The Stigma Within Themselves

Yesterday, the Harper Party defeated an NDP motion to reverse the closure of Veterans Affairs Offices across the country. Julian Fantino has been the face of the government on this issue. But now it's clear that there are 145 other MPs -- including the prime minister -- who stand behind him. What Michael Harris writes of Fantino applies to all 146 of them:

The very important man seemed to have forgotten that at least one of the veterans he stood up at that meeting was fighting fascists before Julian got his first pair of shiny boots. The minister was not talking to a bunch of office go-fers, but the senior partners of the Conservative party’s core support.

The Harperites send others off to war. But they know nothing of it and the scars it leaves behind:

Harper marketed the Afghanistan War — then forgot about its veterans.

Eight suicides in their ranks in a matter of weeks says something is dreadfully wrong. Where are the 447 mental health workers promised a decade ago when the government was busy promoting the war?
What happens if a soldier doesn’t have his ten years in before he suffers a “catastrophic” injury? Why can’t a vet be found who agrees with the new Veterans Charter and its one-time-only payment, intended to get the gum of a ruined life off the shoe of government?

For former sergeant major Barry Westholm, the final straw came when Harper MP Cheryl Gallant opined that, for soldiers with PTSD, "the stigma was within themselves." Westhom resigned from the party. There will be more resignations.

Most certainly, there is a stigma. But it's not within the veterans. Behold the Harper government -- small minded and led by a very small man.

Unrestrained Nastiness

Yesterday, former soldiers protested the closing of Veterans Affairs Offices across the country. They were told they could be better served on-line. And Julian Fantino, the Minister of Veterans Affairs, simply told them to go away.

Bruce Moncour was a member of the delegation which was supposed to "meet" with Fantino last week. It was no meeting. Moncour writes:

Minister Fantino didn't show up for the scheduled time, and when he did appear right before our press conference, his behaviour was condemnable.

When Minister Fantino was a no-show for the meeting I was not surprised. When military veteran MPs came to the meeting instead and repeated the same rhetoric about service centre employees who will be able to fill the void of personal support workers, or how we are "misinformed" again, I was not surprised.  

What I witnessed that day is but another slap in the face, and the slaps keep coming. The slaps I have endured over the last seven plus years fighting an insurance company are unbelievable.

This is a government which preaches accountability but which dodges it whenever it is held to account. This is a government which finds money to advertise Canada's prowess during the War of 1812, but skimps on wounded soldiers from the War in Afghanistan. This is a government that accused Jack Layton of treachery for not supporting the troops. But, it turns out, the government's support for its troops is -- like everything else it stands for -- empty rhetoric.

However, there is one thing the Harper government gleefully displays -- unrestrained nastiness.