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 […]
Politics this morning: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, and National Peacekeepers Day
Today is Tuesday, August 9. Today is both the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which was created by the United Nations in 1994 to promote the human rights of global indigenous groups, and is also National Peacekeepers Day. Fittingly, National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan heads to Africa today, for a week-long trip that will see […]
People of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve an apology: Winter
The battle of Beaumont Hamel in France on July 1, 1916, was a battle fought by the “Newfoundland” regiment and has nothing whatsoever to do with Canada. In 1949, when our province joined Canada, all five of the Newfoundland and Labrador military remembrance sites in Europe were passed over to the Canadian Department of Veterans Affairs […]
What do we do with returning foreign fighters?
OTTAWA—There is little doubt that the Islamic State is under tremendous pressure in Iraq and Syria. Kinetic action carried out by airstrikes and ground forces have whittled away at the group and the same time the group’s sources of financing are being targeted. The size of its so-called “caliphate” is smaller than it was and […]
Why Canada needs to pry open the doors of the legion’s headquarters
The national leadership of the Royal Canadian Legion faces a crisis in confidence with its membership along with Canada’s veterans. All Canadians should be concerned with this, given the legion’s responsibility for the poppy symbol and the millions donated as a result. The legion once actively and assertively advocated for the rights of veterans and […]
