pwoodse: Canada, we should be ashamed for turning our back on veterans

This should not be how a grateful nation says thank? you.

Buried deep within the detail of the City of Toronto?s 2013 interim report on homelessness is a single startling fact.

Around 16% of those living rough on the streets of Canada?s biggest city said they had served in the Canadian military.

That?s right. Almost one in five self-identify as military veterans yet they make their home on the sidewalk or under a bridge.

This is something that should shock all Canadians.

Nobody is forced to serve in our all-volunteer navy, army and air force. People choose to don our military uniform and prepare to defend Canada from her enemies at home and abroad at considerable personal sacrifice.

Be it in the skies over Libya or the mountains of Afghanistan, in recent years more and more military personnel have gone into harms way for Canada and freedom.

Then there are those who also stand and serve without leaving the country but are essential nonetheless.

The findings of the Toronto survey roughly align with a study released two weeks ago by Western University.

It found that Canadian Forces veterans, who at one time served and protected their country, are now facing one of the toughest battles of their lives ? homelessness.

A national study by assistant nursing professor Susan Ray and nursing professor Cheryl Forchuk, the first of its kind on Canada?s homeless veterans, identified this new trend of homeless ex-military personnel.

Prior research on the subject, which has primarily originated in the United States, presents the scenario of homeless veterans having seen overseas deployment, witnessing trauma, having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and not being able to adjust when they get home.

But research with Canadian homeless veterans shows a whole different number of causes ? the primary one being alcohol abuse ? but it is a growing problem all the same.

?For a lot of them it was from drinking, which started in the military, escalated over time and 10 years later you would see the alcoholism, and through that they would lose their job, their relationships, their housing,? Prof. Ray says.

Perhaps the single biggest challenge for vets is making the transition from military to civilian life and this is a large factor in the veterans? homelessness. They just can?t cope on their own.

Many speak about the difficulty in adjusting to an unstructured civilian life and the lack of supports they received in moving from the military to the civilian.

No matter the reason or the causes, the fact that increasing numbers of our former military personnel face a life of homeless desperation should shame us all.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013