Politics This Morning: Canada remembers
Today is Remembrance Day in Canada; a time when citizens honour Canadian soldiers, both past and present, for their service to the country and their contributions to global peace and security. According to Veterans Affairs Canada, more than 2.3 million Canadians have served in the Canadian military, and more than 118,000 have died as a […]
Remembering the living, not just the dead
OTTAWA—Honouring Canada’s fallen in war has been increasingly widespread. Honouring the living with dignity has often been a struggle, especially for government. Paying injured veterans one-time lump sums for pain and suffering is neither dignified nor honoured remembrance. As World War I British poet Laurence Binyon writes, those who “shall grow not old, as we […]
Veterans’ file on track, it’s a four-year mandate
The October 2016 Maclean’s magazine cover story was titled “Trudeau’s Unfinished Business.” In the article, the author opines that, after one year in office, the government has not fulfilled many of its campaign promises. This may statistically be true, but before launching such criticisms, one must remember that it is a four-year mandate. There is still […]
Why I want this veteran-led disaster response team to grow in Canada
On Jan. 12, 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. As many as hundreds of thousands were killed and nearly one million Haitians instantly became homeless. United States marines William McNulty and Jake Wood determined that they could provide help, and Team Rubicon was born. That first mission to Haiti consisted of a small group of […]
Big gap between Liberal rhetoric and action on veterans issues
Veterans and Canadians better stop holding their breath. Minister of Veterans Affairs Kent Hehr is way behind schedule and doesn’t have the oomph to fulfill his mandate letter. Ultimately, Prime Minister Trudeau and the Liberal government will be charged and condemned for this bungling of veterans’ issues. When broken down, Minister Hehr’s mandate letter listed […]
Ottawa’s war to silence veterans
OTTAWA—The federal government is holding yet another stakeholder summit on Oct. 5-6 in Gatineau, Que. Veterans Affairs Canada claims such “engagement” fulfills requirements to consult with stakeholders. In reality, summits like other government tactics over the past decade, are geared towards corralling and silencing veterans while sidestepping a wider public discourse on veterans’ issues. True stakeholder […]
Ottawa gives veterans the indexation finger
OTTAWA—What the Liberals give, bureaucrats can take away. On Oct. 1, Liberal campaign promises to improve the lives of veterans begin to take effect. All that flashy political and bureaucratic rhetoric, however, has a dark underbelly. These changes claim to “greatly improve income support to disabled veterans.” The banner revision increases income replacement for injured soldiers […]
Politics this morning: Justin Trudeau to meet with Chinese president, premier
Today is Wednesday, August 31. *A special note to our subscribers: today’s edition of The Hill Times is in online and pdf format only. There is no print edition, but you can still count on full coverage of all the usual insider news, global developments, and opinion pieces on our website, www.hilltimes.com or in the […]
I was pleased to lead Canadian delegation to Beaumont-Hamel: Hehr
One hundred years ago, on July 1, 1916, far away from home on a battlefield in France, more than 800 sons of Newfoundland advanced through machine gun and artillery fire against incredible odds in defence of their king and country. Only 68 stood for roll call the next day. Seldom else have one people given […]
Politics this morning: Wilson-Raybould to appear before House Committee on Justice and Human Rights
Today is Thursday, August 11. Here’s what’s on the political agenda today: Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould will appear today before the House Committee on Justice and Human Rights which is looking at the new process for nominating Supreme Court Justices. The new protocol, announced on August 2, extends the application process to […]
