Today is the last post for eight regional Veterans Affairs offices.
The decision by the Harper Government to shut down the services for our nation’s ex-soldiers is at the centre of a political storm on Parliament Hill.
Bob Cassels is President of the Ontario command of the Army, Navy and Air Force veterans association.
He says they have worked with the Royal Canadian Legion to pressure Veterans Affairs for the last year-and-a-half to keep these offices open but have been stone walled.
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Cassels says sending aging veterans to Service Canada locations will only increase their hardships and decrease the quality of service.
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Veterans groups are calling for the minister responsible to resign.
Julian Fantino has refused to reverse the Harper Government’s decision and he outraged our nation’s ex-soldiers on Tuesday when he arrived 70 minutes late to a meeting on Parliament Hill with veterans and then walked out after a tense exchange.
Cassels says there needs to be some accountability for what happened earlier this week.
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Rallies will be held today outside most of the Veterans Affairs offices slated for closure.
Cassels says they are going to keep fighting until veterans get the treatment they deserve from the Harper Government.
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The Veterans Affairs offices will close their doors permanently by the end of today and 90 case workers will be terminated.
