"Ottawa has no special obligation to soldiers, federal lawyers say in court filing"
By Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Federal lawyers say Ottawa has no special obligation to those who've fought wars on behalf of Canada and that it's unfair to bind the Harper government to promises made nearly a century ago by another prime minister.
The assertion is spelled out in black and white in a statement of defence filed by the Justice Department in a class-action lawsuit by Afghan veterans who claim a 2006 overhaul of benefits is discriminatory under the charter of rights.
The court papers, filed in January, were made public Tuesday, the same day Prime Minister Stephen Harper greeted the last wave of soldiers returning from the now-concluded mission in Afghanistan.
The Conservatives, who've built political capital on supporting the troops, are planning a day of commemoration for the mission, which lasted a dozen years, on May 9.
At the same time, federal lawyers argue that the lawsuit, if successful, would put disabled veterans ahead of all other Canadians in terms of their compensation and treatment by the federal government.
See the full story at: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/ottawa-no-special-obligation-soldiers-federal-lawyers-court-000342367.html
Ed. note: It is extremely interesting to note, however, that when he was sniffing around for votes, he was quite magnanimous in compensating the Oriental-Canadian voters for a decision made by John A. MacDonald (another Conservative prime minister) in the 1880s, i.e. the so-called 'head tax.'
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