PM Harper in Vaughan last night

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 14, 2014
Adam Martin-Robbins

Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Vaughan last night to speak to Conservative party members at an annual barbecue for GTA Tories.

The event, hosted by the Vaughan Woodbridge Electoral District Association, took place at Ignacy Jan Paderewski Park, 9700 Hwy. 27.

Harper was expected to speak at around 7 p.m.

His visit to Vaughan followed media reports that veterans across Canada are organizing a campaign to oppose the Conservatives during next year’s election.

The campaign was touched off by a meeting in Ottawa, back in January, between Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, who is also MP for Vaughan, and a group of veterans that turned sour.

The focus of the meeting was the government’s plan to close several Veterans Affairs Canada regional offices.

Fantino arrived more than an hour late, scolded one of the veterans for pointing a finger at him then argued with others before growing visibly frustrated and walking out.

Many veterans are also enraged about the New Veterans Charter, introduced in 2006, which changed financial benefits available for those seriously injured disabled during battle from lifetime support to a lump-sum payment.

Critics argue that it leaves vets and their families without adequate compensation and puts their financial security at risk.