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Sent as a letter individually to the leaders of the other three parties in the Canadian House of Commons...
Dear Minister,
It was with great displeasure that I read in the news of the current government's assertion, in response to a lawsuit brought by the Equitas Society as a challenge to the New Veteran's Charter (S.C. 2011, c. 12), that Canada has no "social contract" with those who have served in our military. This is particularly regretful considering the systemic loss of recent veterans to suicide -- such as Sylvain Lelièvre last December, and Alain Lacasse this week. While I am certainly strongly against the (neo-)Conservatives' ongoing attempts to rewrite Canada's history in military and colonial terms, I cannot be anything but completely supportive of those who have served in our military (whether I agree with the mission(s) they participated in or not). To that end, might I inquire what a Liberal/Green Party/NDP government's approach to our veterans would be? Toward modifying the New Veteran's Charter? Toward a lawsuit such as we are seeing today?
While the current government insists that the words of Prime Minister Robert Borden were merely political expediency, I grew up (born in 1965) in a Canadian society that was permeated with the message that we must honour, respect, and care for our country's veterans. While I have never served in the military (my grandfather was British but served with the Canadian military during WWII before emigrating to Canada with his brother), I personally feel that such a "social contract" is critical for a functioning democracy. In particular, it places a heavy burden on us (financial and otherwise) for military involvement, and is a powerful check on casual military adventurism by our civilian, elected, leadership. To be clear, I personally subscribe to the argument that Canada's constitution is primarily an unwritten one, and that traditions play a critical role in the past and future success of the Canadian experiment. The assertion that long-standing assumptions about the responsibilities of the government, and Canada as a whole -- made many decades ago and operating unchallenged until now -- are not applicable or binding, is to me a direct attack on the fundamental nature of Canada's historic and ever-changing constitution and the ongoing viability of our democracy.
Yours sincerely,
Phelonius Friar
Ottawa, Ontario
See, for background, for example...
Veterans don't have social contract, Ottawa says in lawsuit response
(March, 2014) Alain Lacasse, military corporal, found dead in his home
(December, 2013) Canadian soldier’s apparent suicide would be 4th in days
(November, 2013) 3 Canadian veterans from Afghan war found dead in a week
Dear Minister,
It was with great displeasure that I read in the news of the current government's assertion, in response to a lawsuit brought by the Equitas Society as a challenge to the New Veteran's Charter (S.C. 2011, c. 12), that Canada has no "social contract" with those who have served in our military. This is particularly regretful considering the systemic loss of recent veterans to suicide -- such as Sylvain Lelièvre last December, and Alain Lacasse this week. While I am certainly strongly against the (neo-)Conservatives' ongoing attempts to rewrite Canada's history in military and colonial terms, I cannot be anything but completely supportive of those who have served in our military (whether I agree with the mission(s) they participated in or not). To that end, might I inquire what a Liberal/Green Party/NDP government's approach to our veterans would be? Toward modifying the New Veteran's Charter? Toward a lawsuit such as we are seeing today?
While the current government insists that the words of Prime Minister Robert Borden were merely political expediency, I grew up (born in 1965) in a Canadian society that was permeated with the message that we must honour, respect, and care for our country's veterans. While I have never served in the military (my grandfather was British but served with the Canadian military during WWII before emigrating to Canada with his brother), I personally feel that such a "social contract" is critical for a functioning democracy. In particular, it places a heavy burden on us (financial and otherwise) for military involvement, and is a powerful check on casual military adventurism by our civilian, elected, leadership. To be clear, I personally subscribe to the argument that Canada's constitution is primarily an unwritten one, and that traditions play a critical role in the past and future success of the Canadian experiment. The assertion that long-standing assumptions about the responsibilities of the government, and Canada as a whole -- made many decades ago and operating unchallenged until now -- are not applicable or binding, is to me a direct attack on the fundamental nature of Canada's historic and ever-changing constitution and the ongoing viability of our democracy.
Yours sincerely,
Phelonius Friar
Ottawa, Ontario
See, for background, for example...
Veterans don't have social contract, Ottawa says in lawsuit response
(March, 2014) Alain Lacasse, military corporal, found dead in his home
(December, 2013) Canadian soldier’s apparent suicide would be 4th in days
(November, 2013) 3 Canadian veterans from Afghan war found dead in a week
