Canada: The Reemergence of Veteran Issues in Canada: State Retrenchment and Gendered Veteran Advocacy

From Canada, Eichler’s analysis highlights the impacts of emerging socioeconomic conditions, changing government policy, and new forms of “nontraditional” veteran advocacy which see the figure of the Canadian veteran in a state of flux as the focus of this chapter. Eichler’s chapter charts the governments’ efforts to limit the veteran category while simultaneously veterans’ advocacy groups attempt to broaden and diversify the category. Eichler presents two examples of Canadian veteran advocacy, veterans protesting the removal of lifelong disability pension rights under the New Veterans Charter (NVC) and veterans advocating for the needs of military sexual trauma (MST) survivors. Arguing these two largely disconnected and gendered examples encapsulates the contested arena in which veterans’ transition is currently framed in Canada. According to Eichler, the now well-established Canadian veterans’ research program, barely visible 20 years ago, is evolving into utilizing critical approaches to transition, arguing for the recognition of veterans as agents and subjects in their own right.