Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight is defending a groundbreaking ceremony for Canada's Afghanistan War monument despite criticism that no combat veterans were invited to speak at the event honouring their service and sacrifice.Blacklock's Reporter said appearing before the Commons veterans affairs committee, McKnight described the May 4 ceremony as just one part of the federal government's efforts to recognize Canadians who served in Afghanistan.Conservative MP Fraser Tolmie (Moose Jaw-Lake Centre, Sask.) challenged the minister over the absence of veterans from the ceremony and questioned whether families of the 158 Canadian military personnel killed in Afghanistan had been properly included.“You say veterans should be recognized, not just on November 11 but every day,” Tolmie told McKnight.“Your department couldn’t tell me how many families of the 158 fallen were invited to the groundbreaking of the Afghan Monument.”Veterans Affairs Canada previously acknowledged in a written response to Parliament that there was insufficient time to include combat veterans as speakers during the 40-minute groundbreaking ceremony for the National Monument to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan.“In order to allow time to symbolically break ground in the pertinent locations and to encourage reflection and understanding of what the National Monument represents, formal speaking roles were limited to the Minister of Veterans Affairs as the Monument project sponsor,” the department said in an Inquiry of Ministry.The ceremony also included remarks from local Algonquin Chief Greg Sarazin, Algonquin council member Anita Tenasco and First Nations sculptor Adrian Stimson, none of whom served in combat during the Afghanistan mission.“Speaking roles were ceremonial,” the department stated..McKnight did not directly explain why Afghanistan combat veterans were excluded from speaking at the event.“The groundbreaking for the Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan was an important milestone in the progress to completion of that Monument, but it is one step in many,” she told the committee.McKnight maintained that families of the 158 Canadian military personnel killed during the mission had been informed about the ceremony and invited to attend.“As it relates to the families of the 158 fallen individuals, communication was shared with all of the families in advance of that event to let them know it was happening, to invite them to participate,” she said.Tolmie responded that the absence of veterans from the official proceedings had not gone unnoticed.“But we didn’t see any veterans on the podium and no veterans made speeches or were recognized,” he said. “We heard that loud and clear.”The national monument is scheduled to be unveiled in 2028.Veterans Affairs Canada has said Afghanistan veterans will have opportunities to speak at future commemorative events.“Veterans Affairs Canada’s commemoration division will work with partners and stakeholders to identify Afghanistan veterans,” the department stated in its parliamentary response.More than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces personnel served in Afghanistan during Canada's military involvement, which included combat operations beginning in Kandahar Province in 2002.The mission resulted in 2,229 Canadian military casualties, including 158 deaths..The war also left thousands of veterans dealing with physical injuries and psychological trauma.According to official estimates, 11% of Afghanistan War veterans qualified for medical benefits related to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.A 2017 Veterans Affairs Canada report found that military personnel returning from Afghanistan experienced greater difficulties adjusting to civilian life than veterans from earlier periods.“Veterans with recent releases, between 2002 and 2015, had a higher rate of difficult adjustment, 42%, compared to earlier releases between 1998 and 2012 (29%),” stated the report, Wellbeing of Canadian Regular Forces Veterans: Findings from Life After Service Studies 2016 Survey.The dispute over the groundbreaking ceremony comes as the federal government prepares to complete the national monument recognizing Canada's military mission in Afghanistan and the sacrifices made by those who served.
