Tuesday, March 03, 2015

Money Counts. People Don't.


                                                  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

The Harperites are always hell bent on going to war -- as long as someone else is willing to fight it. They are hoping to win the next election on the meme that they protect Canadians. But they don't do the protecting. Canada's veterans are tasked with that job. And Harper's treatment of veterans is appalling. Tasha Kheiriddin writes:

While terrorism is good business for the Tories, they continue to fail the people who fought it on the frontlines — Canada’s veterans.

Just last week, the case of former master corporal Paul Franklin, who lost both legs in Afghanistan, made news again for all the wrong reasons. Franklin’s defenders, including comedian Rick Mercer, tore Veterans Affairs Canada to shreds in early 2015 for demanding that the former soldier prove every year that his legs were still missing, to qualify for a government-funded wheelchair.

So Pierre Lemieux, parliamentary secretary to the Veterans Affairs minister, announced on February 27 a mindbogglingly insensitive change in policy: Franklin and similarly disabled vets will instead have to provide proof every three years that they are still disabled — that their missing limbs have not miraculously grown back. If they don’t, the federal government could, for example, repossess their wheelchairs — as it has done to Franklin twice in the past.

Governments take on the characteristics of their leaders. And so, the Harper government is Stephen Harper personified -- paranoid and devoid of people skills:

Also in the past week, the public learned that the Tories had shelved a survey of veterans’ satisfaction with government services. Last conducted in 2010, VAC’s “national client survey” found that while veterans of older conflicts were generally satisfied with the department’s performance, vets who served in more recent conflicts such as Afghanistan were not. Satisfaction levels among those modern-day veterans had dropped from 80 per cent in 2007 to 68 per cent in 2010.

The survey was scheduled to be repeated in 2012-13. That never happened. The government decided to skip it — an irresponsible decision for several reasons. When a study shows a marked decline in satisfaction, it’s a good idea to conduct a follow-up to find out if what you’re looking at is a blip or a trend. And the Conservatives have profoundly changed the way services are delivered to vets by closing offices and moving to a Service Canada and online access model; one would assume Ottawa would want to know how that’s working out.

But Mr. Harper doesn't want to know how things are working out. He only wants to know whether or not he'll win the upcoming election. Charles Dickens would recognize him immediately, just as he recognized an earlier character:

But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.

For Stephen Harper and Ebeneezer Scrooge, money counts. People don't.


10 comments:

ron wilton said...

At least old Ebenezer somewhat redeemed himself, albeit for all the wrong reasons, but harper has no moral compass that can be 'retuned'.

Canadians need the services of mental health practitioners to analyse why harper is the way he is and perhaps also to analyse why a certain perverse group of Canadians, who seem to share the same psychosis as harper, revel in his, what most people would consider, devious practices.

Anonymous said...

This exactly what I had to go through Owen I had a major right leg and knee injury. It took me four attempts to get a PWD [Persons With Disability] status in beautiful as they say British Columbia. I had to get an advocate before they the BC government would recognize my orthopedic surgeons and family doctors testimony.

Then the BC government tells me after four years sorry you will get no more help from us go to the federal government. So I apply and am told same thing prove you are PWD we do not believe you and was turned down for help.

So let me get this straight I paid taxes for fifty years to support my Provincial and Federal Governments and now when I need help there is none I'm left to fend on my own? What the fuck is that Owen?

Christy Clark our unique BC premier princess loves to fly London Air a charter air service. Um she was not elected in point grey her former riding. So she kicked a fellow dully elected in Kelowna BC and had a run-off by-election where she won handily so she could go back to pretend premier of BC.

All that she is is a rag tag piece of crap identical to Harper that invites foreign temporary workers into BC even we do not need them and also like Harper is in bed with the Red Chinese Communist foreign Government. And red China's governing body make more money than any other on the planet check it out on google. They make the entire USA government look like paupers.

So I called London Air and asked how much would it cost to fly from Crusty Clark's stolen riding in Kelowna BC to Beijing China? And guess what a cool quarter of a million taxpayer dollars. Which of course includes champagne caviar and any type of meal you choose.

No fucking wonder there is no money for the needy the so-called political bourgeois ruling class hogs it all! We get none.

I apologize for paying my taxes all my life and supporting these creeps.

Love,
Mogs Moglio

Owen Gray said...

At least Old Scrooge recognized his need of redemption, ron. Harper feels no such need.

Owen Gray said...

Harper has had the good fortune of not having to deal with life's misfortunes, Mogs. And, therefore, he has no idea of how most people live.

Toby said...

"The Harperites are always hell bent on going to war -- as long as someone else is willing to fight it."

But why do those who signed up to defend Canada agree to let themselves be misused on Harper's foreign adventures which have nothing whatsoever to do with defending Canada?

Owen Gray said...

In a democracy, Toby, the military doesn't choose its battles. The people's elected representative do that.

Anonymous said...

Money Counts. People Don't.

This goes for our homegrown BC Liberals too... A.K.A. Harperite Lite

- 1200 hospital workers lose their jobs as faux employers flip contracts
http://www.heu.org/news-media/news-releases/layoff-notices-issued-nearly-1200-lower-mainland-health-care-workers

- BC Hydro scams workers as BC Liberals cower behind false semantics
http://www.bcbuildingtrades.org/node/232
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/columnists/les-leyne-hydro-heading-for-a-fight-with-unions-1.1779556
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/Vaughn+Palmer+Brief+honeymoon+between+premier/10856136/story.html

The common thread?
BC Liberals claiming: 'We are not the true employer!'

Owen Gray said...

The names of the parties may be different, Anon. But they're cut from the same cloth.

Anonymous said...

W O W !

Site C dam unions won't be blocked by BC Hydro, says Christy Clark

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/site-c-dam-unions-won-t-be-blocked-by-bc-hydro-says-christy-clark-1.2980277

http://www.vancouversun.com/Vaughn+Palmer+Premier+swats+Hydro+over+Site+clash+with+construction+unions/10859065/story.html

A BC Liberal leader standing up for unions... just wow!

Owen Gray said...

It's called political expediency, Anon -- something Stephen Harper also practices with some success.