Ryan Jackson

Canada is still ranked better than many countries on corruption, but that is not a free pass. Transparency International says Canada has fallen to its lowest-ever corruption ranking.

Corruption is violence against working people when it steals care, time, dignity, and accountability. Corruption is committed by politicians and bureaucracies protecting systems while military families, injured workers, veterans, and ordinary Canadians are left to suffer.

When people cannot get a family doctor for 6+ years, apply to 30+ clinics, sit on government waitlists, and every office says “not my responsibility,” that is not leadership. That is institutional rot.

Countries like Romania and Ukraine show what happens when corruption weakens trust, weakens institutions, and weakens national security. Invasion is always the fault of the invader. But corruption weakens the country from the inside first.

Canada should learn before it gets worse.

Expand Maple access. Support military families. Support veterans’ families. Support injured workers. Stop the buck-passing.

Amazing Grace says the lost can be found.

A country can be found too.

The United States helped overthrow Iran’s democracy in 1953.

That wound travelled through generations.

A public apology would carry real spiritual power.

A nation can repent

I’m sharing this audio from a time when I was looking at old photos of my late sister Paula.

I cried because I miss her.

Paula was a military brat. She was the daughter of a disabled Canadian Armed Forces veteran.

I went into an art and imagination exercise. I felt the vastness of creation. I felt that life has no beginning and no end. I saw Paula in a bigger way.

Veterans Affairs Canada says family is central to a veteran’s well-being. VAC policy also expects relatives in to carry services. VAC policy says family members are needed in treatment and rehabilitation.

That means the federal government leans on family. It leans on family members who are not trained professionals, unpaid and expected to carry real work in the home.

Military brats like my sister Paula deserve a #military funeral because of the service the federal government expected from them.