Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment, the Van Doos, suffered its first death in Afghanistan early Sunday when a young soldier died in a roadside bombing.
Simon Longtin was 23-year-old private from Longueil, a Montreal suburb. Lt.-Col. Alain Gauthier said, "It's the first one -- pretty hard shock."
Another officer said the death reverberates through the Canadian military community in Afghanistan.
"It's almost like losing a brother," Col. Christian Juneau, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, told reporters at the Kandahar air field about the death.
"We are a big family here, brothers in arms, and it's not just a statement that we take lightly, so it really touches every one of us deeply."
Longtin is the 67th Canadian military casualty overall since 2002. He had only been in Afghanistan a few weeks, the Van Doos just beginning a six-month rotation.
The incident happened about five kilometres east of Masum Ghar, considered a hotspot, at 1:40 a.m. local time.
Longtin, travelling in a LAV-III armoured vehicle, survived the initial blast and was airlifted to the base hospital. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
No other soldiers travelling in the vehicle were injured.
Sunday's incident happened on the same road where a Canadian RG-31 Nyala hit a roadside bomb. That Aug. 12 incident left five soldiers slightly injured.
Two days ago, a LAV-III in another Canadian convoy struck a roadside bomb, leaving two soldiers injured.
There had been no Canadian deaths since July 4, when six Canadian soldiers and their Afghan interpreter died when their RG-31 struck a roadside bomb.
Soldiers from the 2nd battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group returned to CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick early Sunday. Lt.-Col. Rob Walker said all 18 of the men who died under his command were killed by roadside bombs.
Dozens more members of the Van Doos shipped out to Afghanistan from CFB Valcartier on Sunday night.
Officers said despite the loss of Longtin, the mission goes on.
"We are going to keep going, we are going to patrol even more," Gauthier said.
Back in Canada, Longtin's family asked for privacy to deal with their loss.
The Quebec factor
Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave his condolences to Longtin's family and praised the soldier's role in building a better Afghanistan.
"Pte. Longtin displayed resolve and courage in serving his country (and) his family and friends can be proud of him because he was playing a very important role in a very challenging environment," Harper said in a statement issued in Ottawa.
"In marking the 65th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid, we pay tribute to the soldiers of our past. The sacrifices of soldiers like Pte. Longtin carry on this legacy today, helping to bring stability and peace to parts of the world plagued by turmoil and upheaval."
The presence of the Van Doos in Afghanistan has increased the political risk for the Conservatives in Quebec as they will aim for a majority government during the next election.
Polls estimate about 70 per cent of Quebecers oppose the deployment of troops to Afghanistan.
"Every casualty refocuses the attention back onto the mission," defence analyst Steven Staples told Â鶹´«Ã½net on Sunday from Ottawa.
"There are a lot of people who want to improve the lives of Afghans but you have to compare that to whether we can achieve this mission with the rising death toll. And it is a moment of reflection every time we see a casualty happen."
Last week's cabinet shuffle and the appointment of Maxime Bernier to the foreign affairs ministry was a strategic move on the part of the government to promote the mission in Quebec.
"I think we'll see a much higher profile for Maxime Bernier in the next week in addressing this and trying to explain why there are sacrifices being made in Afghanistan," Staples said.
With files from CTV's Denelle Balfour and The Canadian Press
