[Gunnair]

$1:

Tory MP denies sleeping through meeting on homeless vets, calls accuser an NDP ‘hack’

Angry veterans’ advocates say a Conservative MP on the House of Commons veterans affairs committee slept through their presentation about efforts to help homeless former soldiers.

But Calgary MP Rob Anders, who is the target of the veterans’ animosity, said he never fell asleep and instead suggested they are NDP “hacks” who praised Russian strongman Vladimir Putin during the meeting.

Jim Lowther, president of Veterans Emergency Transition Services, said he couldn’t believe it when Anders slept through the group’s presentation at the Commons veterans affairs committee on Tuesday in Halifax.

Lowther said Anders came into the meeting 10 minutes late. “He was putting his arms up and rubbing his face,” said Lowther. “Then he started texting and then just slept for the rest.”

“He almost smashed his head on the table, he was that out of it.”

Liberal MP Sean Casey and Veterans Emergency Transition Services official David MacLeod also said Anders fell asleep. Casey said Anders has fallen asleep before at committee meetings.

But Anders says he was awake for the entire meeting and he accused Lowther of being under the control of NDP MP Peter Stoffer, the party’s veterans affairs critic. He said last year Lowther tried to go to one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s rallies but was refused entry.

He also accused Casey of making incorrect statements for partisan reasons.

“If you praise Vladimir Putin with the way he deals with veterans and you’re on NDP press releases and you praise Peter Stoffer and you’re in favour of the unionization and you try to crash the prime minister’s rallies and you criticize Rob Anders for visiting a mess hall, go figure,” Anders said. “Connect the dots.

“When you guys go quoting somebody I think it would be nice if you do a little background on this guy to figure out he’s a hack,” Anders added.

‘At that point I figured most people were paying attention, but then I looked down the table and there’s old snoozy’
But Anders appears to be confusing David MacLeod, in part at least, with Lowther. MacLeod said he made the actual presentation, while Lowther, who had pneumonia, sat beside him.

MacLeod said he mentioned in his presentation that the Russians had provided housing for their former soldiers and had set up a hospital to treat Afghan war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorders, something he thought was a good idea.

“I support Vladimir Putin?” said MacLeod, when told of Anders’ remarks. “I was in the Canadian Forces for 27 years. I’m former military intelligence for God’s sake.

“Maybe he was coming out of his sleep when he heard that,” MacLeod added, attempting to explain Anders’s confusion on the issue.

MacLeod noted he is a card-carrying member of the Conservative party in Nova Scotia and has voted for Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

The meeting was held at the officers mess at Artillery Park in Halifax. It was in a relatively small room with several veterans, two doctors who work with veterans, the MPs and four government employees present, say those who attended.

Lowther said he was disappointed about Anders’s claims and added that the MP is “out to lunch.”

Although he has praised Stoffer for his work with veterans, Lowther said he is a member of the Conservative Party. “It bugs me,” said Lowther. “Me as a member of the same party, it makes us (Conservatives) look stupid.”

Lowther said he was angry that Anders slept through what he thought was an important issue. “We helped get 13 vets off the street this year, and that’s what we were talking about,” said Lowther. “And he’s asleep. I felt like throwing an ice cube at him. I had to stop myself.”

Lowther said all the other MPs were very interested in the plight of veterans and for that he was thankful.

Anders said Lowther’s comments about the incident are designed to take advantage of a previous incident where he did nod off in the House of Commons.

“It’s totally a smear job,” said Anders. “He’s obviously in the pocket of Peter Stoffer.”


Last fall a YouTube video of Anders nodding off in the House of Commons became a hit with viewers. His office later told a constituent the reason he fell asleep was that he had been in a recent car accident, although no details about where or when that happened were provided, according to news reports.

MacLeod said he noticed the other MPs were quite interested in his presentation about the transition services group seeking charitable status but not wanting any federal funding.

MacLeod, along with Lowther, helps fund the volunteer organization with his own money.

“At that point I figured most people were paying attention but then I looked down the table and there’s old snoozy,” said MacLeod. “Old snoozy at the end of the table didn’t give a damn. That just fried my bacon.”

Lowther said Anders was quick to leave the meeting once it wrapped up. “As soon as the meeting was over, he was gone, he was out the door,” said Lowther.

But Anders denied that. He said he was one of the last to leave.

Liberal MP Sean Casey, who is on the committee, said Anders has fallen asleep before at its meetings. “This happens fairly regularly at veterans committee so it wasn’t out of the ordinary,” he said. “This isn’t the first time.”

Casey said it is up to Anders to offer an explanation. But he added: “I wouldn’t for one minute accuse him of falling asleep because he doesn’t care, although I can see why someone would come to that conclusion.”

Anders complained that another of the presenters favoured unionization of the RCMP.

“I’m obviously not a fan of unionizing the RCMP, and I’m obviously not a fan of Vladimir Putin,” he added.

Postmedia News

Class act with the vets.

Fuckface...

[Freakinoldguy]

Disgracefull.

The Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs showing that much contempt for veterans doesn't bode well for us in the future, does it?

[2Cdo]

Not defending him but maybe he should see a doctor about sleep apnea. I suffer from it and before being diagnosed there were days where I couldn't keep my eyes open no matteer what was going on around me. Since getting treatment I don't have that issue anymore.

