Juno News - November 11, 2026


Afghan War veterans call out the federal government over post-war treatment

Iran threatens to bomb Europe if EU bases aid U.S. strikes Manitoba restaurant seeks ‘Indian individual’ to make pizzas, sparking outrage

Episode Stats


Length

34 minutes

Words per minute

169.69

Word count

5,795

Sentence count

184

Harmful content

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

15

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00 For being such a young country, Canada has a truly remarkable military history.
00:00:11 The reputation and tradition of the Canadian Armed Forces has been earned through the sacrifice of over 118,000 Canadians that have died fighting for this country.
00:00:21 Throughout our country's history, over 2 million Canadians have put on the uniform to fight for Canada and to fight for what this country represents.
00:00:30 Memories of the two world wars are almost all gone now in Canada.
00:00:33 But over 40,000 Canadians, many of whom walk among us and live among us today,
00:00:38 served in the global war on terror.
00:00:40 158 Canadians died in the war in Afghanistan.
00:00:44 The fighting was brutal.
00:00:46 The enemy was often unseen, but nonetheless extremely deadly.
00:00:50 Since then, veterans of the global war on terror in this country
00:00:54 have been told by Veterans Affairs officers that they're asking for too much.
00:00:58 that the country is unable to provide them the resources they were promised.
00:01:02 In some cases, veterans who were asking for help were instead offered MAID.
00:01:09 You don't need to travel too far to hear stories of how veterans of the global war on terror
00:01:14 feel betrayed and feel forgotten about.
00:01:18 It's an element of Remembrance Day that I think is often overlooked by the broader Canadian public.
00:01:22 But on this Remembrance Day special episode of Rayshad,
00:01:25 I'll be speaking with two veterans of the global war on terror
00:01:27 who have spent their post-military careers advocating for veterans and speaking up on their behalf.
00:01:34 Dave Morrow and Jody Middick join me next on Ratioed.
00:01:37 I'm now joined by two veterans of the global war on terror who I want to introduce now.
00:01:42 Dave Morrow is a retired Canadian Army officer and Afghan vet who deployed in 2010.
00:01:48 After sustaining injuries during his military service, he was medically released from the Canadian Armed Forces.
00:01:52 He is the founder and host of the Hard to Kill podcast, one of Canada's leading veteran-focused podcasts.
00:01:57 where he speaks with veterans, military personnel, and experts about service, leadership, resilience, and realities of life after the military.
00:02:05 He's also the author of The Nimble Warrior and Harden the F Up, drawing on his military experience and commitment to helping veterans navigate the challenges of civilian life.
00:02:15 Jody Mittick is a 20-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who served as a master corporal and sniper team leader, including three overseas operational tours.
00:02:23 During a deployment to Afghanistan in 2007,
00:02:26 Mittick lost both legs below the knees after stepping on an IED.
00:02:30 His determination to return to an active life following his injuries
00:02:32 made him a prominent advocate for wounded veterans
00:02:34 and Canadians living with disabilities.
00:02:37 He went on to co-found the Never Quit Foundation,
00:02:39 serve as an Ottawa city councillor,
00:02:41 and write the best-selling memoir, Unflinching,
00:02:43 the Making of a Canadian Sniper, and the book, Everyday Heroes.
00:02:46 He's also the founder of Green Army Coffee.
00:02:51 Gentlemen, thank you both so much for joining me.
00:02:53 I really appreciate it.
00:02:55 A true honor, my friend.
00:02:57 Thank you for having me today.
00:02:59 I hope those bios were accurate and clear and did both your services with honor.
00:03:08 All right, so I want to start with just the global war on terror and the overall impact of that conflict.
00:03:19 we've now seen the rise of the Taliban once again in Afghanistan. It feels like the broader global
00:03:25 war on terror, uh, was essentially left unfinished. Uh, just to both of you and, and Jody, I'll start
00:03:31 with you. Looking back now, how do you feel like the global war on terror? Well, better, better
00:03:39 put, how do you feel like your sacrifice and the sacrifice of, of thousands of Canadians
00:03:45 made an impact in afghanistan if at all good question uh harrison um i think so i think about
00:03:55 this a lot you know even when we were there i remember being on top of spur one gar or massive
00:04:01 gar something talking to someone from somewhere we worked with so many people back then um we're
00:04:07 just the latest iteration of the world you know uh system you know the british were there before
