With the recent budget, I will be entering my 11th year without a life long disability pension, 9 years under the Conservatives and now two with the Liberals. The Trudeau government campaigned on the reestablishment of these pensions. Three times they made public overtures to that effect that in fact if and when they formed government they will re-establish the life long pensions that they took away in 2006 to begin with.
As hundreds of Canadians flock to the Vimy Memorial to commemorate the sacrifice of so many great Canadians, they will also be fighting the surviving veterans of later conflicts in court. Talking to Prince Harry about the upcoming Invictus games while using tax payer dollars in court arguing the legal definition of moral obligation.
That is why at the next stakeholder summit I am calling for a vote of confidence in Minister Hehr. The vote will be conducted the first evening of the summit, by an anonymous vote. All stakeholders voting must be also a veteran and there will be one person arguing in favour of voting in favour of the minister and another arguing against.
If the minister gets a vote of no confidence, then the next morning at a press conference the following list of items that need to be addressed will be given to the government to regain the trust of the stakeholders and repair the irreparable damage Prime Minister Trudeau has done to the veteran community:
• Immediately replace Minister Hehr
• The new Ministers office will have to have to hire veterans.
• The immediate retirement or transfer of the author of the New Veteran's Charter Bernard Butler
• The transition of the Department headquarters back to Ottawa
• The three objectives to be prioritized Life Long Pension, Care, Transition.
Once these objectives are met then can the veterans truly begin to trust that the Liberal government are going to begin to be true to their word. In the last two years the inexcusable treatment at the hands of the government should be admonished. Instead, dignitaries are going to fly half way across the world to commemorate the centennial of the sacrifice and the watershed moment that helped create a Canadian identity.
All while ignoring the Prime Minister Borden's promise but three days prior to the battle for the ridge. The shame in which these people should feel knows no bounds. The utter disregard for the promises made not just by previous administrations but out of their very mouths is deplorable.
To justifiably stand in front of a memorial while demonstrably desecrating the moral obligations all Canadians stand by shows not only how unfit for the role these people are, but also just how low they are willing to go to use an iconic anniversary to their own benefit.
That is why the committees and the stakeholders do not feel comfortable being used by the government when they claim that the decisions this government makes at the detriment of the veterans was consulted and approved by veterans. We have a moral obligation to those we represent both past and future and we want to show our peers and future generations that we have their backs.
We refuse to believe that our voices will be used to harm those that we have served with. We did not march, fight, and bleed alongside our fellow brothers and sisters to be used by the likes of you. You will not use us to shield your unpatriotic decisions.
Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca
Author: Bruce Moncur
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