DND/VAC (Re)Introduces "Memorial Ribbon"

[The Bread Guy]

Probably the new $20 bill

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/11/05/bank-of-canada-set-to-release-new-polymer-20-bill-wednesday/

WrenchBender

But they're not starting circulation until tomorrow - the announcement from the earlier post here is set for this morning (0830 Eastern).

 

[The Bread Guy]

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, along with the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, announced today the creation of the Memorial Ribbon. The Memorial Ribbon will be offered to close family and friends of deceased Canadian Forces (CF) members as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice.

“Our Government has enormous respect for the men and women who have made sacrifices in service of their country. The introduction of the Memorial Ribbon reflects our Government’s desire to provide a small token of remembrance to those close to our military members who passed away while in service of Canada,” said Minister MacKay. “The Government of Canada is determined to do everything it can to support Canada’s heroes and their families. With the new Memorial Ribbon, our Government’s ensuring that those who are not usually designated as potential recipients of the Memorial Cross will be able to honour their loved ones by wearing this Ribbon with pride.” 

Memorial Ribbons may be issued in commemoration of every CF member whose death is attributed to injury or illness sustained on or after October 1, 1947, due to military service. This date coincides with the first date inscribed in Veterans Affairs Canada’s Seventh Book of Remembrance.

“The Memorial Ribbon is a profound demonstration of our care and concern for Canada’s military families — not just the men and women who bravely serve our country, but their families and other loved ones who have sacrificed so much for us,” said Minister Blaney. “This is a fitting complement to the Memorial Cross. It reflects how deeply loved and dearly missed our fallen heroes are.”

The Memorial Ribbon will now be part of the Memorial Package, which currently includes the Memorial Cross, the Memorial Scroll, the Memorial Bar, the Sacrifice Medal, and inscription in the Seventh Book of Remembrance. For those eligible recipients whose beneficiaries have previously received the Memorial Package without the Memorial Ribbon, the ribbons will be sent separately to the executor of the estate upon written request. 

The Department of National Defence’s Directorate of Honours and Recognition is the office responsible for the administration of the Memorial Ribbon, which will be available in early 2013.

-30-

Note to editor/news director:
For more information on the design, the eligibility criteria, the application process, and to view an image of the new Memorial Ribbon, please consult the Directorate of Honours and Recognition’s website at: http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/chc-tdh/chart-tableau-eng.asp?ref=MemR.

General Email: Ribbon.Ruban@forces.gc.ca
Toll-Free telephone: 1-855-433-2976

DND/VAC Info-machines, 6 Nov 12


So far, the "For more information" page doesn't seem to have info on the Ribbon itself.  News release also attached again, though I don't think it'll be disappearing this time  - stand by for merge now that it's confirmed.

 

[OldSolduer]

Another bauble vice real, substantial care for those in the most need.

 

[Edward Campbell]

:goodpost:

You're right, Jim. The Conservatives, the party of which I am a card carrying mmember and to which I donate pretty much as much as the law allows each year, should be ashamed of themselves.

This is  :bullshit: pure and simple; it is designed to try to take attention away from the sad, shameful fact that the CPC still supports the bad, Liberal, Veterans' Charter, which is nothing more than a way to cheapskate the men and women who served after Korea.

 

[OldSolduer]

It is for reasons like this that I will probably not join any political party.


It's not the physically WIA troops I am primarily concerned about. Physical injuries, for the most part, are promptly dealt with.

It is those with psychological wounds, which can take decades to appear, or remain hidden that I am most concerned with. We have not yet begun to see the effects of multiple deployments, or witnessing multiple deaths of comrades or civilians. It will not be pretty.

 

[blackberet17]

It is those with psychological wounds, which can take decades to appear, or remain hidden that I am most concerned with. We have not yet begun to see the effects of multiple deployments, or witnessing multiple deaths of comrades or civilians. It will not be pretty.

I agree, Jim. As someone who works at VAC, and as a Reservist with many a friend who's been overseas (and waiting on word of my on deployment)... this BS: the cuts being made to VAC in the name of fiscal responsibility and the "fact" (used loosely) the number of VAC clients is dropping as the SWW and Korean War Veterans leave us...Well guess what, bureaucracy, we're still talking 60 plus years of missions, deployments and war since then. And the last ten years of combat in Afghanistan...well, we've yet to see all of the injuries from there, physical and psychological.