00:04:15 back to Alexander the Great nobody could govern these people but you know we gave
00:04:21 him 20 years to try it our way so to speak and you know those generations are 0.80
00:04:28 still there they weren't all completely wiped out during the purge of the new
00:04:33 management and I also just believe that some of our greatest enemies in the past
00:04:40 are some of our closest allies today and you know i might be blue skying it but i do believe that
00:04:47 there's an opportunity for nations to mend relations dave what about you do you feel like
00:04:56 the the global war on terror was a success great question harrison i don't think we have enough
00:05:02 history behind us to fully answer it just yet but from my perspective yes but that's because i'm an
00:05:09 eternal optimist. And we wouldn't be here having this discussion, building a stronger veteran
00:05:15 community, if it were not for this war. So although it was Canada's longest war, we lost 158 of our
00:05:22 finest, we still continue to lose veterans along the way because of poor policy, bad medical systems, 0.60
00:05:31 just an inability to recognize the fact that this was a war and this sucked. I think that at the end
00:05:38 the day we are going to see especially our generation of veteran the GWAT veteran generation
00:05:44 start to flourish as more start to retire because we're all reaching retirement age
00:05:48 and we're going to start building because we recognize that there's really been nothing for us
00:05:54 so that as we get out we have to rebuild these institutions that were supposed to be there for
00:05:59 us when we got out. Jody you you obviously required medical significant medical attention
00:06:06 and rehabilitation following your injuries since then you've obviously been an advocate for veterans
00:06:13 and wounded veterans but what are the failings of the system and and how significant has the system
00:06:20 let down many of your fellow veterans in the GWAT so from my personal experience I'll draw from my
00:06:29 own story as much as I can and you know even at a profile that I've been at and you know being
00:06:36 friends with ministers and starting foundations and being an open book literally uh as you mentioned
00:06:44 about my struggles the system isn't interested in what i think and uh it doesn't want to hear
00:06:52 about the fact that when i signed in 94 the pension act was in place and right before we
00:07:00 deployed they changed it to this uh terrible new veterans charter and uh you know they kept trying
00:07:09 to tell me how millions of dollars of just literal money in my pocket for the rest of my life uh
00:07:16 you know it's too much of a bother to have you know you you guys don't know how to manage your
00:07:21 money is how it was communicated so you know we're gonna hang on to your money and we're gonna give
00:07:27 you services and you know in today's money you know we're talking like millions of dollars Harrison
00:07:34 just money in my pocket as an individual and what I lost there was my independence okay you know I
00:07:42 can't even just run to the store and buy a piece of mobility equipment without Veterans Affairs
00:07:47 wanting to dip their fingers in it that's fine but they don't even with digital communications
00:07:54 they don't want to communicate in a timely manner and a year or so ago you know it's last year you
00:08:04 know they cut off my IRB or whatever they call it earnings replacement benefit there's no benefits
00:08:12 here this is not a benefits system this is an awards and compensation system and you know
00:08:19 No schooling, they did all that before.
00:08:21 Housing even, they would help you buy a house in the past. 1.00
00:08:24 You know, this organization that was told to me at 17 in 1994, it's not a lot of money, but it's a decent amount if you end up, you know, 100% disabled. 0.98
00:08:36 It'll keep you going for the rest of your life. 0.97
00:08:38 And somebody else somewhere decided that that was too good for me.
00:08:43 And me being the general us and soldier, you know, especially the combat arms.
00:08:49 that I'm better off without that money and that they're going to take care of me.
00:08:54 And all they've done is try to make me a pauper to the point where they cut off my IRB for a year over an administrative issue that my taxes, pardon me, hadn't been sorted out.
00:09:06 And they knew that I'd made money off the book, which, you know, I say I probably overall lost money the way the CRA behaved.
00:09:16 and you know all they they're like you got i was like you guys can't cut off half my money 0.68
00:09:21 i i earned that with meat and bone and blood drenched into afghan soil and they were like 0.67
00:09:28 yep too bad and i tried to make a stand you might you can go back and see the videos 0.67
