Fake midnight calls to spouses of soldiers that describe grave injuries to their loved one in Afghanistan are “an insensitive, amoral and disgusting act,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday

The Department of National Defence has confirmed its investigation of prank calls to the relatives of soldiers based out of CFB Valcartier, in which they are told a soldier had been seriously wounded or killed.

The caller “says a husband has been so badly wounded, they need physical details to identify the body,” Valcartier spokeswoman Capt. Ginette Champagne told the Star on Wednesday. “It has shocked us.”

One spouse described the calls as quick, “a minute and a half,” said Champagne, and “professionally made.”

Three spouses of soldiers stationed at the base north of Quebec City have received the calls, the first one overnight on Nov. 13, she said.

Part of the investigation is to figure out how the caller got the numbers. Police consider the false statements a violation of the Criminal Code, she said.

“Military families, who also make incredible sacrifices in Canada’s name, should never be the target” of such calls, MacKay said in a statement.

“Military personnel should not be needlessly worried about their families when they are fighting for our country in far away lands.”

“The Canadian Forces will provide whatever assistance and support these families require, and it is our hope that the perpetrators of this despicable action are brought to justice.”

Families are briefed before a soldier is deployed that any news of injury or death will be delivered in person, said Champagne.

“This (telephone calls) is absolutely not how Canadian Forces proceeds.”

Any relatives receiving such a call should contact forces authorities immediately, she said.

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The mother of a Canadian soldier who died in Afghanistan last year is disgusted by the hoax calls.

“It’s not human, that’s for sure,” Céline Lizotte told The Canadian Press. Her son Jonathan Couturier, 23, was killed by a roadside bomb southwest of Kandahar City on Sept. 17, 2009.

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