by Judi McLeod
June 3, 2004
Sad that it was only after public outcry changed the tides that the Canadian Liberal government agreed to subsidize World War II veterans travelling to Normandy for D-Day commemorations. But that won’t stop Prime Minister Paul Martin and Canadian dignitaries like Governor-general adrienne Clarkson and her husband John Ralston Saul from making the trip. The federal election campaign is in full swing and the photo ops too tempting to pass up.
Roughly one-quarter of the 80,000 Canadians who participated in D-Day 60 years ago, now in their 80s and 90s, are still alive.
Before public outrage and an election call, the Liberals had grounded most vets who wanted to be in Normandy to mark the world-famous 1944 invasion, saying they would be picking up the costs for only 60.
Until angry letters to the editor poured in, courageous vets eager to make the trip had their hopes dashed. They said it was the well-known Liberal government excesses in other areas that made the decision to keep so many vets homebound this D-Day such a bitter pill to swallow.
It’s unfortunate that as far as the United Nations-fawning Ottawa is concerned, all things military have become passe.
But while the arrogant Canadian government may have assumed all the nation’s World War II veterans, now in their dotage would be too feeble to stand up to them, vets like Ernie Bovey, 79, began speaking out loudly and clearly.
The eyes of the Gananoque, Ont. resident weren’t too old to read about Governor-general adrienne Clarkson’s "circumpolar" trip in the newspapers. "Veteran affairs could have sent three times as many veterans to Normandy for a fraction of the price of Clarkson’s junket," Bovey told the Toronto Star.
The governor-general’s trip cost Canadians $5.3 million.
Originally, Veterans affairs spokeswoman Janice Summerby only professed sympathy for the vets who would have been left at home on June 6.
Like a mother telling a pre-teen she was too young to go to the prom, Summerby said the vets could watch Normandy ceremonies on television: "Hopefully, there will be events in Canada (veterans) can participate in," she said. "Or they can enjoy the overseas ceremonies on the television."
Trying to ground our vets on the 60th anniversary of D-Day is just the latest sign of the Canadian government’s callous attitude to our war vets. How many Canadian vets will be around to celebrate D-Day anniversary 65?
Many veterans returning from World War II, where they so valiantly fought for our freedom, spent long years fighting Ottawa for their pensions. The hardship the government puts the veterans’ widows through up to the present day, is heartrending.
Ottawa turned a deaf ear when warned four years ago about the danger to Canadian Boer War graves and chose to do nothing. Despite the red flag raised by the Royal Canadian Legion, more than 100 of the Canadian graves were subsequently damaged or ransacked.
"We had approached the federal government some four years ago to ensure that these graves were being taken care of," Bob Butt, a spokesman for the Legion in Ottawa complained. "We were under the impression that they were being maintained, but obviously they were not."
Veterans affairs Canada officials claimed that they had no idea that war graves in South african had been looted. Officials said they were shocked by photos obtained by the National Post showing damage to the graves of some of the more than 300 Canadian soldiers who died in the 1899-1902 war.
It now turns out that it wasn’t just the Legion flagging the government about the vulnerability of the war graves. a Boer War researcher and former battlefield tour guide in South africa said he also warned Veterans affairs about the state of the graves.
as the veterans flock to Normandy, in Canada respect for those who fought to win our freedom has come down to political lip service.
Increasingly, our vets are turfed off the properties of Canadian businesses when they are willing to stand outside in any weather to sell Remembrance Day poppies.
The same politicians who display such callous attitudes hypocritically lay wreaths at memorials on November 11, and are seen each year sporting lapel poppies on national television.
and now the politicians will be in Normandy.
But the memories of June 6, 1944 will keep the 60th anniversary of D-Day the Day of the Veterans of World War II. Nothing could ever stand in the way of that.
If only June 6, 2004 could change the politicians and bring a stop to the tragic chapter that records the aging and ailing vets of World War II going to their graves without the appreciation of Ottawa.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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