00:09:32 you know and even like friends of mine in mainstream media nobody wanted to touch it
00:09:37 they had no interest in it and you know i felt let down by the whole thing because to me
00:09:43 this is the point like how dare they administratively punish me over something that i earned on the
00:09:51 on the battlefield and look i'm not trying to toot my horn but i come from an organization that is
00:09:57 incredibly skilled and and very elite and uh you know over a piece of paper some administrative
00:10:05 individual who probably gets paid twice a year what i what i do for my injuries tells me i got
00:10:13 give him a piece of paper or he's going to keep my money and then he did and they wouldn't budge
00:10:18 they would i would because i was trying to say just turn the money back on and let me fix my life
00:10:23 but no they they weren't interested in that and i will never sorry i know i've thrown it on but i'll
00:10:29 never i'll never trust the system again but i'm also know that i'm stuck in an abusive relationship
00:10:35 with it. Dave, I always think about that Trudeau town hall event where there was, yeah, there was,
00:10:43 there was an amputee who was basically telling the prime minister that the, the, the deal that
00:10:49 was made with veterans and the government to look after them was not being fulfilled. And the prime
00:10:55 minister said that, uh, veterans were asking too much. Is that deal the one that I think most
00:11:02 canadians thought was operating and was going to be there for veterans is that deal basically broken
00:11:08 wow yeah that was brock brock's a beauty and the fact that you can go back to when brock made that
00:11:21 statement and he was fired up right he lost the leg as well we fought like jody said you know
00:11:30 blood and bone. We did Canada's dirty work for 20 years. And the prime minister had the audacity
00:11:38 and the honesty, I guess, to say, yeah, you're asking for way too much, boys.
00:11:44 So that told me something very clear. This organization is not worth our blood and bone.
00:11:50 If you're not willing to cough up a little bit of cash for those that decided this place,
00:11:57 this country is worth my life, my mind, whatever, it's yours, take it and do with it what you will,
00:12:05 then why should anybody join? And that's my driving force right now. Every single member
00:12:12 deserves some sort of obligation for the sacrifices we made over 20 plus years.
00:12:18 If you deploy to the GY, you've got some sort of claim. There's something wrong. Either it's your
00:12:23 head or your ears or your back, whatever it is. You need to go get those benefits. And the system
00:12:29 itself is 100% broken. I'm dealing with overwhelming amounts of people coming through my 1.00
00:12:34 show, talking about the insurance scheme, talking about PCVRS, all of these things that like Jody
00:12:41 was saying, this is money that was owed to us that they decided, no, no, no, no. We're not going to
00:12:47 let these veterans get the money directly to their pockets like their grandfathers did. We made that
00:12:52 mistake already. It's going to go through our friends' companies, and they're going to administer
00:12:57 it. And we're the only G20 NATO country that has an insurance scheme for its veterans. And Canadians
00:13:05 need to wake up. Everybody else takes care of their veterans through their veteran administration,
00:13:10 except us. And the question is why. So when, Jody, when we get to November 11th every year,
00:13:18 where do you think your generation the GWAT veterans fit in on this on Remembrance Day
00:13:25 and the recognition across the country because I get the impression that a lot of GWAT veterans
00:13:30 feel not just disrespected but feel quite upset about everything that has happened since this war
00:13:38 has concluded where where do you feel like your generation fits in on the on the Remembrance Day
00:13:42 story in canada well i think we're still pardon me i think we're still finding uh our place to be
00:13:51 honest um you know it just pops into my head when you ask the question the monument debacle
00:13:58 and the whole you know our afghan veterans war veterans and you know i try to hang out at the
00:14:05 legion and i've been a member on and off and i'm a member here in cornwall now uh where i'm opening
00:14:10 the green army coffee shop and i plan to be a member and to use the legion for all the
00:14:16 uh benefits and uh networking that it provides but i know that we're still being accepted as
00:14:23 members you know i'm often the only g watt veteran uh at most legions where i do stop in
00:14:30 and you know i'm not gonna sugarcoat it there is a certain amount of attitude that comes you know
00:14:36 we have to remember as as GWAT veterans uh most of the forces still didn't deploy the way we did
