Invictus athletes should ‘take a knee’
It’s time to protest lack of support to veterans, writes Robert Smol.
Without a doubt, Canada’s disabled veteran athletes competing at this year’s Invictus Games in Toronto are worthy of the public’s respect and admiration. Day by day, competition after competition, this special, elite element of our disabled veteran community is living up to the motto of the games:
“I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”
Finding the will and the strength to compete, and being selected for the Games, will certainly help these individual disabled veterans on their road to personal recovery. But just how much will these gritty athletes promote the cause of the majority of disabled veterans who, because of government cuts, denied services and unkept promises, are now too broken and sick to even consider competing?
Although they likely don’t intend it, Canada’s competitors, in their public display of “power over PTSD” and “determination over disability” are inadvertently validating the recent actions of both Liberal and Conservative governments vis-à-vis disabled veterans.
Our winning veteran contingent must be ready to accept the fact that, every time they make it to the Invictus podium, they stand as the political mascots and ideological handmaids of our government and its approach to veterans.
Maybe those Canadian Invictus athletes who are no longer on active service might want to take a cue from America’s NFL (and athletes in other sports) and “take a knee” on behalf of their fellow disabled veterans the next time O Canada is played the Games. Only then might there be some serious debate and consideration of the issues affecting our demoralized veterans.
Whether our Canadian Invictus athletes like it or not, every achievement on the track, in the pool, or on the sports field is also a “win” for our prime minister, his cabinet (including his Veterans Affairs Minister) and all that they stand for.
A veteran’s disability is typically the result of that person’s service to our government; that is what qualified him or her for this competition in the first place. Assuming that Canada still has a sacred obligation to care for our disabled veterans — something our Liberal government pays lip service to — then what our athletes achieve in the course of these games is a direct celebration of the government’s actions in fulfilling its sacred obligation to veterans.
This might explain Justin Trudeau’s exuberant support for the games. A win for Canada is also a win for those who, for more than a decade, have continued to passively tolerate the regressive policies and broken promises of both Liberal and Conservative governments.
These policies include Stephen Harper’s decision in 2006 to implement the previous Liberal government’s act eliminating disability pensions for wounded service personnel. These promises include Trudeau’s stillborn 2015 election pledge to reinstate those same disability pensions and provide free post-secondary education to all veterans.
Meanwhile, veterans not on the Invictus team continue to commit suicide and suffer family breakdown. They are still denied access to veterans’ hospitals, are refused benefits, and sometimes must panhandle on the streets.
Of course, Canada’s civilian Invictus athletes, no longer subject to military law and discipline, have earned the right to express their admiration or opposition to our political leaders in any lawabiding manner they choose. The Invictus podium, and all it represents, belongs to them!
As does the option of using that “unconquerable” Invictus podium as a world stage for civil disobedience on behalf of their fellow veterans. They could emulate the NFL in “taking a knee” — but here, they would be protesting callous government indifference and neglect.
Go, Canada!