Military wives' blogs forced shut down by Canadian Army

A Quebec TV network - LCN - reports today that at least two Quebec women, married to soldiers from the Valcartier military base, who put up blogs as soldiers' wives to interact with similarly-situated women, have been forced by Army authorities to close down their on-line discussion forums. Pressurewas applied on their husbands to silence them, and these blogs are nowoff-line.
Filmmaker Claire Corriveau - author of "Nomad's Land"* and herself amilitary wife - defended wives' discussion forums and freedom of expression in a LCN (French) interviewhttp://lcn.canoe.ca/lcn/infos/national/archives/2007/12/20071207-183723.html
Translated excerpt:
"In 2007, discussion forums have an absolutely essential role. Women have spontaneously rallied to this means of communication in recent years. There are many discussion forums for military wives, spaces that they have themselves set up and put on-line and that they are carrying with great stamina in order to ensure that they have a network, that they can discuss and debate issues and especially that they can bear witness and speak out about a reality, their reality, that no one or almost no one acknowledges.(. . .) This (censorship) brings up the whole issue of these women's status.Are they part of the Army or are they civilians, just as any civilian in our nation? And if so, if they are civilians, their basic freedoms ought to be respected. (. . .) I hope they will fight and that they will go on putting on-line discussion forums because they need to network, they need to maintain the friendships that they always end up losing because so many of them move out. They need to discuss their living conditions, this is how they will find solutions and become empowered to change these conditions.(. . .)"

* www.nfb.ca/press-room/communique.php?id=18467