The body of Canada's first female soldier killed in Afghanistan was returned to Canada Saturday night. Canadian Press (CP) reports,

The Conservative government's recent decision to ban the media from covering the arrival ceremonies of war casualties back in Canada prevented reporters from attending the solemn ceremony.

About a dozen journalists and cameramen joined 15 local residents who struggled to get a glimpse of the ceremony through a barbed wire fence. The television cameras were able to broadcast live images through zoom lenses despite the distance.

The parents of Capt. Nichola Goddard will open her funeral to the public and media—

"There have been so many people involved in Nichola's life and we have been so overwhelmed by the messages of support and sympathy we have received from across Canada and, indeed, the world," they said Friday.

"It seems that not only we, her family, but all Canadians, the nation she died for, need to bring some closure to this awful story."

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