EDITOR,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government have now put the Canadian veterans in their crosshairs in their misguided austerity drive. Tasks of Veterans Affairs are now to be handled by Service Canada. Anybody tried to get through to Service Canada on the phone? And services in local Service Canada outlets have been curtailed so that service agents can only provide information and do data entry, but cannot action anything.
The arrogance with which Julian Fantino, federal Minister for Veterans Affairs, is handling this is not a fluke. It is a common characteristic of the Harper government and its disdain for democracy and anybody who does not agree with them. As it goes, Harper first came for the unemployed, then future seniors, then natives, then unions, then CBC, then environmentalists, then scientists, and now Canadian veterans.
Harper started his political career as the "great" leader by erasing "Progressive" from the name of Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Hopefully we can stop him and end his career before he erases everything that is left progressive in the Canadian public sector.
Drago Arh
Whistler
