It seems like just yesterday Big Daddy was telling the troops that he, he would not cut and run.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaffirmed his government's commitment to Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan on Monday, telling hundreds of soldiers there that Canada won't "cut and run" as long as he's in charge.
"You can't lead from the bleachers. I want Canada to be a leader," Harper told about 1,000 troops at the Kandahar airfield base the day after he arrived on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.
But I guess it's easier to support them while they make things go bang then it is when they come home with issues.
Few Canadians will give a thought to the veterans who are filling lines at soup kitchens and crowding beds at homeless shelters - those who ended their military service so psychologically scarred that it was impossible to fit back into life at home.
Their marriages have broken down, they have fallen into cycles of substance abuse and addiction. Now they are on the street.
Although other countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have programs and special shelters for homeless veterans, advocates such as retired colonel Patrick Stogran say Canada has ignored the problem.
Warriors come back from combat without the proper support, he says. "It's like leaving someone bleeding on the battlefield," says Stogran, who is Canada's first ombudsman of Veterans Affairs. "Someone sleeping in their car can't integrate back into society."
Never fear, boys and girls. I’m sure Big Daddy and his merry band of flag-waving, troop-supporting, patriotic wingnuts have a plan (emphasis added).
Canada is starting to take the problem seriously. Veterans Affairs is quietly putting together a policy on homeless veterans at the urging of Stogran. The issue has crossed the desk of the Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson. A briefing note for a November 2007 meeting, obtained by The Canadian Press, says "the current economic boom in Alberta and associated increases in the cost of living have had an impact on some veterans."
Although the document notes a number of reports of "people identifying themselves as veterans accessing food banks and homeless shelters in Alberta," the department doesn't commit to action. Instead, the note details how the department and other organizations are helping veterans.
"The needs of our clients are a priority for Veterans Affairs Canada," the note says. "We encourage Veterans, their families or other agencies who may be involved with them to let us know if they need help."
Ooopsie.
Well, I will just guarantee that the Blogging Tories are all over this. Wow ... double ooopsie.
4 comments:
I don't see the problem here. According to Harper, the Conservatives are going to push hard for tougher sentencing for serious crimes, at which point you need only wait for those psychologically scarred, homeless veterans to get so desperate as to commit a crime, whereupon you can lock them up for a good, long time. And you have to admit, throwing vets in jail certainly solves their homelessness issue.
And you figured Harper hadn't thought this through. Pshaw. He's much smarter than we give him credit for. I would never have considered solving the vet homelessness problem by throwing them in prison. That Stephen Harper, he's a smart guy.
It's almost Remembrance day, so the timing isn't as good as it might be, but how does this sound?
Simply give good quality T-shirts or sweatshirts or golf shirts to vets (all of them, any who would accept them) in red and white, with a proud message over the heart, saying "I did my part."
Under that message, for each forces vet print their name and rank, and place and years of service.
Watch what happens whern THOSE guys start queuing at soup kitchens.
No need to worry about fakers -- how many guys will dare to wear such a shirt without having earned it, and risk meeting a couple of real live PTSD vets on the street?
Noni
Maybe the New Conservatives hope that by treating vets badly, kids will stop signing up - now that times are tough and it's all become rather inconvenient - budgetwise.
But conservatives are wearing T-shirts that say SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. For god's sake, ISN'T THAT ENOUGH?
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