Rick Mercer and the Refugee Lifeline

As you know, I believe the challenge of settling thousands of Syrian refugees in this country is a gift not a burden.

A chance to show that after the darkness of the Harper years, we still remember what it means to be a Canadian.

So although the Con media is running around gleefully screaming "broken promise!!!! broken promise !!!!!"

I'm glad Justin Trudeau has decided to give us two more months to get ready to receive them. 

Remembrance Day 2015: Remembering the Dead and the Living

It's Remembrance Day 2015, and this year it will be for me like no other I have ever known. A day of sadness and celebration.

A day to mourn all those who sacrificed their lives for this country.

And a day to give thanks that this other tragedy, this other gaping wound of war, is finally going to be recognized.

Stephen Harper and the Bloody Harvest of War

As I'm sure you remember, during the early years of the war in Afghanistan there was no greater chicken hawk than Stephen Harper.

Until he realized it wasn't winning him enough votes, and he decided to cut and run.

But while he has been able to run away from a lot of things, like the state of the economy.

He can't run away from his precious war, because we're still reaping its bloody harvest.

Harper's Army and the Final Betrayal of Cpl. Stuart Langridge

I've written several posts about the tragic story of Cpl. Stuart Langridge, who killed himself seven years ago after serving his country honourably in Bosnia and Afghanistan.

I told you how the military didn't accept that he was suffering from PTSD, they didn't treat his illness, they treated him like a cheater, until he finally hanged himself.

I also told you how they kept his suicide note from his parents for over a year, even though it was addressed to them.



And how his parents finally found out earlier this year that a secret military report  had blamed him for what happened.

But this has to be the final betrayal. 

The Con Clowns Go After the Veterans Again

Oh no. Not Erin O'Toole. Not Stephen Harper's shiny tool. Again.

Why it seems like it was just yesterday that he was making an absolute fool of himself, claiming that marijuana doesn't help veterans with PTSD, and that it's dangerous.

Despite considerable evidence to the contrary.

Now he's going after veterans with PTSD again, claiming they're making misleading videos. 

The Return of Sgt. Doiron and the Betrayal of Cpl. Langridge

They brought Sgt. Andrew Doiron back to Canada today, and I was glad to see that thousands of Canadians turned out to welcome him home down the Highway of Heroes.

Once I thought that reception was too militaristic, and too American. 

But now I think it's right that we should value every life, and honour those who lose their lives in the service of Canada.

Too bad, Cpl. Stuart Langridge and his family weren't so lucky. 

Afghan Horror and the Death of Private Couture

A lot of bloggers were writing today about the latest horror story out of Afghanistan. How Stephen Harper's Cons lied to us.

And about the shit, the blood, and the boots.

I think we call this the banality of evil. I have to walk through blood and fecal material, so I need better boots. This is the road to Nuremberg, folks. And this is being done in our name. Everyone happy to sit here quietly and be a "Good Canadian"?

But I thought I'd write about a smaller but no less tragic story.

The death of Private Couture.















He was the first soldier from CFB Valcartier to be wounded in Afghanistan. So when he came back to Quebec he was a home town hero.

Even though he had lost his leg, he seemed happy, proud to have served his country, and confident that everything could still be like it once was.

"My life is not finished. I'm going to have a prosthesis," he said. "And all the things that I was doing, I'm going to do it in the future. It's not because I lost a foot that I can't do anything."

But when his optimism subsided...














And he was alone in his small town...depression set in.

"We are supposed to be somewhat invulnerable, invincible. And when you come to terms with yourself, realizing you're just a human being like everybody else, it's pretty hard to swallow knowing that all your friends will shun you and put you aside because you are sick."

And although people knew something was wrong.

In his home town of Roxton Pond, neighbors said they were shocked to hear about Couture's death, although some said he appeared to be having a hard time and hadn't left his home in a while.

Because he didn't ask for help...he didn't get any.

His condition should have been closely monitored because ....as I pointed out in this post.... Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can take while to develop.

But it wasn't... because as the video in that post shows... the Canadian Armed Forces don't have nearly enough resources to deal with the magnitude of the problem.

So when Heritage Minister Josée Verner says this:

.... the Canadian military offers all possible support to soldiers returning from Afghanistan."

She's either lying .....or doesn't know what she is talking about.

Which is par for the course when it comes to this crazy government....and our chickenhawk Generals. They'll say ANYTHING to please the Americans.... and put lipstick on this pig of a doomed mission.

But we deserve better. The Afghan people deserve better.

And so did Frédéric Couture...

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P.S. Suicide isn't just a problem for soldiers who have been to war...it's an epidemic.

And when Josée Verner was asked by a French reporter why our army doesn't monitor the health of our veterans she replied: "Nous ne sommes pas la police."

"We're not the police."

Which I guess says it all...