Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau appeals to veterans with campaign promise

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are vowing hundreds of millions of dollars for Canada’s veterans, claiming Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have “failed” ill and injured vets.

Thestar.com
Aug. 24, 2015
By Bruce Campion-Smith

Bearing the physical wounds and mental suffering of their time in uniform, injured Canadian soldiers are finding themselves at the centre of another battleground - the ongoing election.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is pledging $300 million a year to improve benefits and support for Canada’s veterans, an election promise meant to tap a wellspring of public support for the military and exploit a Conservative weak spot.

Trudeau said that Stephen Harper had “betrayed” veterans and accused the Conservatives of “nickel and diming” ill and injured soldiers during their almost 10 years in power.

“Mr. Harper’s government has failed our veterans. Harper likes to wrap himself in the flag but he has betrayed the brave men and women who laid down their lives for it,” Trudeau said Monday morning.

“We will make right what they got so very, very wrong,” he said Monday.

The Liberal leader used a campaign stop in Belleville, Ont. - near the Trenton air force base - to unveil a package of reforms meant to address shortfalls in the current benefits provided to injured veterans.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, during a campaign stop in Belleville, Ont., on August 24, promised to restore a system of lifetime pensions for injured veterans if his party is elected in the October 19 federal election.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, during a campaign stop in Belleville, Ont., on August 24, promised to restore a system of lifetime pensions for injured veterans if his party is elected in the October 19 federal election.

Trudeau pledged to bring back lifelong pensions for injured veterans, a new education benefit, more money for the Last Post fund, which provides funding for the funerals of veterans in financial need, and act on recommendations to enhance the delivery of mental-health services.

Trudeau cited the casualties of Canada’s Afghan mission - 158 killed - and noted that the number of suicides in the armed forces has been even higher, at 170 since 2004.

“Thousands more were wounded or suffer still from post-traumatic stress disorder,” Trudeau said.

“We owe a sacred trust to veterans and their families.”

Trudeau said Harper has walked away from its obligation to veterans, citing the closing of nine regional Veterans Affairs offices and more than $1 billion that was unspent on veterans’ issues.

“Canadians know this is wrong. A government led by me would make this right,” Trudeau said.

The Liberal leader promised to reverse the Conservative cuts by reopening the regional Veterans Affairs offices and hiring 400 front-line service workers.

Trudeau said that a Liberal government would implement the changes immediately, though he didn’t explain how the new program costs would be covered. Still, he committed again to ensuring a balanced budget, but added a caveat, saying how long that might take would “depend on the size of the mess Stephen Harper has left behind.”

Trudeau made the announcement with several Liberal candidates, all of them veterans, standing behind him.

One of them was Andrew Leslie, a retired lieutenant-general who once headed the army and is now running as the Liberal candidate in Orleans. In his introductory remarks, he took aim at the Tories’ track record.

“Harper’s spin machine has spent a fortune of our tax dollars trying to convince you that everything is just fine with our veterans. But it isn’t,” Leslie said.

The Conservatives have frequently attacked the Liberals for the so-called “decade of darkness,” a time of defence cuts imposed by the Liberal governments during the 1990s.

But while the Conservatives trumpet their own support for the military, veterans’ issues have become their Achilles heel as angry veterans accuse the government of shortchanging ill and injured vets.

The issue has been a flashpoint for the Conservatives, one they’ve struggled to get a handle on as veterans have gathered on Parliament Hill in protest and angrily confronted former veterans affairs minister Julian Fantino to demand better treatment.

Yet Conservative Leader Stephen Harper denied Monday that veterans are turning away from his party.

“It’s completely the opposite. Veterans have been supporters of our party for a long time because soldiers in uniform and soldiers afterwards are always the priority of our party,” Harper said, according to a report by The Canadian Press.

“Evidently, it’s not a unanimous opinion, but I think veterans really understand this government’s support for them,” he said, during a stop in Drummondville, Que.

Still, the Liberal announcement won some early applause from veterans’ advocates who have been pressing for changes.

“I know a lot of it is good news stuff and I’m hoping the other party leaders do the same,” said Tom Eagles, dominion president with the Royal Canadian Legion.

“It’s nice to see them bringing this out to the forefront, stuff that we’ve been pushing for quite some time,” Eagles told the Star.

“We feel that veterans need it and they need it now. Families need it,” Eagles said. “The government put those people in harm’s way. They have to look after them.”

Mike Blais, of the Canadian Veterans Advocacy, said the Liberal announcement “comprehensively” addresses all the issues his group has been fighting for.

“It was the Liberal party that actually brought it forward first. Mr. Harper has had 10 years to fix this,” he said in an interview.

“I’m hopeful the NDP will come out with a strong position. I will support that equally,” said Blais, himself a former soldier who was medically released from the armed forces after suffering a back injury.

While the New Democrats have yet to make an announcement on veterans’ issues in this campaign, NDP candidate Peter Stoffer said the party endorsed a comprehensive package of reforms at their convention in 2013.

He said the Liberal plan says nothing about an inquiry into the chemical spraying at CFB Gagetown during the 1960s that exposed defence personnel to Agent Orange. And he said it didn’t address the issue of long-term health care for modern veterans.

“But I got to give them credit. They are at least talking about it,’ Stoffer said. “They missed a golden opportunity to really go forward.”