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Thai Thi Nga, of Hanoi's Friendship
Village, a victim of agent orange is seen here in 2004. The Canadian government
has opened an investigation into the use of agents Orange and Purple in
the 1960s at a military base in Gagetown in eastern Canada, officials
told AFP |
The Canadian government has opened an investigation into the use of agents Orange
and Purple in the 1960s at a military base in Gagetown in eastern Canada, officials
told AFP.
The tests of the highly toxic defoilants were apparently conducted at the request
of the US military, which used Agent Orange to flush out communist Vietnamese
soldiers during the Vietnam war.
“The government has named an official to take charge of the investigation
into the events that occurred in Gagetown,” said Jae Malana, a military
spokseman.
Ottawa hopes to determine if any people may have been affected by the lethal
herbicides, he said.
Investigators will meet with active and retired members of the Canadian military
and retired civilian employees who were present during the tests, officials
said in a statement.
In 1966 and 1967, various defoliants were used to clear forests in New Brunswick.
The thick vegetation in the province reminded US military experts of the dense
jungles in Vietnam and thus seemed a good place to test the agents.
They were also sprayed over 0.03 percent of the military base in Gagetown as
part of a top secret operation that was not exposed until the 1980s.
Last year, Ottawa admitted that its soldiers, civilian contractors and local
residents may have been exposed to the agents and as a result may have suffered
health problems.
The herbicides can cause leukemia and diabetes and other major health problems,
including congenital malformations and miscarriage.