00:14:43 um it was a combat arms heavy deployment obviously you know and that that would a whole
00:14:49 lot of canadian armed forces members did a whole lot of great work in that same time frame but
00:14:55 weren't necessarily part of the GWAT and we got a lot of attention sure but you know we bled a lot
00:15:00 for it too me included um but I think we're as Dave said we're coming into our own like I'm
00:15:06 almost 50 now in January and it's going to be 20 years since I got smashed and um I'm feeling 0.82
00:15:13 better than ever frankly you know I did run in the local election and have my butt handed to me
00:15:18 by the voters because I'm new in town and I accept that um but I'm not giving up you know I'm more 0.62
00:15:24 They even invented a monster when they passed the new Veterans Charter, okay?
00:15:29 And I specialize in operations in non-permissive environments for, you know, as a choice.
00:15:35 You know, I could have gone to school and all that jazz.
00:15:37 I still might.
00:15:38 I don't know.
00:15:40 You know, so I think we're going to move into leadership positions, and a lot of us are now retiring and able to just talk about stuff.
00:15:47 You know, I got buddies I was next to in 06 that are, you know, they're chiefs and they're colonels,
00:15:52 and and they're just thinking about getting out and you know if i hadn't been hurt boys i'd still
00:15:57 be in i'm trying to join the local regiment as it is to be useful again because i love the infantry
00:16:04 i love the army and i love this country and so i will not be denied my space if i have to i'm
00:16:10 planned to take it and i expect uh we'll be respected for it when we do dave what do you
00:16:16 think Canadians who were not in your shoes um what do you think Canadians get wrong about the
00:16:25 global war on terror and the true costs of that war because as you pointed out earlier it's not
00:16:31 just the battlefield casualties of which there were plenty but it is the long-term impact that
00:16:36 that a lot of a lot of veterans are suffering with. I was just in Ottawa yesterday I was
00:16:43 helping a buddy deliver a speech to the Justice Department.
00:16:49 So a bunch of lawyers, judges, admin folks, full house.
00:16:54 And the reason why they wanted him there
00:16:55 was to talk about veteran stuff and mental health issues, right?
00:16:59 Because that is the general idea of what a GWAT veteran is,
00:17:04 is a mental health case.
00:17:06 But I think the fundamental problem is when I look back at the audience,
00:17:09 when he was being very frank about what Afghanistan was, 1.00
00:17:13 it was picking up body parts. It was dealing with the most horrible incidents you could possibly 0.98
00:17:19 imagine. And the looks on their faces told me a lot. It meant Canadians don't know that we were
00:17:25 war fighters. Canadians don't even know we were in a war. The concept of being in a bloody, dirty
00:17:33 counterinsurgency war is foreign to our country. And so it's no wonder that they can't wrap their
00:17:39 heads around the fact that guys like me and Jody, who are still relatively young men,
00:17:43 could have seen so much combat, and there's no mention of it in the general Canadian diaspora
00:17:50 and our culture. No mention of war. There's barely even a monument for us. It's been over 15 years.
00:17:57 They can't even come to the fact that this was a war. The Legion won't even call this a war. So
00:18:03 if you don't call it what it is, and you don't respect those that actually fought in that war,
00:18:08 And like Jody was saying, there was a very small sliver of Canadians that fought this war and a very small sliver of the Canadian armed forces that fought this war, about 40,000.
00:18:16 And how many of those were repeat offenders?
00:18:19 So therefore, you have like 0.001% of Canadians fighting a war.
00:18:24 That was the longest war in history for our country.
00:18:27 And as a group, as a collective, we're leaving the forces now.
00:18:32 And we can't make heads or tails of what's going on because it's like it never existed.
00:18:37 And until we come to grips with that and we get Canadians to understand that this was a horrible, awful war that we had to fight over and over again for 20 years, and we deserve every last dime that the government gives us, if we don't get there, then it's going to be very hard.
00:18:55 We're going to have a very big uphill battle for our community.
00:18:57 jody there have been like seriously troubling cases and news stories about veterans who are
00:19:07 in need of assistance who go to veterans affairs canada seeking the help that they deserve and
00:19:13 instead of being offered that help they are offered made which to be honest i can't really
00:19:18 think of anything more disgusting uh than that but this is not just a one-off right
00:19:25 these these stories keep popping up and we talked about the failings of the system but
