TORONTO - National Defence officials are keeping mum about reports that the Conservative government is poised to put the "royal" back in the Canadian navy and air force.
Media reports say Defence Minister Peter MacKay's news conference Tuesday will be to re-acquaint people with their earlier names: the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The three branches of the military have been known formally as Air Command, Maritime Command and Land Force Command since 1968, when federal law unified them under the Canadian Forces banner.
The Huffington Post Canada and Halifax Chronicle Herald reports both say Land Force Command will be rechristened simply as the Canadian Army.
MacKay's announcement in Halifax is to be echoed simultaneously at news conferences in Kingston, Ont., Valcartier, Que., Cold Lake, Alta., and Esquimalt, B.C.
Officials with the Department of National Defence refused to comment on the reports.
