The Canadian National Newspaper: Blood Money: Defending Honour and Social Responsibility to Canada's soldiers

It takes courage to be a soldier, especially in Canada. Canadian soldiers not only put their bodies in harms’ way and act as a buffer for their government and fellow countrymen, but our soldiers do so knowing that in their time of illness and injury this same government body and Canadians, in general, will do very little for them.

It takes courage to be a soldier; to sign an oath offering up life itself, to enter into this noble profession in exultant, healthy youth only to return within months in a state of infirm and wretched old age brought on decades too soon, due principally, to injuries incurred in service to Canada.

How is the value of a soldier’s oath and offering estimated? Evidently, it is in the lengthy, costly lawsuits the government forces thousands of veterans through when they dare to ask for that which they have earned and are entitled to, as in the case of Agent Orange, Pension Claw-Backs, Retirement Benefits and Services as well as deductions from long term disability declared unfair by both House and Senate Committees; not to mention two different DND Ombudsmen. In a rare and generous moment, as with the Atomic Veterans and the Merchant Marines, a stipend may be thrown their way, sixty years after the fact, in the hope it will shut them up.

Apparently, the theft of soldiers’ and veterans’ money is acceptable in Canada. It no longer takes an Act of Parliament to make radical changes to the pension funds of our soldiers as seen by the transfer of $16.5 Billion from the Canadian Forces Retirement funds to pay down the National Debt. As recently as 2003-04, as the body count of Canadian Soldiers dying in Afghanistan rises, the politicians ordering our young men and women to their deaths think nothing of stealing a further $630 Million from the Canadian Forces Pension Account to pay for other government programs.

At one point, over the past decade, the Canadian Forces Retirement pension had an accumulated surplus of over $20 Billion. The hard-earned money put there by our soldiers has now been taken by government to pay for inefficiencies in other departments. Canadian Forces members have long paid into the Employment Insurance fund when as soldiers and yet those same soldiers will never be allowed to collect from the EI fund upon their release from the military.

Because the simple truth is that the soldier stands low in the social order. Politicians wrap themselves in the flag and shamelessly parades our bravest before the public as an election tool; an accessory when it suits their own selfish aims.

They play and prey upon the public’s indifference, confusions and sympathies with deceit and unrivalled hypocrisy using hollow weasel words like ‘support the troops’. When politicians make speeches, they are skilfully arranging words to suit the sentimentality of their audiences. They seek to draw us into a belief that their values and beliefs are our values and beliefs; that we are one and the same. However they may move their lips and mask their words, they fail to hide their true belief, that when the soldiers have lost their value, the Government, and by association, the Canadian public just don’t care.

These leaders are willing to gamble with the lives of our soldiers without putting their own lives on the line. Members of the House of Commons and Senate sit in judgment on whether the veterans deserve the same pensions and benefits that they have, so handsomely, rewarded themselves without ever having been under deadly fire. These leaders, who give little thought for sending soldiers into harm’s way, are the least likely to share in any of the burdens when the soldiers return wounded and broken. ‘Thanks a bunch. Welcome home. Here’s a medal. Now, shut up!’

What’s left when the insincere statements are stripped away? The most cowardly of acts: Blatant Robbery and negligence causing lifelong harm to our soldiers, veterans and their loved ones.

Treatment of soldiers’ and veterans’ welfare should be a non-partisan issue. Under the Liberal watch, soldiers have been neglected and negated. Under the Conservative watch they have been lied to, tricked and used. The Conservatives have delivered billions of dollars in Corporate tax breaks while ignoring to honour their last election promises to ensure the welfare of soldiers and veterans is not neglected.

These promises are part of a longstanding social and moral contract between the Canadian public and its military which guarantees that no matter what the injury or sacrifice, the soldier and his/her family will always be cared for. Although this contract has been written in blood tens of thousands of times over the last century, including our tragic losses in Afghanistan, politicians and Canadians have shirked their side of the deal, taking advantage of the shame soldiers suffer in asking for help.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has claimed he has shed a few tears for the families of our fallen. All Canadians have done that much. To their credit, the NDP’s Veteran’s Motion received a majority vote in Parliament which the Harper government failed to recognize and act upon, thereby, ignoring the will of the people. In the past, the NDP have stood in support of our finest but, regrettably, have yet, to put their money where their mouth is in this present election. Could it be that they, also, don’t want to make this promise because they, too, have no intention to make good on it? Why do political leaders act in complete opposite to whom and what they say they are and what they say they are doing?

That the majority of Canadians limit their support to the troops in spirit, bumper sticker and red t-shirt, only leaves me feeling empty. Do we dare to claim otherwise when we continue to allow corrupt, uncaring and incompetent men be appointed to execute laws of self interest, to ignore the will of the people and squander public revenue in the billions of dollars for corporate tax breaks, stylist, juvenile TV ads, etc. while begrudging the Military what they have so costly paid for themselves?

So, I ask, are the ideas and beliefs of Canadians really the same as those of the politicians? Have Canadians lost the comprehension of what justice, compassion and honour are? Do we truly want to listen to a soldier or a veteran when he or she makes a plea for help and do we really understand what our debt to them involves?

Wake up, Canada. These are your sons and daughters. An election is here and the foxes are out wooing the chickens with still more promises. As you exercise your freedom to vote without persecution and as you enjoy the daily freedoms we all take for granted, each Canadian must decide for himself, alone, what is right and what is wrong; what is fair and unfair. Will you remain ignorant and silent and only sing the praises of our men and women in uniform when it suits you?

I’m weary of all the clichés, platitudes and pieties about supporting the troops.

To paraphrase, the 19th Century German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, I believe; ‘time plagues our existence and pursues us like an unrelenting task master with a whip’: None more so than with our veterans. Time is running out for many of them. Can’t we take a few minutes to write or call our MPs and leaders to say enough is enough? Don’t our wounded and fallen soldiers merit a few minutes of our time? Are they not worth the price of an envelope; postage is free.

When leaders act contrary to the conscience of Canadians then Canadians must act contrary to their leaders. It’s time we took care of those who have taken care of us in times of trouble and disaster and who have guarded our many freedoms. If we shirk this small action of defending those who now wear or once wore a uniform, then let our conscience and others label us as they may.

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