My Ottawa Citizen article published Aug. 6, 2026, about the CF-18 flypast over Ottawa to honour the U.S. July 4 celebrations received a lot of comments from readers.
The Canadian Forces claims it wasn’t its idea to conduct a flypast over the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Ottawa on July 4 and it was only responding to a request from the Americans. Read the article.
Two Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter jets and two U.S. F-35s flew over the residence of U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The flight prompted social media criticism from some Canadians about why the country’s military was conducting a flypast to honour a nation whose government continues to threaten Canada.
The Department of National Defence waited more than three weeks to answer questions from the Ottawa Citizen about the flypast. It provided no explanation for the delay in responding. And it has declined to say exactly who in the DND/Canadian Forces leadership authorized the flypast.
Now some readers have now pointed out how the Canadian Forces marked the National Peacekeepers’ Day on Aug. 9 with a flypast.
That involved a CC-130J Hercules from 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario. The flypast over the National Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa “recognizes the contributions of military members, police officers, diplomatic personnel, and civilian personnel who have participated in peacekeeping missions around the world,” according to the RCAF.
National Peacekeepers’ Day marks the anniversary of a tragic event on Aug. 9, 1974, when nine Canadian peacekeepers were killed after their routine United Nations supply aircraft was shot down over Syria while en route to the Golan Heights. It remains the single largest loss of Canadian life in the history of UN peacekeeping.
In addition, more than 125,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces, more than 4,500 police officers and hundreds of civilian have served in peace support missions around the globe. Approximately 130 Canadians have lost their lives while serving in peacekeeping missions, and many more have endured long-lasting physical and psychological injuries, according to the federal government.
Readers contacting me have pointed out that such sacrifices deserve more than a flypast by a single RCAF Hercules aircraft and they have questioned why the RCAF/CAF bent over backwards to honour the U.S. while failing to properly honour their own?
Other former CAF members have pointed out that the RCAF put on quite a flypast show on Aug. 8 for the David Foster Foundation 40th anniversary concert in Victoria BC. That flypast included the Snowbirds and two CF-18s. The David Foster Foundation has done a lot of good over the years…but readers argue that the country’s fallen peacekeepers deserved better Aug. 9 from the Canadian Armed Forces.
For your background reading, here are a few of my past articles about the Peacekeeping Memorial and the acquisition of a Buffalo aircraft (the same type of aircraft shot down by the Syrians) for the aviation museum:
November 2023
Canada Aviation and Space Museum receives RCAF’s last operational Buffalo aircraft
August 2017
National Peacekeepers’ Day to be recognized
August 2014
Government receptive to adding police to peacekeeper memorial