Question Period Alupa Clarke , Cathy Wagantall , Erin O'Toole Tackle Kent Hehr

ya pinger ya would think it wouldn't bother us all we should be use to it politicians seem to develop that political answer skill . you know answering a question WITHOUT even answering the question . thing is when the issue is important and thus the question those type of answers still pee us off to no end .

as for the poll I think its a good idea and would like to start one I'm just not shure of the choice breakdown . we have a limited number of choices 10 and we have to cover over a 3 year period .

any ideas ???

propat

Things were running fairly smooth pre 2006, no one will argue that there were of course some advocating to better the old act, but once the NVC came into force, and the tax free lifelong pension was replaced with the lump sum disability award, that in itself is why we find ourselves in the mess were in today. So until we see this reversed, the problem will continue to exist.

propat, you wrote earlier... " it interesting and fun to predict when hehr is going to get axed but in the end a change will only result in a change of face "

You got that right buds. Say for instance the Karen McCrimmon you mention teen.
The face may change, but anything else will still be the slow slog we know.

Now I'm a cautious optimist but hey, look at the last 20 years of our file, who was on it and what was accomplished?

Here's the slick that co-incides... " You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time. "

I mentioned the penny pool because I'm peeved off at the MVA because what he says (JT included) and what happens. How they use wordplay and avoid yes or no questions.

Accentuating the positive and mitigating the negative meets politics? Peeves me off to no end!!!
Then again, we each have our own perception and reality...

ya hmmm well hehr can say no to anyone all he wants if JT says it will happen then its going to happen . didn't like fantino but understood he was handcuffed . thought o tool was better but still handcuffed . ya think hehr isn't ???? of course he is so will the next one .

I suppose ya can throw eggs at the MVA wall designed to keep the PM clean in hopes something will stick . or maybe just maybe throw all those eggs OVER the wall at the same time and perhaps run up JT's dry cleaning bill.

propat

I would say Rifleman makes a good point, Ministers of Veterans Affairs have been moved, replaced and at the end of the day we are no further ahead. Whether the Minister is a lawyer, a Veteran, or just your average MP to me means nothing. What means something to me is a Minister who is up front with Veterans in a way that is honest, direct, and to the point. Someone who is willing to learn our file inside and out, someone who is not afraid to say no to the bureaucrats.
Here are a few examples, Why not come out and admit the true difference between the PA and the NVC, they all dance around this particular issue and the only thing that accomplishes is more anger, and more disconnects between Veterans and the government.
The promise of the 15% ELB increase is another example of and MVA who is playing the political game with it's Veterans, our MVA should have stood up when the base minimum was lowered and said no! The promise was to increase this for all ELB Veterans at 15%, not just for some! Another example is the disability award retro, the MVA should have come out with solid examples of the formula used so Veterans would know what to expect. The lifelong pension and his magic wand, he keeps saying their working on it but for all we know this could come out 6 Months prior to the next election, and a failed lifelong pension at that. I have said this many times before, the only way to properly address the NVC is to bring back a tax free lifelong pension that reflects the old pension act, nobody, no MVA wants to go there, therefore the problem will continue for many years to come, and no MVA will ever be able to fully be known as the MVA that won the hearts of Veterans continuing with this mindset.

In the meantime with regards to Kent, he is fine just the way he is handling things in the eyes of the PM, the Camp Hill issue has been solved, the Equitas lawsuit was a broken promise by our PM, not Kent, Kent has 15 promises to fulfill in his mandate letter, that's what counts in the eyes of the PM, it does not matter if some or all of the promises are half measured or bogus, the only thing that really matters is that the 15 promises are implemented. At the present time I think our MVA is sitting quite well in the eyes of our PM. Again, I think the only way our PM will consider moving or replacing our MVA is if public protest becomes to much of a liability for the party to handle whereas it will leave the PM with no other choice but to move him out.

oh full disclosure when he was saying stuff like this is complicated and would take time a small part of a letter I sent to him a polite one I might add did include something like " if you don't understand the legislation and don't feel you will be able to the best thing you could do for vets is step aside to allow someone more capable to carry on with this important work vets would respect you for this and very much appreciate it I know I would" or something very close to that .

now I wasn't calling for his resignation I belive just asking him to take stalk of his skills and make a decision that's all.

propat

well teen ya maybe he did push them maybe he was just the newer friendlier face for them .

either way the benefits were fantinos babies at least as far as the MVA is concerned but ultimately harpers . as short sighted as those benefits were I belive otool did do all he could do for vets the big problem is the same problem hehr has . he couldn't do much .

we all know why these guys dance around the main issue and nibble around the edges . its because the PM doesn't want the PA pension back. maybe all the MVAs have wanted it back maybe not its hard to say but its moot anyway because what they want really doesn't matter unless the PM wants it as well .

it interesting and fun to predict when hehr is going to get axed but in the end a change will only result in a change of face and at best things running smother as they carry on getting little done .

I for one wouldn't even bother calling for hehr,s resignation for those reasons , I mean whats the point ?

call for JT,s resignation I say because he is the root of the problem after all .

propat

No Erin O'Toole is a veteran.

Politics aside he got the abeyance in the Equitas suit. Removed the aggressive DoJ lawyer with a lawyer who is a veteran.

He also pushed the new benefits at the end because of the Ombudsman's acctuarial on benefits. And I know they are not liked by everyone but the benefits that were put into place are for NVC vets and was in compliance with the Equitas lawsuit.

Like I said politics aside he did what he could for the vets. So let's hope Karen McCrimmon is the next MVA.

So it's been 30 years since we had a veteran as MVA. It's certainly time to go that route again.

Yes we did Bruce. George Hees, MVA 1984 - 1988.

jmo but he was a good guy even if he was under mulroney.

I'm curious. Has VAC ever had a veteran at the helm? Could it create a conflict of interest if we did have a veteran as MVA?

Personally, I don't think it would, but what does the GoC think of it?

Lot's of really good posts.

propat, I'm bumping up my timeline. Say, mid-August to early October.
I ain't being cocky, but this MVA will be bye byes sooner than later.
Short of 2 things very relevant that you mentioned in the mix Bigrex.

The Equitas lawsuit and lifelong pensions.

Got a feeling those 2 items are going to be drawn out longer than Christmas.

Pray tell even if the GoC were to bring back OLD pa lifelong pensions,
JT and Kent Hehr would not be my second coming of Christ to begin with.
KH is just a few notches better than fantino was in my opinion.

MVA's?  Next please...

ya bigrex I here ya and possible but I'm thinking that was done for a reason and the new MVA will fill that role as well . besides cabinet shuffles are easy for these guys as changing socks so to them not that big a deal . plus they may just create a new post for him more suited to his abilities like minister of snap chat affairs or something .

propat

Far as I'm concerned they all can eat bat shyte of cave walls. So far they have changed the MVA position numerous times and nothing really has changed false promises false hope and they continue to blow smoke up are asses nothing going to change until we get somebody in that position who really cares about vetrans who that is I have no fracking clue jmo

yes teen I agree I hope she is next best choice out there in my opinion . a vet in the position would be great though initially a disabled lawyer might have some advantages in the short term but that sure the frack didn't pan out AT ALL .

propat