JTF-2/Airborne destined for land north of Trenton?

[Matt_Fisher]

Out of curiosity, why didn't CANSOFCOM push to have a dual-use training facility built which both JTF-2 and CSOR could use in Petawawa, while maintaining DHTC as the administrative/command HQ for JTF-2?

 

[GAP]

Empires should not be too close to each other....

 

[AIC_2K5]

http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2985798

"One more land deal stands in the way of relocating the Canadian Forces' special forces unit Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) to CFB Trenton, QMI Agency has learned.

National Defence Peter MacKay said Friday that negotiations with Quinte West farm-land owner Frank Meyers, who had refused to sell his land last June, is still ongoing. It's the last stumbling block to moving the highly secretive special operations unit from its headquarters in Dwyer Hill, near Ottawa."

 

[The Bread Guy]

From November 2007....

Kingston Whig Standard

Posted By Luke Hendry

Canada's Department of National Defence still wants to buy land north of CFB Trenton, but Osprey News has learned officials will settle for much less than the ideal amount.

In written answers to Osprey News questions, DND spokesman Dave Martin said the DND still wants to buy about 401 hectares (990 acres) of land between the base, RCAF Road, Meyers Creek Road and Whites Road.

But, for the first time, he added the government can work with less land if landowners won't sell the full amount.

"The minimum requirement is for 220 hectares," Martin said ....

Bumped with the latest....

The federal government plans to kick two landowners off their property to make way for the construction of a massive new base for Canada’s special forces.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed the move Wednesday, saying that the extraordinary steps are necessary so that the country’s elite commandos can set up a new training facility in a remote area next to the military’s main air base, CFB Trenton.

“Expeditionary forces and forces that are deploying overseas being close to an airbase is something that helps facilitate that,” he said in Ottawa. “Similarly, the current training areas are in an urban area and so again for operational training, for the type of specialized training necessary, this new facility we believe will optimize our abilities.”

The long-planned move will consolidate the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, a team that includes the elite Joint Task Force 2 counterterrorism force and the Canadian Special Operation Regiment. Currently, JTF2 is based at the Dwyer Hill Training Facility northwest of Ottawa while CSOR operates out of CFB Petawawa.

The plans have been stalled by two holdouts with landowners near Trenton who have refused to sell their farmland to the federal government. The first is Frank Myers, whose family has owned the 93-hectare farm for 200 years. The other is Jim Pang, of Belleville, whom local news reports say purchased his 22-hectare property as an investment in 1976.

Neither could be reached Wednesday for comment. Both have been in negotiations for years with the government, but refused to sell off their properties ....

Toronto Star, 1 Feb 12

 

[The_Falcon]

Interesting.  1) Can't wait for those on the left to start crucifying Harper/McKay for booting people off land they have owned for centuries in one case apparently (click on the link and look and the title of the article  "Reluctant landowners fall victim to Canadian commandos" thats not biased at all : ), perhaps if their saviour PET had enshrined property rights in the Charter..... :warstory: (I am in indifferent, just pointing out the obvious crap storm that this will cause).  2) Didn't CSOR just open up a brand new building in Pet?

 

[vonGarvin]

Two families?  That's nothing.  Check out the history of the expropriation of the land when they established CFB Gagetown.

From Wikipedia article on CFB Gagetown:

Over 900 families inhabited the area primarily engaged in agriculture and forestry industries. The terrain was variable, providing mixed Acadian forest, swamp and marshland, as well as open farming areas similar to the North European Plain. The influence of the St. Croix Highlands, part of the Appalachian Mountain range, creates hilly terrain and valleys in the southern and western part of the region close to the Nerepis and Oromocto Rivers.

From another site:

The land expropriated in 1953 resulted in the removal of 750 families with a total of 3,000 residents, and the destruction of 20 communities.

For interest, the PM at the time was Louis St Laurent (Lib-MP for Québec East).

 

[George Wallace]

We can look at almost every Army and Air Base in Canada and see that the same thing occurred.  The expropriation of land in 1905 West of Pembroke created what is now CFB Petawawa ..........

 

[Good2Golf]

Interesting.  1) Can't wait for those on the left to start crucifying Harper/McKay for booting people off land they have owned for centuries in one case apparently (click on the link and look and the title of the article  "Reluctant landowners fall victim to Canadian commandos" thats not biased at all : ), perhaps if their saviour PET had enshrined property rights in the Charter..... :warstory: (I am in indifferent, just pointing out the obvious crap storm that this will cause).  2) Didn't CSOR just open up a brand new building in Pet?

Speaking of P.E.T., remember, there were all those people in Mirabel who had their land expropriated to build the airport, in many cases, families owing the land for centuries*?


