Canada to add word ‘royal’ to navy, air force

Aug 16, 2011 |

Ottawa

Tags:

Canada

In a bid to embrace its traditional roots, Canada will restore the ‘royal’ label to its navy and air force on Tuesday.

The move to return the titles was given a go ahead by Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, The Globe and Mail reports.

The navy will be renamed as the ‘Royal Canadian Navy’, the air force will be called the ‘Royal Canadian Air Force’, and the army will however, known as the ‘Canadian Army’.

The Conservative government is planning to restore military heritage and pay tribute to the victories of wars past by renaming the armed forces.

The announcement will be made by Defence Minister Peter MacKay in Halifax.

There are some who have questioned the decision to restore the word ‘royal’ to the navy and the air force.

William Rompkey, who retired this year as a Liberal Senator, introduced a motion in 2010 to have the name of Maritime Command changed simply to the Canadian Navy.

“My first preference was Canadian Navy and not Royal Canadian Navy because we are a nation and it’s about time we called ourselves what we are,” Rompkey was quoted, as saying.

The names of the three forces were changed in 1968 by Paul Hellyer, the then Minister of Defence, when he amalgamated the army, the navy and the air force into a single structure with a single uniform.

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