The Federal Liberals have a very poor record with WW II veterans from the 10 September 1939 Declaration of War was passed by Parliament, with the CCF member (today’s NDP) the only vote against coming to the aid of Europe in flames.
An article in the Hamilton Spectator, 31 August 2002 stated that the Minister of Defence, John McCullum, had never heard of the Dieppe Raid—did he miss the history classes too?
The first Veterans Charter came from the Liberals and the second Veterans Charter was passed unanimously by all parties with some reservations and is in the process of being implemented by the Conservatives with expected changes in the favour of past and present veterans.
That review needs action now by the review committee—a very hard look is needed on “lump sum” and straightforward answers are a must from my experience. Please get it done for our boys and girls we put in harm’s way.
What can we expect from the substitute drama teacher Trudeau? His father missed the 1942 draft by becoming a 2nd Lieutenant while attending university and later was dismissed for activities unbecoming an officer—check Google for more details.
Trudeau Senior also, when Prime Minister, particularly was a disaster in South Eastern New Brunswick when he replaced the English speaking advocates with French speaking ones from Quebec.
Liberals excel at boondoggles loaded with dollars for programmes bled off in red tape and constant appeals for veterans who were wounded. It took me some 63 years to get a pension for part of my three wounds while a psychiatrist in 1948 wrote that I was feigning difficulty with problems that did not exist! I recently published my WWII memoirs and it will be a source for Liberal failures during WWII as I tried to follow Ambassador Doers’ advice: “Get your mind operating before you open your mouth or start writing.”
When I call VAC for service now, I am referred to four different offices, none of them in Kelowna. When we moved to Westbank in 1999, we had a top-rated lady who made house calls.
Experience in the business field for over 37 years would suggest you have to make difficult changes—during the 1980-81 recession our company closed eight distribution warehouses out of 30. VAC must have detailed numbers of veterans by area with their pensioned needs and with Kelowna’s growth it must be considered as one that would be considered.
Fred Price,
Kelowna