Service Canada being a contact point for clients is the dumbest idea yet...

 

[fraserdw]

WEll, I guess this is a better use for the money than burying folks!  :facepalm:  Not sure how anyone at VAC can wear this  :remembrance: and mean it sometimes.  I have simply never had a good experience with these folks.

 

[McG]

Another bauble vice real, substantial care for those in the most need.

... and one that appears like it will be funded out of the CF budget at a time when it is being squeezed and we are looking for ways to preserve operational readiness.  ... and we will be handing it out retroactively for deaths going back to before the Korean War.

So now we will be handing out up to three Memorial Crosses and up to five Memorial Ribbons.  If we really needed something to distinguish more of those who have lost someone to military service, then we should have just revisited the criteria for the memorial cross.  This new recognition will do nothing to avoid future embarrassment if there is again finger-pointing toward the CF because family publicly disagree with who should receive either recognition.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... and one that appears like it will be funded out of the CF budget at a time when it is being squeezed and we are looking for ways to preserve operational readiness.  ...

Hey, they cancelled these, didn't they?  That should have created some found cash - and something that seems quite visible on the radar of some speaking to journalists....

.... “There is definitely a value for money concern at DND [Department of National Defence] – from stress balls to jets. There is excessive use of consultants, many of whom used to be former Canadian Forces or bureaucrats,” said one senior political staffer ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

And here's what it looks like.....

 

[blackberet17]

WEll, I guess this is a better use for the money than burying folks!  :facepalm:  Not sure how anyone at VAC can wear this  :remembrance: and mean it sometimes.  I have simply never had a good experience with these folks.

I wouldn't go so far as that, fraserdw. Rather, ask yourself how any politician can wear a  :remembrance: and mean it, specially when they stand up in the HoC and express gratitude and thanks with one hand, and bring about the NVC, the cuts to Last Post burial funding, and other cost-saving measures with the other.

We're handcuffed by the legislation and the bureaucracy, not by our desire to serve the Veterans of this country.

 

[McG]

Memorial ribbon honours our fallen
Jessica Murphy
Parliamentary Bureau
The Ottawa Sun
07 November 2012

OTTAWA -- The families of fallen soldiers have a new memento to remember their lost loved ones.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney announced the creation of the Memorial Ribbon, meant to acknowledge the personal loss of families and friends of soldiers killed during active duty. Currently, when a Canadian Forces member is killed while serving, the family receives up to two Memorial Crosses as a memento, traditionally sent to the mother and widow of the soldier.

The new ribbon is geared to complement that program by expanding the mementos to a greater number of family members and to close friends.

"Given the limited number of Memorial Crosses and the modern makeup of families, many loved ones are left without a personal military memento to remember a loved one. This isn't right," MacKay said.

"While we, of course, know it will never fill the void left by this loss, it will hopefully serve as a tangible reminder of those who gave their lives for their families and to their closest friends and to those who have felt this loss most personally."

The department is unsure of what the demand for the ribbons will be, but has committed $1.8 million for the program over five years.

Liberal veterans affairs critic Sean Casey criticized the ribbon program as "symbols over substance" and called on the Conservative government to focus its efforts on improving benefits and services to Canadian Forces members and veterans.

Family members of a soldier who died during active duty after Oct. 1, 1947, are eligible to apply for a ribbon.

Up to five mementos will be issued to close loved ones of fallen soldiers who haven't yet received the Memorial Cross.

 

[Nemo888]

Great so instead of help veterans get an information op in the week leading up to Remembrance Day.

The silencing of the ombudsman, personal attacks on Vets who have spoken up, press releases blowing smoke up our asses etc.

This is no mistake or oversight. Vets are being deliberately screwed on many fronts at once.

 

[OldSolduer]

WEll, I guess this is a better use for the money than burying folks!  :facepalm:  Not sure how anyone at VAC can wear this  :remembrance: and mean it sometimes.  I have simply never had a good experience with these folks.

It's not the front office folk, IMO, who are to blame for the situation. Bureaucrats who know the system and how to keep costs down, politicians and an apathetic public all have a hand in this.