WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED A LITTLE MORE TIME..

which in fact described Vimy 100 as a rousing success.

“Despite the challenges” of high security and running events in a foreign country, “all events ran on time, on budget and virtually without incident,” that report says. The report was obtained through access to information.

There’s no mention in the report of the crowds that were pushed against metal barriers, of the lack of toilets, food and drinking water, or of stranded Canadians shouting curses at VIPs who drove past them, waving. Many of them wrote letters in April to complain about their treatment.

Instead, the report says the Vimy 100 events brought “broad and enduring Canadian and international acclaim. The program provided a safe and secure opportunity they did complain.

“I think it is pretty clear that thousands of Canadians had a negative experience, including my family,” Ted Hsu of Kingston wrote to this newspaper. He is the former Liberal MP for Kingston and the Islands

“While I do not blame the government for things that don’t work out at a once-ina-lifetime event in a far-away place, I do think they should have acknowledged the substantial problems and made an immediate apology by email (they had the emails of the ticket holders).

“I believe people would have, by and large, understood. This was not done. It’s a good thing we have elected officials to write to.”

Another visitor, Nancy Ruddell, wrote Tuesday that officials seemed uncaring. “I felt there was little concern for the 25,000 spectators at Vimy on April 9. We were herded like cattle and kept far away from the Monument, which made it impossible to see the speakers and singers. I felt we were used by the organizers to make it look good for the TV broadcast.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan, who was not the minister last April, said Tuesday the department should be admired for taking on an ambitious project. “I commend these guys for thinking big,” he said. “It’s very important that we learn a lesson from this for when we plan for future events. There’s no question about it. … We learned. We have to learn.”

Asked whether there will be more toilets at the next event, he said: “We have to learn, no question about it.”

Irene Mathyssen, the NDP critic, suggested “giving the staff of Veterans Affairs more support, because they are excellent and they do commemoration very well. They are dedicated and they truly care about the veterans.” She said staff are overly busy because the department “piles one benefit on top of another benefit and has people running around trying to make sense of it.”

Conservative critic Phil McColeman said the bureaucracy “is not customer-centric.” He said public servants “are worrying about administrative issues rather than the people who they are there to serve. It is sad to read these stories but it’s not surprising … The bureaucracy over long periods have become so entrenched and so concerned about processes and frankly themselves, that they have lost touch in many ways.”