October 29, 2021
Veterans are worried about the lives of thousands of people who worked with the Canadian military and are currently trapped in Afghanistan.
In the past few months, the Institute for Veterans Education and Transition (IVET) has helped bring hundreds of Afghan interpreters who worked with the Canadian military, and their families, to Canada. Funded by donations, IVET has also helped move hundreds of Canada’s Afghan allies to safe houses in Afghanistan, where they wait, hoping for Canadian government assistance.[/column]
The Fifth Estate’s documentary, Abandoned in Afghanistan: Canada’s Failed Promise, shares the efforts of Timothy (Tim) Laidler and the community of Canadian veterans to bring former interpreters out of Afghanistan and reveals tensions within Canada’s government about how to proceed.
Tim Laidler is the executive director of IVET at UBC. After serving in a tour of duty in Afghanistan with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, he has dedicated his time to helping Canadian veterans.