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“It’s time for the federal Conservatives to begin treating veterans and soldiers as strong, proud, and loving Canadians who have earned our constant support, gratitude, and respect.” — NUPGE National President James Clancy
Ottawa (10 Nov. 2014) — The leader of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) says he hopes federal Conservatives’ support of a bill to make Remembrance Day a national statutory holiday will be more than an isolated gesture.
The federal Conservatives have a record of disrespecting our veterans
“Declaring a national day of commemoration is the right thing to do,” says NUPGE National President James Clancy. “But honouring our veterans and soldiers on just one day of the year is not good enough. The federal Conservatives must commit to honouring them on the other 364 days of the year, too.”
Clancy points out the Conservatives’ record with soldiers and veterans:
- Cutting almost a quarter of a billion dollars from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs
- Cutting veterans’ disability benefits by between 30 and 90 per cent
- Deciding to tax veterans’ pension benefits, and cutting off those benefits at age 65
- Closing Veterans Affairs Service Centres across the country
- Ignoring medical evidence about the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and refusing to offer medical and financial support to those suffering from it
- Slandering individual veterans and veterans groups that express displeasure at the way in which they they’re treated in meetings by Conservative cabinet ministers
- Systematically violating the privacy of veterans who exercise their right to free speech
- Censoring photographs of ramp ceremonies and banning flag-lowering for individual soldiers
“It’s time for this disrespect to end,” said Clancy. “It’s time for the federal Conservatives to stop treating veterans and soldiers as mere partisan props and begin treating them as strong, proud, and loving Canadians who have earned our constant support, gratitude, and respect.”
More information:
President's Commentary: dismissal of ombudsman shows military equipment matters more than people
Canada at War - supporting our troops
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE