For Immediate Release:
May 4, 2010
Queen’s Park – Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett rose in the Ontario Legislature this afternoon to pay tribute to Petty Officer Douglas Craig Blake who is the 143rd Canadian soldier to be killed as part of the Afghan mission.
Petty Office Blake of Simcoe was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar.
“The husband and father of two was returning to camp after disposing of another IED, described in Christie Blatchford’s book [Fifteen Days] as ‘This faceless enemy, this unseen force, that attacks you and kills you and your peers and there’s nothing you can do about it’,” Barrett said in his statement.
“Today is a day of mourning across Canada and especially in Haldimand-Norfolk where Petty Officer Blake will be remembered as a local hockey coach and tri-athlete,” Barrett said in the Legislature. “On behalf of the province of Ontario we all extend our sympathy to his family.”
A moment of silence was then observed in the Ontario Legislature to pay respect to one of Canada’s heroes.
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at
(519) 428-0446 or (905)-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629