Paul Robinson is a professor at the University of Ottawa. Writer for the Ottawa Citizen. Good for him. Does that make him entitled to comment on anything he has not experienced first hand? I think not.
Please see the following letter to editor Peter Stoffer submitted in response to an article that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on August 6th. The website link to the original opinion piece by Paul Robinson is included in Peter’s letter below.
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Dear Editor,
I vehemently disagree with Paul Robinson and his opinion that “There is no ‘sacred duty’ to Canada’s veterans.” (Ottawa Citizen August 6).
Paul gives an example of motorcycle riders getting into accidents and
sustaining head trauma.
"To illustrate this point, in an article titled Why Treat the Wounded? Michael Gross asks us to imagine a scenario in which three people suffer identical head injuries: a man riding a motorbike and wearing a helmet, who through no fault of his own is struck by a speeding car; another man, also riding a motorbike, but not wearing a helmet, who runs a red light and hits a car; and a soldier injured in battle. It is not obvious in this scenario why the state has a duty to give the soldier better medical treatment than it gives to the bikers.
Reading this confused mans' explanation brings some important questions to my mind. Was the motorbike driver in a war zone? Was the motorbike driver looking out for snipers? Was the motorbike driver concerned about hitting an IED? Was the motorbike driver traveling with a platoon of other motorbike riders at the time? Did the motorbike driver and his platoon, witnessed or hear about another motorbike rider being killed the day before? Was the motorbike driver away from his/her friends and family for months? Was the motorbike driver given adequate trauma counselling in theatre exactly like they would if they were a civilian having experienced a school shooting the day before? Was the motorbike driver ordered to drive that day regardless of his mental or physical condition? Did the motorbike driver have access to free private confidential medical treatment upon his request that day?
Any individual with the narrow minded, uneducated, ignorant point of view of comparing a motorbike rider getting a head injury in Canada to a member of our military, overseas, getting the same injury under totally different circumstances, needs more schooling and maybe, just maybe, a little TI!
Oh writer Paul, TI means "TIME IN". Which means time in service to ones country in a war zone. Civilian!
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