By Canadian Press

Military says No link between military vehicle movement and COVID crisis: Armed Forces

Mar 23, 2020 | 9:49 AM

OTTAWA — The Canadian Armed Forces says there is no link between the movement of dozens of military trucks and armoured vehicles over the weekend and COVID-19.

Video of the military vehicles being transported by rail circulated on social media over the weekend, sparking a number of calls to the Department of National Defence over whether the Forces was mobilizing due to the COVID-19 crisis.

But officials say the vehicles were returning from a cancelled training exercise that was to be held at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta.

Both exercises were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, though not before the military had started transporting the armoured vehicles to those two locations.

In response to the social media posts, the Quebec-based 2nd Canadian Division made its own video using the same footage superimposed with the words “No link with the coronavirus.”

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Canadian Army commander Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre cancelled Exercise Maple Resolve at CFB Wainwright last week to protect the force from COVID-19 and ensure it was ready to respond should the need arise.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2020.

The Canadian Press