Thursday, November 20, 2014

Julian Fantino and the Royal Conadian Choir



When I heard the news that Julian Fantino had met with a group of veterans in an apparent effort to rebuild all those bridges he has blown up in the last few years, I was suitably impressed.

Until I found out the meeting was at the Citadel in Quebec City, not Ottawa as is usually the case. So he could get as far away from the Parliamentary media as possible, short of heading for Tuktoyaktuk.

Or Stephen Harper's closet.

And that veterans who weren't prepared to join the choir and sing along with him, weren't invited. 




When Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino sits down with several veterans organizations in Quebec City’s historic Citadel on Wednesday, there will be some groups on the outside looking in.

Fantino’s department has snubbed groups who’ve loudly criticized the Conservatives’ implementation of the contentious New Veterans’ Charter, freezing them out of an annual stakeholders’ meeting, which they’d previously attended.


They had been frozen out by Fantino and his flunkies, AND the Royal Canadian Legion.

“What’s interesting is the same groups that aren’t invited to the legion one are the same ones that aren’t invited to the minister’s one, which shows a degree of collusion between the legion dominion command and the minister’s office, which is disturbing to say the least,” said retired air force captain Sean Bruyea, a blogger and veterans’ advocate.

Which as I pointed out yesterday, is also known by some these days as the Royal CONadian Legion.

But if the Great Fantini was hoping this cozy meeting would help rebuild bridges or repair his tattered image he was sadly mistaken. 

For no sooner had the meeting ended than he was hit by this Con seeking missile. 

Veterans Affairs Canada has returned $1.13 billion to the federal treasury in unspent funds since the Conservatives came to power in 2006 — cash that critics say should have gone towards improved benefits and services.

Can you believe it? While veterans suffered, and soldiers suffering from PTSD killed themselves...



Those grubby Cons have been balancing the budget on their backs.

So they can use that stash of cash to BRIBE voters.

"The deputy ministers ... have obviously been told by the higher-ups that, 'This money has to come back to us in order for us to have our books balanced, and that way we can use that money for other purposes, like income-splitting."'

And try to BUY the next election.

Is that classy or what?

Is THAT what our soldiers died for on the beaches of Normandy?

And all I can say is so much for rebuilding those blown up bridges. So much for Julie's new image...



And so much for Stephen Harper, our would be Great Warrior Leader.

We shall use all of this against them in the next election.

And as the Royal Conadian Choir sings "Hark the Harper Angels Sing."

They'll all go down together...

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is too disgusting. The legion in my little town is made up mostly of armchair soldiers, none of whom have served in any military. There is a new war mural on their fence which I'm sure the feds paid for. The veterans in my family didn't go to the legion. If they can't support all the veterans now maybe they should be disbanded.

e.a.f. said...

Once the real vets of wars started dying off, new members of many legions were not actual war vets. Then we got real war vets again and their needs were not being met by many local legions. In the meantime the leadership of many legions became conservative in nature. That led them to not want to be seen as advocates for vets or any one else. that is what many legions forgot, their need to be advocates for vets, not just a place for cheap beer, a meat draw, or a saturday night dance. Earlier Legion leadership might have been conservative, but being conservative does not mean you can't do radical things if it is necessary.

The meetings in Quebec have provided the photo ops without any demonstrations against the Cons. Nice work and good planning on the part of the Cons Now we can look forward to the ads. Ads like: Canadian legions supports conservatives; Conservatives working hard to "make changes" for vets; complaining vets not team players; these mentally ill vets not representative of vets; then there will be all the smiling pics of the vets and the minister. those who attended had a nice vacation at tax payer expense, so were rewarded.

But the best laid plans can go astray. Had the conference and then those nasty news stations ran a tape, with the information about that billion and change going back to T,B. The ticker tape ran over and over again. It ran so frequently and for so long, it is burned into some minds. Vets, their family and friends won't forget. I'm sure that is why John Duncan has moved to the new riding on Vancouver Island. The old one, has too many vets and they do remember how that billion came to be saved.

David said...

Con MP Erin O'Toole's explanation for the unspent funds fills me with disgust.

$1 billion in unspent funds for veterans
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/Power+%26+Politics/ID/2609189286/

Point Of Order November 20, 2014
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/Power+%26+Politics/ID/2609197903/

Steve said...

Fantino is finaly in the hurt. CTV blasted him tontie and his allies at the Legion have suddenly asked a blunt question in writing. "Why have you been telling us there is no money for vets?"

David said...

Veterans' coalition announces boycott of government photo-ops
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/veterans-coalition-announces-boycott-of-government-photo-ops-1.2090588

Nov. 20: Government accused of short-changing veterans
http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=488837&playlistId=1.2112484&binId=1.810415