Lest we forget? Clearly we’ve forgotten, Rick Mercer says of Veterans Affairs cuts

"Never done this before," Rick Mercer said Friday night as he tweeted a link to "Lest We Forget" — an advanced viewing of a "rant" that will run during his Nov. 13 program.

The segment, which runs a little longer than a minute and a half, takes aim at the Conservative government and its treatment of veterans.

"As all Canadians know, there is nothing more moving than watching veterans of WW2 or Korea attend the Remembrance Day ceremony," says Mercer, a long-time advocate for the Canadian Forces. "Those people have been there my entire life. But the truth is that as time marches on, Canada loses 500 veterans of WW2 every single week."

Mercer criticizes the closure of Veteran Affairs offices across the country and makes light of the Government of Canada app that directs veterans — average age of 88 — to the closest Service Canada office. "If they want to make burial arrangements, they have to take a number behind some guy like me who’s waiting to get his passport renewed."

Says Mercer: "I’m sorry, if you fought on the beach in Dieppe and survived, you should not have to spend any portion of your final days on this earth in a Service Canada office. And the fact that a majority of our MPs voted to send those who served on the front lines to the back of the line means ’lest we forget’ is meaningless. Clearly, we’ve forgotten."

• The rant will air Nov. 13. View it here.

From our archives:

• Rick Mercer: Why I rant. And why you should to.