[Kevin Megeney], 25, was a reservist who had been in Afghanistan since Dec. 8. The Defence Department said Megeney died from a gunshot wound shortly after 7 p.m. in Kandahar.

"He said that he was going to help people," she said. "He wanted to turn things around, so the Afghanis could live like we live... He took so much pride in it."

Megeney's death brings to 45 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2002. A Canadian diplomat has also lost his life in Afghanistan.