* - and in some other cases, people who owned the land for a few weeks or months, but who, it appeared, were okay with being paid much more than they spent weeks earlier. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

A Quinte West family has filed an objection with the federal government in a last-ditch effort to save its ancestral farm from expropriation.

“We’re are going to fight this the best we can,” John Meyers told QMI Agency Tuesday.

His father, Frank Meyers, has vowed to fight the expropriation of 220 acres of farm land located on the south side of Meyers Creek Road.

The feds finally moved in February to begin the expropriation process on the few remaining properties needed to build a massive training facility at the north end of Canadian Forces Base Trenton ....

Kingston Whig-Standard, 7 Mar 12

 

[The Bread Guy]

The verdict was never really in doubt; if the government wants to buy your land, selling is the only real option. But for Frank Meyers and his family, the official confirmation was no less devastating: their beloved farm, more than two centuries old, will indeed be transformed into a top-secret training ground for JTF 2, the Canadian military’s elite special forces squad. “I am of the opinion that the properties proposed for expropriation are absolutely essential for the safety and security of Canada,” reads the final decision from Ottawa, signed by Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose. “For that reason and in absence of valid justification to do otherwise, I have confirmed my intention to expropriate.” The paperwork, obtained by Maclean’s, marks the end of a long, public battle that pitted a piece of Canadian history against modern-day national security ....

Maclean's, 18 Jun 12

 

[LieutenantPrivate]

im sure those guys are just thrilled about this move......

 

[Fishbone Jones]

im sure those guys are just thrilled about this move......

Why, or why not?

If you have some inside info to share, please do.

 

[armyvern]

Why, or why not?

If you have some inside info to share, please do.

2.5 hours to Ottawa or 1.5 hours to TO as opposed to their current digs pretty choice (but close drive to society location). Trenton sucks. Only 2 that I can think of.  ;D

 

[LieutenantPrivate]

2.5 hours to Ottawa or 1.5 hours to TO as opposed to their current digs pretty choice (but close drive to society location). Trenton sucks. Only 2 that I can think of.  ;D

No, no inside info, was thinking along the same lines.  Ottawa VS Trenton with families and what not....must suck.....no offense if your from Trenton

 

[armyvern]

No, no inside info, was thinking along the same lines.  Ottawa VS Trenton with families and what not....must suck.....no offense if your from Trenton

I spent 6 years there; I'm never going back! Those are the things that I hated about it; I can't be the only one. 

 

[Fishbone Jones]

So unit locations, bases and infrastructure should be based on how much of a social butterfly you wish to be? >

I was also posted to Trenton, albeit a long time ago, and found it very nice for hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities.

I guess, by your criteria, it would all depend on what your off time interests included as to whether a base is good or bad, and suited or not, to post a unit there.

Outdoors activities or shopping malls. ;D

:stirpot:

 

[armyvern]

So unit locations, bases and infrastructure should be based on how much of a social butterfly you wish to be? >

I was also posted to Trenton, albeit a long time ago, and found it very nice for hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities.

I guess, by your criteria, it would all depend on what your off time interests included as to whether a base is good or bad, and suited or not, to post a unit there.

Outdoors activities or shopping malls. ;D

:stirpot:

Very few bases meet my criteria.  ;D  I still go because the CF says I have to. Doesn't mean I have to appreciate it's location (I think that's where the poster was going with his comment)!! I have to find excuses to go to big cities for parties/gatherings etc ... just to get in some half decent shopping!!  ;D

 

[observor 69]

Gee after postings to Chatham, Bagotville and Cold Lake Trenton looks excellent.
Never could talk my career manager to post a fast jet tech to transports.  :'(

Edit: I now live on the edge of the GTA, and I ain't leavin'.

Edit #2: Nice photo Vern :nod:

 

[armyvern]

Gee after postings to Chatham, Bagotville and Cold Lake Trenton looks excellent.
Never could talk my career manager to post a fast jet tech to transports.  :'(

Edit: I now live on the edge of the GTA, and I ain't leavin'.

Edit #2: Nice photo Vern :nod:

Thanks! I'd go to Chatam (would have went) in a heartbeat (I'm a Miramichi girl!). A 45 minute trip to Moncton for shopping is within my "acceptable" range.  >

 

[buzgo]

I was in Trenton for a few years, it was a great place to work but the town is horribad, no way I would live there... Luckily there are a lot of great places within the geographic boundaries.

A lot of those soldiers have been in one place for a long time, wives are established with careers of their own, kids have spent their whole lives without moves and the families are integrated into the community. I predict a bunch of retirements and a bunch of IR requests.