Canadian Politics Redux

Meltdown99 said:

Any PM that looks at a wounded vet with one leg and says "you are asking too much". is a POS to the highest order.  Here is hoping for a Sheer minority government in 2019.  Time to rid the political landscape of PM Mr. Dressup, Mr. People, and look at me fellow world leaders, "come and look at my socks".

oftenreading said:

Meltdown99 said:

Any PM that looks at a wounded vet with one leg and says "you are asking too much". is a POS to the highest order.  Here is hoping for a Sheer minority government in 2019.  Time to rid the political landscape of PM Mr. Dressup, Mr. People, and look at me fellow world leaders, "come and look at my socks".

You keep presenting this phrase (incorrectly) without any context, like some homeless veteran came up to him on the street and Trudeau kicked him away with a personal comment directed at him. The actual context is that the question came in a town hall meeting, during which a veteran asked why the feds are fighting some veteran's groups in court. 

"Why are we still fighting certain veterans groups in court? Because they're asking for more than we are able to give right now," Trudeau said, answering a question from a veteran, who said he lost his leg to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, during a town hall meeting on Thursday evening in Edmonton.

Some people booed that answer, forcing Trudeau to calm the crowd. 

"You are asking for honest answers," he said to the crowd at MacEwan University Sport and Wellness. "The old Veterans' Charter involved lump-sum payments and very little in the way of services."

A veterans' group said earlier this week it is taking its fight over recent changes to the pension system to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Before the old lifetime pension was eliminated in favour of a lump sum payment, veterans could have received up to $2,700 per month for pain and suffering. Under the restored pension plan the Liberal government introduced, the maximum a wounded soldier would ever see is $1,150 per month.

"I have pledged, and I did pledge and I will continue to pledge that I will do right by you," Trudeau said. "The changes that we've made to our support for veterans are based around recognizing where we went wrong before."

Trudeau said his government's monthly pension amount is lower because it takes into account the cost of services offered by the federal government, including post-traumatic-stress treatment and psychological care, support for caregivers and family members who look after wounded veterans and job training for those who can still get back into the job market.

The Liberals also are introducing another tax-free pain and suffering award on top of the existing one - either a lump sum or pension that would give wounded veterans up to $1,500 per month, depending on their level of disability.

I don't know all the details of what was being offered then vs. what was being asked for by the veterans, but I think that any unbiased observer would agree that there has to be an upper limit to what is offered. "Asking for more than we can afford" is a pretty common reply in any negotiation.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-town-hall-edmonton-1.4515822