Seems the Harper gang can only afford to pony up $3,600 for a veteran's funeral. That's less than one third of what they can find to bury an active duty member of the forces.
The actual cost of that burial for an indigent veteran is roughly twice what the funeral home gets paid. By way of contrast, virtually every jurisdiction in Canada pays more to bury someone who never served their country but spent their life waiting for the next welfare cheque.
On the face of it this is a tragic story. Johnny Canuck signs up to serve his country. Gives the best years of his life to the military. Comes home and through some combination of bad luck and PTSD finds himself in a downward spiral.
About 1,800 of these folks are buried every year. The armchair generals who populate the Harper cabinet can't find the six million or so dollars it would take to set this right. Their attitude seems to be "ah, fuck 'em, who cares. Let the private sector look after it."
And the private sector has, to the tune of six million dollars a year. In these tough times the government just can't find the money.
But while they can't find the money for a proper burial for a veteran, they can find money for this:
- 28 million to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812
- 100 million to drop bombs on Libya
- billions for a new ship-building program
- even more billions for the F-35 fighter
For six million dollars they can make this right. That wouldn't even cover the cost of Harper's junket to India this week.
It's beyond disgraceful that a government intent on re-inventing Canada as a "warrior nation" won't even bother to treat her veterans with the dignity and respect they deserve.
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