Minister Anand to welcome HMCS Vancouver and HMCS Winnipeg home from the Indo-Pacific Region

Media advisory

December 2, 2022 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

On December 5, 2022, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence, will be in Esquimalt, British Columbia to welcome home His Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Vancouver and Winnipeg after 173 days away from home while deployed in the Indo-Pacific. During their deployment, these ships participated in Exercise Rim of the Pacific, and Operations PROJECTION and NEON.

During her visit, Minister Anand will speak to military families about the importance of this Royal Canadian Navy deployment in the Indo-Pacific Region. Minister Anand and Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, will also scrum with media about this deployment, and discuss how Canada will be reinforcing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region through the new Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Note to Editors / News Directors:

Date & time: December 5, 2022. Media are asked to arrive no later than 8:20 a.m.

Location: Media are asked to arrive at the Esquimalt Road entrance to His Majesty’s Canadian Dockyard Esquimalt. Media will be escorted in their vehicles to Duntze Head for the ceremonial sail past. Following this, media will be escorted to A Jetty where the ships will arrive alongside, be greeted by family, and media scrums will be arranged.

Details:

  • Both ships will pass by Duntze Head and receive a ceremonial salute at 09:00 at 09:15 respectively.
  • After both ceremonial salutes occur, media and dignitaries will move to A Jetty, where both ships will arrive alongside. This homecoming event will see sailors and aircrew arrive alongside to be greeted by friends and family awaiting on the jetty.
  • Media will be given the opportunity to capture the ships’ arrival into Esquimalt Harbour, the “first-kiss sailor” crossing the brow, and to participate in a scrum with the Commanding Officers of HMCS Vancouver and Winnipeg. Public Affairs will facilitate media interviews with sailors and their families on the jetty.

When each ship arrives at A Jetty, the following events will occur, in this sequence:

  • first-kiss sailor crosses the brow,
  • the Commanding Officer (CO) crosses the brow,
  • media will be offered a scrum with the ship’s CO will occur next to the brow. Media should position themselves to conduct the scrum of Commanding Officers next to the brow. As there will be hundreds of people on the jetty, it may not be possible for Public Affairs to seek out media amongst the crowd.
  • Public Affairs can also facilitate media interviews with sailors and their families. Please note that with two deployed vessels returning at the same time, we expect about twice as many people on the jetty as there have been in previous years.

Registration: Media are asked to contact Maritime Forces Pacific Public Affairs at the phone or email address in the contact section below before 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 4, 2022 to confirm their attendance. Please bring government-issued photo identification to the event. An escort will greet media at the main gate, and accompany them back to the gate upon completion of the event.

Livestream: The event will be live streamed via the Royal Canadian Navy Facebook and Instagram pages.

Contacts

Maritime Forces Pacific Public Affairs
Phone: 250-363-5789 (Monday to Friday) / 250-888-6775 (after hours)
Email: ESQPACIFICNAVYPUBLICAFFAIRS@forces.gc.ca

Daniel Minden
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of National Defence
Email: Daniel.Minden@forces.gc.ca

Page details

Date modified: