Don't Leave The Toilet Seat Up

Originally posted 10 Oct 2003, I thought in light of the recent spending announcements on the military it might be interesting to revisit my opinion from a couple of years ago

I left the toilet seat up this week.

Once my wife finished berating me, having used every argument in her arsenal including the United Nations Convention on Sanitary Receptacles, vis a vis Women’s Issues, I did as all good Canadians seem prone to do these days. I blamed someone else.

Unfortunately, I have a daughter so I couldn’t blame her. What to do? The dog? Nope, that wouldn’t work. How about the cat? No joy there either. Then it hit me. I used the tried and true method of blaming the government.

Yes, I blamed the government for my wife’s misfortune, just as so many now days blame them for the sorry state of our Armed Forces. Not only do I get to deflect any thoughts of my own culpability in the matter but have a ready-made scapegoat.

Sure, I may have trouble sleeping but I figure if members of the media can sleep at night with all they have done, why can’t I. A little cold porcelain is nothing compared to collective guilt of our illustrious news.

This became even more evident recently with the tragic deaths of two soldiers from the Royal Canadian Regiment on duty in Afghanistan.

Once again the editorials are hitting the papers remonstrating about the inadequate funding for our Armed Forces and how they are using obsolete equipment. And nothing is more illustrative of how two faced our media is than the example of the Sea King helicopter and our four Upholder submarines.

When I heard a commentator in a sarcastic voice belittling the Armed Forces for buying four leaky submarines I couldn’t believe it. Here’s a scoop for you guys, I will solve the mystery of that purchase right here and now. Are you ready?

The reason our Armed Forces bought these substandard boats is because when they attempted to buy better ones the media had a fit. It was too much money, they said, too extravagant, they said. Well guys (used in the asexual way), you get what you pay for.

As for the Sea Kings, I can’t even begin to count how many editorials I have read recently condemning the government for allowing these dinosaurs to continue to fly. The media has yelled and screamed for replacements. Excuse me?

Let’s have a little reality check here. The truth is that the Sea Kings would have been retired by now if the media and the Liberals had not made the purchase of the EH101 replacement helicopters a political issue. It would seem that they have forgotten that if the purchase had gone through, not only would we, as taxpayers, have saved the $800 million cancellation cost but also the Sea Kings would be retired.

I would love to know how any Liberal can sleep at night knowing that the only election promise they kept was the one that has killed people. Remember the GST promise, the one to kill it when elected? Nada. The renegotiation of NAFTA? Zip. How about an independent Ethics Commissioner? Zilch. But hey, why not needlessly endanger the lives of the people who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Disposable people, what a concept.

I know, as I looked upon the flag draped casket of one of my colleagues I was angry. Even more so when I was talking to the heavily bandaged Captain who was the only survivor of the crash, the same Sea King yours truly had flown in a few months earlier.

But I did not only blame the government, for they were only doing what people had voted them to do. For, in my mind, anyone who voted for the Liberals in the 1993 election is equally guilty.

So we all must share the collective blame in this. The media for making being two faced and the voters for buying into it. We need to start looking at the down the road effect of the decisions we make and the reality of the situation.

As an example, if the Canadian Armed Forces signed a contract today for new helicopters it would be a minimum of 10 years before they received them. And the funny thing is, if the politicians stay out of it, the best one is still the EH101.

So here’s what we can do to help expunge our collective guilt. Email, write or phone our politicians to let them know that we care about our troops. Tell them you want them to actually start to fund our troops rather than the window dressing that they gave us in that last budget. The $800 million increase probably won’t even pay for their deployment to Afghanistan.

Remember these are human beings we are talking about. These are men and women who are living a life none of us would want. Because of the cutbacks in personnel, a lot of these people will deploy for 6-8 months, come back home for a couple and then be gone again. I read recently of a soldier who has been in the forces for five years and has already had six overseas deployments. That’s a minimum of three years away from friends and family!

I heard a rumour that the person listed below might have some influence in the Department of National Defense. With a federal election in the not too distance future he may be inclined to listen so give him a call.

The Honourable John McCallum

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Phone: (613) 996-3374

Fax: (613) 992-3921

Email: mccalj@parl.gc.ca

As for me, I think I will fess up and promise to make sure the seat is down in the future. Initially, there will be hell to pay but at least I will sleep better.