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By www.winnipegfreepress.com

Canadian veterans outraged by
federal minister's antics

» Vets vow to campaign against Conservatives in 2015 election

 
   

-. Patrick Vailancourt
Pe ei: News Editor

bee i news

“4! @theotherpress.ca

he Harper government

is attempting to calm an
uproar, after alienating one
of its most reliable bases of
support: Canadian military
veterans.

Canadian veterans—some
from World War II, the Korean
War, peacekeeping operations
in Africa and Bosnia, as well as
those who served as recently
as the Afghanistan conflict—
have rallied to protest Veterans
Affairs office closures across
the country. The closures took
effect on January 31.

The veterans had managed
to schedule a meeting with
Veterans Affairs minister Julian
Fantino to discuss the closure
of eight offices from Sydney,
Nova Scotia to Kelowna, British
Columbia.

Fantino, however, showed
up to the meeting 70 minutes
late and veterans say they felt
the minister was disrespectful.

In amateur video from
inside the meeting, Fantino
was caught telling an agitated
veteran that “this finger
pointing doesn’t work too well

: with me” before leaving the
: room.

The vets, who are being

: supported by the Public Service
: Alliance of Canada, then

: called an impromptu press

: conference, where they called

: for Fantino’s resignation. Some
: of the veterans were emotional

: and broke down during the

: press conference, leading toa

: public relations nightmare for

: the governing Conservatives.

Traditionally a reliable base

: of support for the Conservative
: Party, veterans are protesting

: the actions of the Conservative
: government, and may organize,
: along with active members of

: the Canadian Forces, to oust the :
: Conservatives from power in the :
: next election.

Fantino, for his part, issued

: an apology for his behaviour

: the following day in the House

: of Commons, but said that the

: government will not reverse its

: decision on the Veterans Affairs :
: office closures. The apology was :
: not accepted by the veterans.

The office closures mean

that Canadian veterans, many
: of whom struggle with mental
: health issues such as Post-

: Traumatic Stress Disorder

: (PTSD) will now have to go

: through Service Canada to get
: help and their entitlements as

: Canadian veterans. The vets

: argue that Service Canada

: officials do not have the skills

: required to service a population
: of veterans who are struggling

: with mental health issues and

: were best served by the staff at

: Veterans Affairs.

The office closures also

: mean that many will have to
: travel several hours to get to the
: nearest Service Canada office.

The government says that

: Service Canada employees

: working on Veterans Affairs

: cases will be mobile and offer

: home visits, but the vets are

: skeptical and continue to

: argue that the level of care they

require will not be met.
This has the potential to

: bea nightmare scenario for the

: Conservatives come the next

: election. Military and veterans

: votes are viewed by many within
: political circles as “a lock”

: for the Tories, but should the

: veterans organize effectively,

they have the potential of

: swinging the balance to another
: party.

The veterans have not

pledged to support another

: political party, but both the

: Liberals and the NDP have

: been vocal against the veterans
: service cuts.

Have an idea for a story? Let us know!
Contact: Patrick Vaillancourt, News Editor
Mnews@theotherpress.ca

www. theotherpress.ca

Trudeau boots Liberal
Party appointees in
senate from caucus

» Political breakup consumes Ottawa chatter
as Parliament returned to session

 
  

_... Patrick Vailancourt
=. News Editor

Mes of Parliament migrated back to the nation’s
capital as Parliament resumed for the spring session. It
is expected to be a raucous sitting, with a budget expected in
the coming weeks, but only days into the session, it was the
leader of the Liberal party who made headlines with a policy
announcement that took the country by surprise.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday
January 29 that he was removing 32 Liberal-appointed
Senators from the party caucus. The announcement came as
a surprise to everyone in Ottawa, including the senators in
question, who were informed in the opening moments of the
caucus meeting.

The senators were asked by Trudeau to leave the caucus
room and were directed to another room on Parliament Hill,
where Trudeau announced that the Senators would no longer
be sitting with the elected Liberal caucus.

Trudeau rationalized it by saying that the “Senate should
be non-partisan” and that his caucus should only consist
of those members who have been “elected by the people of
Canada.”

“They are no longer part of our Parliamentary team.
There are no more Liberal senators,” proclaimed the Liberal
leader in a statement to reporters after the party’s Wednesday
morning caucus meeting.

The governing Conservatives have called Trudeau’s move
politically motivated and accused Trudeau of distancing
himself from future scandals to be revealed by an auditor
general report of individual senator expenses. Trudeau
denies having any information about details of the upcoming
auditor general’s report and stands by his rationale of having
a non-partisan senate.

Trudeau also promised that, if elected prime minister, he
would establish a non-partisan advisory panel that will make
decisions on senate appointments, a power currently enjoyed
by the sitting prime minister.

Pierre Poilievre, the Minister of State for Democratic
Reform, criticized Trudeau’s plan for senate appointments,
saying that it makes the process less democratic than the
current practice.

“Not only would senators be unelected, but the people
who choose them would also be unelected,” said Poilievre ina
scrum with the media in Ottawa.

The current makeup of the upper house now consists
of 57 Conservatives, 32 independent former Liberals, one
independent Progressive Conservative, and six independents.
There are also nine vacant seats in the senate which the
Prime Minister can fill at a time of his choosing.

Liberals in the senate meanwhile are saying that they
respect the move, but continue to acknowledge themselves as
“Liberal senators.”

The senators in question are still permitted to be
members of the Liberal Party of Canada, but are excluded
from the national Liberal caucus. Trudeau says that the 32
senators will not be privy to information on Liberal strategy
in Parliament or fundraising efforts for the next election,
expected in 2015.