Equipment move from Wainwright to Petawawa causes buzz on social media

Two trains carrying approximately 130 military vehicles will be pulling into Prescott, ON this week on their way back to Garrison Petawawa. 

The vehicles are returning due to the cancellation of Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE, an annual Canadian Army exercise in Wainwright, AB that brings together allies from different nations. The exercise was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

The military is reassuring members of the public that this movement of vehicles should be “no cause for alarm.” 

In an interview with the Ottawa Sun army spokesman Lt.-Col. Doug MacNair noted, “There is no cause for alarm (as) these movements by rail and the ensuing ground convoys from railheads to final destinations is how we normally move our vehicles over long distances for major exercises such as Ex Maple Resolve which as you know we recently decided to cancel.” 

Due to the growing threat of COVID-19, some were beginning to point to the movement of the military vehicles as evidence that the government would soon call in the Canadian Armed Forces.

“The risks and impacts of misinformation during this critical period are real and need close and careful monitoring,” Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier stated to the Ottawa Sun. “While it is normal and expected that the public are, at this time, far more sensitive to the public environment, the viral propagation of inaccurate or decontextualized content could lead to confusion or impact efforts to flatten the curve.”