Fix broken charter

Contributed - Jan 6, 2018

We need to fix what we as a country have broken stated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his year end conversation with Lisa Laflamme.

How I as a veteran agree with his statement. We need to fix the “new Veterans Charter” which the Liberals have broken, continued with the Conservatives for 10 years and to date have band aided with the latest release by the Minister of Veteran Affairs. The question we veterans have asked for years, to fix the veterans charter the way veterans want and need. The Pension Act which all other Canadians enjoy and by the PM's statement to fix what we as a country have broken needs action.

Need is not greed as some think by the attempt by this government to bamboozle Canadian citizens with your latest so called lifelong pension dealing with approx 12% of injured veterans. It is not a life long pension. The present award average is approx 42,000, how would you as PM and the Minister divide this amount into a life long pension?

Dale Dirk

Our military establishment

Contributed - Jan 4, 2018

With our little country being a dwarf among the huge countries, examples are China, USA and Russia, where should our military priorities lay? Should we not spend wisely?

We can learn from the little country of Switzerland since being neutral and secure within itself seems to be the most frugal way. Every Swiss man has an obligation to the nation to belong to the military, have an army kit at home and spend two weeks in a military exercise each year until he retires. Their military aim is for home defense not involving themselves in other countries’ politics or taking out their leaders to obtain their oil or resources as do other countries. Many of their tools for the military is purchase/made at home.

Why did we spend $30 billion of Canada's funds in Afghanistan and to what end? We purchased most of the supplies from offshore and paid high dollars for them. We lost many young men both killed, wounded and mental illness from that exercise. Now our government will not acknowledges the soldiers’ illness from attending to this folly.

If Russia did nine years of pure hell fire in Afghanistan and could not subject the Afghanistan citizens to their will, why would the USA and their friends such as Canada and others, think in their little head that 14 more years of hell fire and brimstone would change anything in Afghanistan?

It is time to rethink Canada’s place in the world, neutral and stay home to polish the old gun. Spend our funds at home not at other stores.

Jorgen Hansen

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-215383-10-.htm