In the early days of November leading up to the 11^th, we wear the red poppy on our jackets in order to honour and remember the men and women in uniform who defended, and are still defending Canadian ideals.  We remember the 117 000 Canadians who died in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean war, and all who have served and perished afterwards. The wearing of the poppy is an easy and simple task demanded of us which contrasts sharply with the ultimate sacrifice made by those they represent. We wear it lest we forget the potential evil of men, and the ultimate cost of war when diplomacy fails,  Lest we forget those who died for us. But we apathetic Canadians with our dwindling amount of poppies have forgotten the men who survived, the ideals they defended, and therefore the men who died as well.

What seems to have escaped collective memory is that not all who served have died, and many now need our help. There are many issues facing surviving Canadian Veterans today. The New Veterans Charter enacted 2006, for example, changes the amount and the method in which an injured veteran is paid once repatriated. Under the old pension system, which still applies to any veterans injured prior to 2006, the government would pay a monthly tax-free pension for life to veterans, basing the amount on the severity of injury, the marital status, and the number of children of the veteran with no importance brought to rank at the time of injury. Under the new charter however, veterans are paid one lump sum which does not take into account marital status or the number of children, and which provides more money to a higher ranking officer regardless of if his injuries are lesser or greater than his lower ranking rank and file comrade. In many cases, the lump sum equates to significantly less than a veteran would receives under the pension, and the gap widens the longer the veteran lives as shown by a study by the Globe And Mail, this at a time of inflation and economic adversity.

Furthermore, impoverished veterans today can apply to The Last Post Fund, which operates under Veterans Affairs Canada, and provides money for funerals of soldiers who cannot afford them. Disgustingly however, 67% of applications for the measly 3,600$ offer are denied as they do not meet the restrictive criteria.  For the younger veterans, things are hardly more positive.  In recent changes, the Department of National Defense has announced it is cutting jobs in psychological health and suicide prevention at a time when Canadian Forces suicides are on the rise and with already too long wait times to see a psychiatrist. Let us also remember that the Conservative government has allocated 28 million into commemorating the 200^th anniversary of the War of 1812, all the while military social programs are short on cash and our current veterans suffer. There are some veterans groups fighting the issue, and who are appealing to Defense Minister Peter Mackay, but the cuts to the mental health jobs are expected to pass. We citizens are thankful enough for these men who fought for us on land, sea, and air, when we needed them, but not enough to fight in the courts, the streets, and on the Hill now that they need us.

The phenomenon is not only seen in issues directly related to veterans’ affairs. These men and women were fighting to defend democracy and our way of life. Because of them we were permitted to have an age of peace where we welcomed diversity, had great social programs, and engaged only in peacekeeping missions. Canada was a beacon of reason and democracy that shone through the world. But now the very core values that Canadians have held at heart are being taken away, not by the violent fist of fascist armies, but by the deceiving hand of the Harper government.  The government of Canada, which Harper has rebranded as his own, is distancing itself from the peacekeeping role we once held. The current government is making cuts to social and scientific programs across the board to purchase 35 million dollars fighter jets, and to expand the prison system when the crime rate has been steadily declining. We are still engaged in Afghanistan, and out current stance against Iran is decidedly belligerent having closed our embassies doors in Tehran expelling the Iranian diplomats in September; stopping the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the tension.  Harper has prorogued parliament twice when his government was in danger. He pushes modifications to multiple laws through “Omnibus” budget bills, which are then rushed through parliament with insufficient time to debate the serious issues. Maintaining that same secrecy unfit in a democracy, the Conservatives are now pushing for a binding trade agreement with China without debate in parliament that would give Chinese investors, and potentially state owned companies, significant influence on our resources and policy making for at least 31 years under the innocent sounding FIPPA. Let the reader be reminded that China is an authoritarian regime with a terrible human rights record. We are about to give a resource hungry nation, ruled by the kind of regime we used to denounce, control of our resources so they can exploit the destructive tar sands. The government is pushing for pipelines, mining, and tar sand exploitation against all scientific advice, and reducing the scientific community in pursuit of dogma. Plus, the tar sands are to be shipped to be refined and used overseas, bringing little jobs to Canada and no energy security contrary to governmental claims.

The globally recognized Environmental Lakes Agency studies the effect of pollution on our fresh water. It has provided important data in the past, and promises to keep doing so as pollution increases, or would if the government would dole out the measly 2 million it cost to run per year. But it is not a question of cost as much as of dogma for the government has announced today the beginning of a 4 million dollar campaign to promote Canada’s environmental record, and to change public perception while simultaneously ending the ELA. Like my father always told me: “If you have to tell someone you’re nice or smart it’s because it’s not true”. This and the commercials made on behalf of the Alberta tar sands that show a smiling man working in a luscious forest instead of showing the actual devastation of the project make me wonder how such propaganda fits into a democratic society, which requires an informed citizenry to function properly.

Our fallen soldiers would be ashamed also of the image we now have on the international stage. Under the current government, Canada has walked out of the Kyoto Accord and stubbornly blocked progress at successive summits, it has lost face at the U.N by failing to acquire a seat on the security council, and has been rightfully denounced by the U.N for “excessive punitive rights and discrimination” in regards to native people and for “complicity in rights violations” in regards to torture. Harper has responded by boycotting U.N summits sending delegates to represent Canada on the world stage.  In another recent development, Harper has announced that Canada will restart selling Uranium to India, after ceasing to do so in 1976 after India tested its first nuclear weapon while not being signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. India still refuses to sign the treaty.

The very legitimacy of the current government is also in doubt with the recent exposure of the Robocall scandal. The investigation has gone no where as Harper cut the funding to Elections Canada, the main investigator, and replaced its head giving the new boss a 50,000$ boost in salary. More money was spent on an election watch team to verify the recent Ukrainian election than was spent into looking into our own seriously dubious issues. This is not to mention our flawed “first pas the post” election system, which saw the current majority government get no more than 40% of popular vote, and which violates the core democratic principle of popular rule by majority.

This is not the Canada our soldiers fought for; this is the Canada they died to prevent. The struggles of freedom and democracy are not always found in the mud of battlefields, they are equally found in the streets, the legislation halls, and most importantly in the minds of informed citizens, though they are much slower and discrete.  To honour our veterans we can’t only put 35 cents into the poppy box to ease our minds for the rest of the year. We need to fight for them, as they did for us, in solidarity to defend democracy and denounce the current injustices carried out by our government. We have the minute of silence on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day, but that minute should be followed by a righteous uproar of protest, that continues for the other 364 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes of the year.