00:19:30 again i can't really think of anything more illustrative of the failure than offering
00:19:36 veterans who serve this country made euthanasia rather than service does this really come down
00:19:42 to the government basically trying to penny pinch you guys and uh that's a great point harrison i
00:19:50 I think that's exactly how I feel.
00:19:53 Dave and I will talk on the phone sometimes and he'll let me rant and rant.
00:19:56 And I'm just, and I say this often, the kind of money Mark Carney's willing to spend.
00:20:03 He just spent more Canadian dollars than in history.
00:20:08 Good job. 1.00
00:20:08 He was hired by the boomers to do it. 1.00
00:20:10 I hope he's making them proud. 1.00
00:20:12 But they can't break off an extra cool couple mil for this guy who earned it on the battlefield.
00:20:19 They'd rather nickel and dime me
00:20:21 and administratively hold back my money over paperwork
00:20:25 than just, you know what, we owe those guys.
00:20:28 As Dave just pointed out, there's barely any of us anyway.
00:20:31 Comparatively, you know, with generations past,
00:20:34 60,000 dudes came home wounded from war before.
00:20:38 You know, a country with half the population that it has now
00:20:41 put out 100,000 troops.
00:20:43 That's unheard of numbers today.
00:20:46 um i lost my train of thought there uh oh so made being offered to anyone who earned it wearing a
00:20:54 uniform is a failure of the system uh spend a few more bucks i get it we're known for committing
00:21:02 suicide in the soldier world well part of that is because we end up we as a collective because i've
00:21:09 look i've buried friends and i've dealt intervened in moments and people have come to me in times of
00:21:16 distress and I you know it it's tough but it's also a part of life and I think
00:21:22 even you know offering someone who's determined a way out so they don't leave
00:21:28 a mess is one thing but encouraging it or offering it as anything but the very
00:21:35 very last option to me is a complete failure and it also again it's telling
00:21:41 of what's the priority it's not going just my own case it's not my well-being everyone knows taking
00:21:47 money from someone like me who can't really earn isn't good but they do it anyway so do they do
00:21:53 that to these guys and then offer them made do they gaslight them into being in shitty positions
00:21:59 pardon my language and then go oh by the way and who's offering what is their mental background
00:22:06 what did they training did they get to know this stuff i want to analyze anyone who's willing to
00:22:10 offer it as anything but a last option sorry man you hit a nerve there because i love the soldiers
00:22:16 i met some the other day at a breakfast and i said cherish these moments because one day you're going
00:22:21 to be like me or even the older boys in the back of the room just wishing you could strap on your
00:22:26 boots and throw the webbing on one more time and i want them to feel safe right now as a veteran
00:22:34 and you almost feel preyed upon, in a sense.
00:22:38 And that's just how I feel.
00:22:39 And I'm one guy with 20 years of intense experience with this stuff.
00:22:44 I've had dinners with ministers.
00:22:46 I've been awarded awards by ministers, offered positions and parties.
00:22:52 And at the end of the day, when I said,
00:22:54 no, no, you've got to help the troops first and give us our money,
00:22:58 that's when it was no go for Jody Minnick in politics.
00:23:01 you know sorry i'm just uh you hit on a nerve there harrison and and this time of year i do
00:23:06 become a little more sensitive to this stuff and um i i appreciate this platform to talk about it
00:23:12 well i i absolutely and to be honest this is that's kind of the the goal is to actually just
00:23:18 have these conversations at a time when canadians are thinking about it dave did did did those
00:23:23 headlines about your fellow veterans being offered made as some sort of alternative to alternative
00:23:30 to health care or whatever the Veterans Affairs caseworkers were even thinking.
00:23:35 What did that cause inside of the community?
00:23:42 Well, I can tell you what it caused inside of me.
00:23:44 It's pure chaos and rage, and it makes me want to get back into a fight with a faceless enemy,
00:23:53 which is probably the worst thing for most veterans.
00:23:55 I've been in the veteran space now for over seven years,
00:23:58 and it's like Don Quixote trying to fight windmills.
00:24:01 You can't fight back.
00:24:03 That's the unfortunate thing.
00:24:04 And the amount of emotion that a story like this produces,
00:24:09 it can cause guys to go off the end.
00:24:12 Now, I'm thankful I've dealt with my mental health issues.
00:24:16 I continue to deal with them.
00:24:17 And I have a platform, which is my show,
