War vets group sets sights on Fantino's Vaughan-Woodbridge riding

YorkRegion.com
Oct. 9, 2015
By Adam Martin-Robbins

A group of Canadian war veterans hoping to end the Tories decade-long reign in Ottawa has set its sights on blocking Conservative incumbent and former Veterans Affairs minister Julian Fantino’s bid for re-election.

Late last month, the national group dubbed Anyone But Conservatives (ABC) began circulating an online leaflet with a photo of Fantino and Conservative leader Stephen Harper, snapped during a campaign stop in Vaughan.

Above the picture are the words 'Worst Veterans Affairs Minister embraced by Harper TODAY. Fantino ready for second chance? Not on our watch.'

It also quotes from a Vaughan Citizen editorial, published in Jan. 6, calling for Fantino to resign from politics, following a series of controversies during his tenure.

At the bottom, it says: Locals don't want him Neither do veterans!

“I don’t think that Mr. Fantino is an appropriate person to have as a member of parliament, regardless of what portfolio he’s given,” Ron Clarke, a founding member of the veterans’ ABC campaign, said when asked why Fantino is being targeted.

“I think his career as a policeman has molded his mind and his methods into a pattern, which is not acceptable to veterans.”

Clarke was among a small group of veterans who travelled to Ottawa in early 2014 to press Fantino about the government’s decision to shutter several Veterans Affairs offices across the country.

Fantino arrived more than an hour late to the now infamous meeting then left abruptly following a few fiery exchanges.

Fantino later apologized, but Clarke says by that point he felt the former top cop had to go.

Clarke and his fellow veterans launched their campaign to stop the Conservatives from being re-elected in August.

On Thursday, they kicked off the second phase of their anti-Tory campaign, which will see them ramp up their efforts ahead of voting day Oct. 19.

And that could see ABC campaign supporters descend on Vaughan-Woodbridge in the very near future.

“We’re going to have a look at the ridings that are very close and we may be visiting those ridings to shore up the opposition against the Conservative Party,” Clarke said.

That news came the day after a Conservative candidate in Thunder Bay-Rainy River reportedly apologized to veterans during a debate for the way her party has treated them.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River Tory candidate Moe Comuzzi, according to an article in the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal, said:

“It was unacceptable (the way) they treated local veterans. More dialogue and communication needed to be had. We are very deeply sorry. That apology was removing (former veterans affairs minister Julian Fantino). On behalf of my government, I am truly sorry for what happened.”

Fantino’s tenure at Veterans Affairs began in July 2013 and he soon found himself in a standoff with Canada’s injured war veterans over their disability pensions.

That was followed by the tense meeting over the closing of Veterans Affairs offices.

Months later, Fantino was spotted by the media in Ottawa reportedly snubbing the spouse of a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. Fantino said afterwards he didn't see her.

She’d come to confront him about why his ministry boosted its advertising budget by $4 million for ad campaign about its efforts to help vets transition into civilian life while many veterans and their families were struggling to get the help they needed.

Then came revelations that his department allowed more than $1 billion of its budget to lapse and return to the federal treasury since 2006.

Following outcry by veterans and the media, he was shuffled out of Veterans Affairs in early January and wound up as associate minister of national defence, a post he’d held previously.

Fantino did not directly address the campaign by the veteran’s against him or the Tory candidate’s comments when asked for comment by The Vaughan Citizen.

"I am extremely proud of my time at Veterans Affairs where I championed the improvement of benefits and services that are provided to Veterans and their families, as well as delivering substantial government funding to my local Legion for critical upgrades,” he said in an emailed statement.

“During this campaign, my priorities for Vaughan-Woodbridge continue to be low taxes for our seniors, families, and local businesses, safe streets, and robust investments in local infrastructure.”

Vaughan-Woodbridge Liberal candidate Francesco Sorbara issued a statement of his own Thursday.

“Even Conservative candidates think Julian Fantino and Stephen Harper have disrespected and mistreated our veterans. It’s another illustration that after 10 failed years, it’s time for Harper to go,” he said. “On Mr. Fantino’s watch, service centres for veterans have been closed, $1.13 billion in essential service funding has gone unspent, nearly a thousand jobs across the Veterans Affairs department have been cut, and many veterans have been left waiting up to eight months for urgently needed mental health care.”