton.
The remaining stamps in the set will be unveiled on:
- Sept. 12 (search and rescue experts) in Banff, Alberta;
- Sept. 13 (firefighters) in Halifax, N.S.; and
- Sept. 14 (police officers) in Ottawa.
The set will be available for purchase on canadapost.ca and at postal outlets across Canada beginning this Friday, Sept. 14.