The government found $63 billion for defence procurement and $40 billion for Arctic hardware, yet veterans’ case backlogs and benefit wait times remain the quiet constant of Canadian military policy. The pattern is unmistakable: it is easier to buy a platform than to keep a promise to a person.
Veterans Affairs runs on the same announcement logic as the rest of the file — new initiatives launched, old backlogs untouched. The people who carried the operational risk of the previous two decades carry the administrative risk of this one, waiting months for decisions that should take weeks.
A military that cannot take care of its wounded is recruiting its next generation with one hand behind its back. In a moment when the government asks Canadians to believe in defence, the treatment of veterans is the most credible signal of what that belief is worth.
The Point: A government that finds billions for hardware and patience for veterans has its priorities in the wrong order. The first duty of a defence policy is to the people who served.