If not suffering from some malady that affects his sleep patterns, then I agree, what a fucking asshole.

[Freakinoldguy]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Not defending him but maybe he should see a doctor about sleep apnea. I suffer from it and before being diagnosed there were days where I couldn't keep my eyes open no matteer what was going on around me. Since getting treatment I don't have that issue anymore.

If not suffering from some malady that affects his sleep patterns, then I agree, what a fucking asshole.

The only malady this asshat seems to be suffering from is arrogance. Hopefully this will cut his tenure short and we can get someone who actually understands and cares about the military to replace him.

As the matter of fact this is just about as bad as when Cretin made that Phillipino head of Veteran Affairs and the guy could barely speak understandable english. He was a real treat to watch explaining how great a job they were doing for us.

[2Cdo]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Not defending him but maybe he should see a doctor about sleep apnea. I suffer from it and before being diagnosed there were days where I couldn't keep my eyes open no matteer what was going on around me. Since getting treatment I don't have that issue anymore.

If not suffering from some malady that affects his sleep patterns, then I agree, what a fucking asshole.

The only malady this asshat seems to be suffering from is arrogance. Hopefully this will cut his tenure short and we can get someone who actually understands and cares about the military to replace him.

So you've completed a diagnosis of him?

[Gunnair]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Not defending him but maybe he should see a doctor about sleep apnea. I suffer from it and before being diagnosed there were days where I couldn't keep my eyes open no matteer what was going on around me. Since getting treatment I don't have that issue anymore.

If not suffering from some malady that affects his sleep patterns, then I agree, what a fucking asshole.

The only malady this asshat seems to be suffering from is arrogance. Hopefully this will cut his tenure short and we can get someone who actually understands and cares about the military to replace him.

So you've completed a diagnosis of him?

I'll throw it out there that this guy is intelligent enough to know if he has a sleep disorder and I'll also throw it out that he is politically astute enough to admit it in order to not come off looking like a complete shit pump.

[Freakinoldguy]

If he was seriously suffering from narcolepsy or sleep apnea so severe it made him fall asleep during a hearing, I'm pretty sure it would have shown up alot sooner than this meeting and don't you think the opposition would have had a field day with a guy falling asleep anytime in Parliment?

So based on an MP's ability to get superior medical care because of their position in the Government and apparent lack of symptoms leading up to and following this hearing, Disrespectful, arrogant, ASSHAT is the only diagnosis that makes sense.

So until someone comes up with a definative medical excuse for his actions my diagnosis stands.

[raydan]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Not defending him but maybe he should see a doctor about being a fucking asshole. I know people who suffer from it and before being diagnosed there were days where they couldn't help themselves from being fucking assholes no matter what was going on around them. Since getting treatment though, it hasn't changed a bit.

If not suffering from some malady that causes him to be a fucking asshole, then I agree, what a fucking asshole.

Fixed...

[Public_Domain]

$1:

Lowther said Anders came into the meeting 10 minutes late. “He was putting his arms up and rubbing his face,” said Lowther. “Then he started texting and then just slept for the rest.”

“He almost smashed his head on the table, he was that out of it.”

Lol tween girl.

[Tricks]

Or any university student.

[PimpBrewski123]

If the MP dozed off out of boredom, that ain't right and completely disrespectful.

[Scape]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Not defending him but maybe he should see a doctor about sleep apnea. I suffer from it and before being diagnosed there were days where I couldn't keep my eyes open no matteer what was going on around me. Since getting treatment I don't have that issue anymore.

If not suffering from some malady that affects his sleep patterns, then I agree, what a fucking asshole.

Well said.

[EyeBrock]

Just bad optics, regardless of any medical issues. Him texting through the meeting is just rude.

If I'm having a conversation with somebody and they check their phone and start texting, I stop talking and go and do something else. Seems to have worked pretty good as people have stopped doing that at work now.

Texting while you have vets meeting you just shows to them that the text is more important than they are.

[Thanos]

Maybe Anders was just plain tuckered out from rubbing out another "donation" at the local sperm bank a half-hour before. These things could happen to any one of us you know!

[2Cdo]

Gunnair Gunnair:

I'll throw it out there that this guy is intelligent enough to know if he has a sleep disorder and I'll also throw it out that he is politically astute enough to admit it in order to not come off looking like a complete shit pump.

The vast majority of people who have some degree or another of sleep apnea is far higher than those who have been diagnosed. A lot of men in positions of power often DON'T seek medical attention regularly and thus attribute their tiredness to the long hours they work. The process to being diagnosed is long, involving a doctors recommendation for a sleep study to be performed with a follow-up 3-6 months later. The degree of apnea can mean doing things as simple as using a mouthpiece to keep the airway open to using a CPAP machine which forces air into the lungs during sleep.

The sleep study itself is not easy, picture being wired up like Frankensteins monster, plus air tubes, plus tension straps on the legs and just try to sleep! And if you do manage to sleep the attendant will come wake you to try some other application to help! I had to undergo 4 of these tests over a 2 year period until we found the ideal treatment.

Nowadays I feel great, quit smoking, exercise more and the only time I fall asleep is if I'm watching a political show and a member of the NDP is talking!