Opposing views not appreciated

A chain is only as strong as it weakest link.

Society looks after its ‘weak’ members to become strong.

Governments are elected to serve their people, not their own whims.

The point of these statements is the decision, and resulting outrage, the federal government has made not to reappoint Col. Pat Stogran its War Veterans’ Ombudsman. Alright, maybe he wasn’t doing the job government wanted, but war veterans felt he was acting responsibly on their behalf and providing a voice for them.

The people, whom he represented, felt he was doing the job that needed to be done. But obviously not the federal government.

Col. Stogran’s term as Ombudsman will be allowed to lapse this fall, with no replacement announced by Veterans Affairs Canada or Prime Minister Stephen Harper yet.

The Ombudsman claimed the federal bureaucracy thwarted his efforts on behalf of war veterans, to allow them to receive the benefits they deserve after risking their lives in a war zone and returning home with emotional and physical problems.

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn has enraged the public with his statement the size of his department will become smaller as more Second World War vets, the department’s largest group of clients, die off.

Horror stories are surfacing about veterans having to prove they contracted a disease while in the Armed Forces, not being able to have the costs covered for medical care they need and then there’s the revelation of a government clawing back pensions from veterans.

These people did the job the Canadian government asked them to do and they ended up suffering, but now the government doesn’t want anything to do with them – throw them away on a junk heap!

Col. Stogran is not the only individual to be disposed of by this federal government – former military police complaints commission Peter Tinsley and ex-RCMP watchdog Paul Kennedy – were unceremoniously tossed out the door as well.

This Stephen Harper led Conservative government wants a pat on the back for each and every initiative it undertakes. Criticism, especially from its own appointees, about federal programs is not appreciated.

The motto seems to be ‘we gave you a plum of a job, now fade away into the background and keep your mouth shut!’

The Southern Gazette