A Great public interest story as some of us know the Federal Conservative Government has been saying one thing and doing something else. The Our Elected Government say they are helping Military and Vets and do this. Please check the link below.
It maybe be a surprise to many People but the Mental Health Illness rate is estimated at this time is over 20% from Military Service in Afghanistan. With over 40 thousand good Canadian men and women that wanted to make the world a better place and enrolled in the Forces then had been chosen the Serve in the War in Afghanistan. We are looking at over 10,000 Men and Women being ousted of the Military because they are no longer A1 condition. Out on Our Streets. The Conservative Federal Government is washing their hands of the Mentally Ill people they have made and they are coming home. Now and lots coming home is the infrastructure in our Cities and Towns ready and going to be supportive of these broken Ex-Military people. Is the Welfare, O.D.S.P., Mental Health Services, Police and others many others even the Soup Kitchens. Because this is where we end up. Mental Illness can show up years after service. I hope we will have enough awareness to recognize to give them the support they are in need.
Truly,
President Friends of Vets,
Steven Forrest
A Non Governmental Peer to Peer Support Group For Military RCMP and their Veterans
www.friendsofvets.org
(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)
The Afghanistan adventure was a huge mistake. Invasions of foreign countries usually go badly for both the invading troops, and for the population of the invaded country. We don’t learn from history, it seems. But now that the damage has been done, you’d think that our federal government would be doing all it can to repair the damage done to our soldiers. Instead, of course, Harper has appointed a two-bit thug, Fantino, to handle the file. In doing so, Harper has added our military vets to his long list of enemies.
The Harper Conservatives claim to stand up for Canada, democracy and Canadian values. Their actions and attitudes demonstrate the opposite: an unparalleled contempt for decency, fairness and truth. How is it possible that Canadians continue to tolerate them?
@ PJ. I think that with each passing month, more and more Canadians are waking up.
Enough to turn the tide and restore Canada to decency, fairness and democratic accountability? Dearly hope so, Furtz. Eight years is a long time to be asleep, and too many still seem content to be bought with their own money or accept lies as truth.
Not sure if decency etc would be restored overnight with a change in government, but it would definitely steer our ship on a better course. Our Putin wannabe PM is hitting the wall pretty hard these days. Even hard-core libertarian C/conservatives are having difficulty dealing with Harper’s autocratic rule. Too bad it took so long for those fools to wake up.
Politicians are like dirty diapers. They should be changed frequently.
I agree with Furtz, Chretien and his Liberal Government should not have put an our men and women into the Afghanistan arena. The Russians lost approximately 15,000 thousand troops and billions in equipment over a nine year period, what would a poorly selected and equipped military be able to accomplish ? Again Furtz I think you are right, we don’t seem to learn from history.
We don’t seem to be able to remember big details either. The current administration inherited the Liberal commitment made to the Afghanistan Government. The current administration has to deal with the fallout of those previous decisions. The current administration listened to the Canadian public (unlike the prior Liberal administration) and acknowledging that we had no appetite for war took measures and created an exit strategy. The current administration continues to deal with repercussions and fallout from the actions of the prior Liberal Government.
Fortunately for those that read, history records facts not fiction.
We have in Canada largely a peace keeping force, not so much a military force, as a result of years of Liberal domination. I would wager to say that from a strictly military perspective a large percentage of our men and women peacekeepers should not have been in Afghanistan in battle ready roles. History will reflect the true realities including the treatment of our veterans returning from this conflict.
Best wishes to all the men and women that served and continue to serve. God bless.
I have been hearing bits and pieces the last few weeks, and that is how many voters base their votes, I have worked the polls and seen people decide with less.
It looks like there will still be home based client care for those that need it, access from more centers (Service Canada) and closing less than 10 underused centers everywhere but Quebec.The phone continues to be a staple for many as well. I expect the government (us) to help those that need it AND be fiscally prudent.
http://www.ombudsman-veterans.gc.ca/reports-rapports/rep-rap-02-2013-eng.cfm
Veterans Affairs Canada spent nearly $266 million in fiscal year 2011–2012 for long-term care benefits to Veterans under both the Long-Term Care Program and the Veterans Independence Program, not including the costs of operating Ste. Anne’s Hospital. The cost of contract beds in facilities across the country totaled nearly $171 million and more than $94 million for non-contract beds (community beds).
With the expected decline in the size of those Veteran populations with the broadest eligibility for long-term care support from Veterans Affairs Canada, these costs to the Department are projected to decrease over the next decade by nearly 20 percent to approximately $216 million by fiscal year 2021–2022.
Okay, I get it now. It’s all the Liberal’s fault, and our wounded vets are getting all the help they need and deserve. And Fantino is is a wonderful caring man.
I have no comment on Fantino or whether he is as Furtz stated “a wonderful caring man”. I will however comment on the intelligent and responsible manner in which Eric responded. Eric embodies what all of us should be doing, taking the time to think about and delve more into the bigger picture with a level headed approach. Funny thing that happens when people are more informed of the real facts rather than political
rhetoric. Truth.
“Those who don’t know history are deemed to repeat it” and those words are absolutely right indeed. I don’t know who said them but they were not me. Wars are committed by the banksters as in gangsters which they are who furnish both sides of the war. The wars today are made not to be won by anyone and it is the military industrial complex that makes the money with the banksters. If you look up on youtube.com and listen to former US president Dwight D. Eisenhower warn the American people about the military industrial complex just before he left office back in 1960 and listen and read his words as well. As for Harpoon Harpo he has absolutely no respect for anyone whether military or any other and he reminds me so much of Bare Ass and company. I don’t care for political parties because they are all controlled by the very same source. The best is to vote for the person that you like and trust and even then when they get to Ottawa they change for the very worse since they are the puppets of the ones I mentioned.
Now you’re getting it, Furtz. By the way it wasn’t Harper and McKay in kevlar jackets in all those photo-ops with the troops in Afghanistan; it was a couple of Liberal impostors. And it wasn’t a Harper Conservative who called Jack Layton “Taliban Jack” in the Commons; it was a Liberal ventriloquist.
Next, we’ll be hearing that Mike Duffy was really a Liberal plant, and Nigel Wright who bailed him out is a closet Liberal. No end to Harperite capacity for fantasy; anything to avoid responsibility. And plenty of suckers to form the party faithful.
A sure sign of a general lack of understanding is the use of comedy or sarcasm to deflect the truth. Sad, what happened to informed debate ?
@Jules…it was George Santayana that said the often misquoted phrase. He did not say that history would repeat itself though he was talking about the past.
@ David Oldham: Three points: 1) Stephen J. Harper has been prime minister of Canada since 2006. Eight years–more than enough time to take responsibility for his and his government’s decisions and actions; 2) comedy, satire, irony, sarcasm: a good idea to distinguish among them and their uses; 3) taking oneself too seriously, not good for one’s health.
Plus a fourth re your posts above: What are “true realities” and “real facts”? Are their untrue realities and unreal facts?
As to the point/fact of Steven Forrest’s letter: why are Canada’s veterans protesting the government’s treatment of them if it were not for the fact that they feel mistreated?
Horrors! Edit spelling: Are there untrue realities and unreal facts?