00:24:21 which helps me vent, literally.
00:24:23 Well, I shouldn't say literally,
00:24:24 but it helps me get what I have in my mind out into the ether to be criticized. And I like it
00:24:30 because I get comments from folks. And those comments, I think, man, I got it rough. You hear
00:24:36 comments from veterans that have been in the dark, struggling for years, dealing with veterans
00:24:42 affairs and their issues. And they are so dark. I can't wrap my head around it. Now, are they all
00:24:48 truthful? I don't know. But a million flies can't be wrong. And the fact that MAID is ever offered
00:24:56 to veterans is so disgusting and morally reprehensible. This type of scandal should
00:25:03 bring down the entire Veterans Affairs staff, from minister to under minister to everybody.
00:25:08 And the prime minister should be held accountable. And even more, the king who's ultimately
00:25:13 responsible for all of us should be involved in this because his own soldiers are being offered
00:25:20 death and every veteran that goes through veterans affairs that gives them a ring or is like hey i
00:25:24 need help not a single one of them wants to commit suicide they're looking for help so imagine that
00:25:30 the one organization that's tasked with the care according to their mandate for veterans is saying
00:25:36 oh well it sounds like you're having a rough day how about we just end it it's super easy
00:25:42 The fact that that's even on the table, again, we're talking about Canadians, not just the general veteran population, but the general Canadian population.
00:25:52 I've seen the comments.
00:25:53 They refuse to believe there is way more than just the four that the government is admitted to offering made to.
00:26:01 If you look at Mark Meinka's show, Kelsey Sheeran's show, she is a bulldog in this, and she's collecting names.
00:26:08 The fact that there's a class action lawsuit is just the tip of the iceberg.
00:26:11 Will it go through and win?
00:26:13 Likely not to dealing with the government.
00:26:15 But as a community, this is something that fired me up so much that I decided to get into the advocacy space, build a nonprofit and start firing back at Veterans Affairs.
00:26:26 But more importantly, building our community stronger so that we can go and advocate as a group rather than individuals taking shots.
00:26:34 Because unless we do that as a community, we're never going to end up with the respect that we deserve.
00:26:39 this is a question for both of you guys but and i i want to ask you first jody because you said
00:26:45 that you you love the infantry you you want to get back involved if you can in in any way
00:26:52 but this the question is is mostly about this knowing what you know now and and what and the
00:26:59 impact that your service would have and the lack of support that you would eventually receive if
00:27:05 you go back in time would you have signed up um when you did and do it all over again
00:27:10 indeed I would uh you know again I'd sign up today it's not necessarily about me overall it's about
00:27:21 us and the collective and nobody's gonna look after us as good as us and I didn't have any
00:27:28 other plans when I was a kid I might have gone to college uh but the money wasn't available
00:27:32 and the army was there and i was already in the reserves and you know i chose to dedicate my life
00:27:40 to this country i'm a first son my dad was born in europe uh post world war ii my mom is an orphan
00:27:46 and i wanted my name to be associated with you know i grew up here i was born here in 1977 in
00:27:55 ontario i've been told and i believe this is one of the greatest countries on the planet
00:27:59 and one of the baddest armies on the planet going way back.
00:28:05 So why not be part of the best?
00:28:08 If you're going to get into the business of hurt
00:28:10 and be a professional tough guy,
00:28:12 you might as well do it with the best.
00:28:15 And overall, guys, you know,
00:28:17 this country is an idea as much as anything else,
00:28:21 and I believe in it.
00:28:22 I believe that anyone can come here and have a shot.
00:28:25 They might be overtaxed right now,
00:28:27 but, you know, taxes go up and down.
00:28:29 But Canada as an institution must succeed.
00:28:33 Otherwise, what did I go through it all for?
00:28:37 Dave, the same question to you.
00:28:42 I'm a bit spicier on this.
00:28:44 I've been saying loudly that, and to the young troops out there that are thinking about joining,
00:28:50 or young bucks that are thinking about joining, don't join.
00:28:52 Don't join. 1.00
00:28:53 They don't deserve your loyalty.
00:28:57 I appreciate everything I did in the military.
00:29:01 It made me who I am today.
00:29:02 It was probably the best decision I ever made.
00:29:04 But as it stands right now, I have children.
