Blame prime minister for Julian Fantino’s veterans affairs fumbles, says Liberal MP

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Federal Minister of Veteran Affairs Julian Fantino is being accused of disrespecting veterans.

On Thursday, as reported by the Canadian Press, Fantino rushed out of a committee meeting while being chased by media and the wife of a veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"We're nothing to you," Jenifer Migneault — wife of Sgt (Ret) Claude Rainville, yelled-out to a rushing Fantino.

Migneault — like a lot of other veterans and their families — is upset that the ministry is spending millions of dollars on an ad campaign; they want that money to be reallocated to veterans' services and particularly support for caregivers.

"Please just use that money to talk to us," she said.

"We'll tell you a whole lot about our husbands that you guys don't know about. Spend the money in the right place and you'll see real results."

For their part, Fantino's office claims that the minister didn't hear Migneault amid the scurry of reporters.

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The incident is reminiscent of a January encounter -- also caught on tape -- where Fantino engaged in a testy discussion with veterans about the closure veteran service centres before storming out of the meeting.

On social media, many are suggesting Fantino is demonstrating a pattern of disrespect.

But — maybe surprisingly — a Grit MP is coming to his defence.

Frank Valeriote, the Liberal Party's defence critic, told Yahoo Canada News that the focus should be on Stephen Harper.

"We have a narcissistic prime minister and government that places more value on self-promotion than on funding the programs that our veterans need," he said in a telephone interview on Friday morning.

"In fairness...I actually believe Mr. Fantino would like to do more than he's doing but he's being controlled by the prime minister's office and he's being controlled by the Finance Minister.

"And because he's caught in this predicament, I believe he would rather avoid the people who are suffering the pain from his execution of his orders from above."

Valieroite adds that every veterans affairs minister — and all cabinet ministers for that matter — are just "trained penguins."

The NDP, on the other hand, isn't as forgiving of Fantino.

"What Canadians have seen from this minister and this government is a record of failure, mismanagement and running full speed away from accountability," MP Peter Julian said during Question Period on Friday.

"Last January the minister was caught belittling veterans. He spends millions of dollars on propaganda while closing offices that provide important personal services to veterans. And then yesterday he completely ignored the spouse of a wounded soldier, actually running away in the other direction."

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Fantino's tenure as Veterans Affairs minister has been filled with strife.

While he is likely just following orders, his inability to communicate a long-term veteran's strategy has been a black mark on the Harper government.

According to pollster Frank Graves, it could even have a "corrosive" affect on the Tory brand.

[The] government has either sincerely or disingenuously used the military as
symbols' and props for its PR efforts and its recasting of national symbols
and history," Graves recently told Yahoo Canada News.

"So the image of the government as [a] black hearted accountant
impervious to the tears of veterans may become a potent symbol."

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Last January, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair called on Stephen Harper to fire Fantino.

But firing an ineffective cabinet minister has never been Harper's M.O.

Maybe there's another option?

A recent article in the Globe and Mail chronicles an anonymous robocall poll in Vaughan asking voters if they would support Fantino as a mayoral candidate for the city just north of Toronto.

While Fantino's office denies that he's leaving federal politics, it certainly would be a graceful way out for both Harper and Fantino.

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