The entire Canadian political establishment has failed Canada’s Veterans.
We all remember when Canadian Veteran Brock Blaszczyk confronted Justin Trudeau.
Blaszczyk had asked Trudeau why Canadian Veterans were still having to fight in court, despite Trudeau’s promise during the 2015 campaign that no Veteran would have to “fight their own government in court” for the benefits they have earned through serving our nation.
Trudeau’s response was horrendous, saying Veterans were “asking for more than we’re able to give right now.”
Trudeau was widely denounced for the disgusting comment, which showed his true attitude towards Canadian Veterans and the military. Indeed, as we just saw, the Trudeau government is slashing $1.8 BILLION in funding for pensions for wounded Canadian Veterans.
Sadly, Trudeau isn’t the first politician, and the Liberals aren’t the only government that have failed Canadian Veterans. The previous Harper government made promises and didn’t deliver, even cutting some services to Veterans.
Past Liberal and Conservative governments let our military get horribly underfunded, and refused to turn the sacred obligation the government has towards Veterans into established law.
So, it’s not enough simply to slam the Liberals (though that certainly needs to happen), the Opposition needs to be held to account and promise to deliver for Veterans, and not weasel their way out of it like has happened over and over again in the past.
At a recent town hall, Retired Corporal Brock Blasczyzk was back, asking Andrew Scheer to commit to putting the duty of care to Canada’s Veterans into established legislation, and made clear that Veterans are tired of being used as pawns by political parties.
You can watch the moment, and a reminder of Trudeau’s past broken promises to Veterans below:
In an extended video, you can see Brock Blasczyzk ask Scheer for an apology for how the previous Conservative government failed Veterans. Scheer gave a more ‘politician style’ answer, instead of committing to make an apology like he should have.
While the Trudeau Liberals are the true danger to Canada, and while I spend most of my time criticizing them, it’s also important to criticize the Conservatives when it’s called for, and in this case, the Conservatives need to be straight up with voters, acknowledge that they all too-often failed to support Canadian Veterans, apologize for that failure, and be honest about what fixing that failure will mean.
It might take billions of dollars to fully support Veterans, and it will certainty take tough legislation to turn the kind words politicians say about Veterans into actual tangible actions. But whatever the cost is, it must be paid. Veterans sacrificed everything and put their lives on the line for our country, and all ‘leaders’ must finally put politics aside and support them.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