00:29:08 And there is no way I'd let the Canadian Armed Forces touch my children for any money.
00:29:13 And I come from a proud military family.
00:29:15 And it hurts me to say that because I would want nothing more than to see my kids carry on the tradition of being in the military.
00:29:21 And if Canada doesn't wake up to this reality that they're going to lose the same families that have been fighting the wars for the last 150 years, because that's the case, it's the same families sending their sons and daughters over and over again, there's no way Canada is going to be able to mount any sort of realistic defense or build its nation like it wants to.
00:29:43 And I'm like Jody, I believe 100% in Canada and what it represents. And that's why I went to go fight a war with the maple leaf on my shoulder.
00:29:51 But right now, that trust has been broken to the point where I do not trust the institutions
00:29:56 with my children, and I would not recommend anybody to join right now, and that's the
00:30:00 unfortunate reality.
00:30:02 Jody, the last question I have for both of you guys is this.
00:30:07 This episode will air on Remembrance Day, and you guys served along people.
00:30:14 You guys lost a lot of great Canadians in Afghanistan in the GWAT.
00:30:17 on remembrance day what do you what do you choose to remember and think about and are there
00:30:23 individuals that come to mind uh at the 11th hour when it's time to uh when it's time to really
00:30:29 really remember them yeah of course harrison um you know uh i get asked that question and for 20
00:30:37 years in a row and um it's always the same you know there's there's flashes of moments that last
00:30:44 you know in the movies an action scene lasts a few minutes uh in real life it's a couple seconds
00:30:49 typically unless you're in real trouble and uh you know we don't we're just a meat wagon you
00:30:57 know we're very susceptible to uh being hurt by steel and uh typically what happens is um
00:31:06 you know some of us don't make it out you know like i made it out missing some parts
00:31:10 so did a bunch of others but you know not all of all of us are as lucky and i can't help but
00:31:16 think about those moments and then also some of that we lost along the way to some of the stuff
00:31:22 we talked about in this conversation and you wish you could just grab them and tell them and remind
00:31:27 them at the last second you know you're gonna regret it pardon me and don't do the enemy's
00:31:32 work for him you've made it this far you survived you know combat the essence soldier stands for
00:31:37 survive and that's my advice to anyone seeing this life's for living um but you know when you
00:31:45 choose to be in this line of work you have to you have to remember you're standing on the shoulder
00:31:50 of giants of people that sacrifice far more than i did and uh if only at 11 a.m on november 11th
00:32:00 uh we all stop that's uh that's good you know they they're they'd be happy with that and uh
00:32:08 and they'd be you know that'd be enough for him dave same question obviously you know it's it'd
00:32:16 be it'd be great if canadians did more than just remembering on one hour on one day of the year
00:32:21 but that is largely the day when everyone's attention goes to this sort of thing same question
00:32:28 to you what what moments stick out or individuals stick out if uh if you want to share that
00:32:36 absolutely i mean uh i often think about you know those that we lost since coming home
00:32:43 i've got friends in the united states i serve with that are no longer with us and like jody said
00:32:50 don't do the enemy's work you know we survived this far
00:32:52 and oftentimes I you know the war itself is is kind of fleeting now it's over 15 years for me
00:33:01 but the emotion still stays and uh you know my kids are are there and they're starting to
00:33:08 understand what what this is all about and I want them to fundamentally understand what's
00:33:13 what's going on here and that um you know we have a we have a an opportunity to ensure that
00:33:19 the next generation is uh is at a point where they understand that their sacrifice required
00:33:25 in order to have such a great country and uh for me it's super emotional and uh i just think about
00:33:30 all those that uh didn't make it home and then uh took their lives out ultimately uh after getting
00:33:36 home so it's pretty solid well gentlemen we'll we'll leave it there i want to thank you both for
00:33:42 uh talking about what i think is oftentimes an an overlooked aspect of our military history
00:33:48 on remembrance day and that is the the g wad and and its impact um on on so many canadians so
00:33:55 thank you both for joining me i really appreciate it an honor and a pleasure sir
00:33:59 hey buddy thank you all for watching my name is harrison faulkner and this is ratioed