Mishall RehmanHis passion for freedom of expression coupled with his belief that he is part of a silent majority, led retired Warrant Officer Lee Humphrey to start a Facebook page in support of the Conservative Party called Veterans for the Conservative Party of Canada.
The Facebook page was created in staunch support of the Conservative Party and clearly states: “This page is dedicated to veterans & serving members who support the Conservative Party of Canada and reject the policies offered by the NDP, LPC & Greens.”
Humphrey opened the page on August 19th of this year in response to an article posted on his personal page from the “Anything But Conservatives” campaign, a group of veterans strictly against the Conservative Party. He made a comment saying this campaign didn’t represent him and noticed many of his friends agreed.
“We who support the Conservatives are a silent majority. I wrote a rant about it on my personal page and I thought silent majorities don’t win anything they lose. The loud minority position wins if the silent majority stays silent. I’m always ranting and not doing anything about it, so I thought maybe it was time to step up and do something about it,” said Humphrey.
In just little over a month, the page has accumulated over 3,400 likes.
Humphrey felt the need to show his support in response to the ABC.
“Many of us signed up to defend our country for various reasons. Freedom of expression has always been a big thing for me. Many of the countries I lived in and was deployed to, suppress freedom of expression and the idea that the ABC group immediately bans any dissent to group seems like the opposite of the message veterans like to send. We needed a platform to debate those who disagree and a platform for those who agree with us to express themselves,” expressed Humphrey.
Humphrey believes that along with him many other veterans, in fact, do support the Conservative party. Breaking down all parties’ position on what he calls the “four pillars” for a successful government, including issues like military and veterans’ issues, justice, foreign policy and the economy, Humphrey believes the Conservatives come out on top.
“They [ABC] have spent 20 or so months of being in Canadian ears telling them that all vets aren’t getting what they deserve and the benefits and services they need. That’s simply not the case. An overwhelming majority of veterans of all eras are getting exactly what they deserve and the benefits and services they need. Some veterans have slipped through the cracks and some been screwed by the very bureaucracy the ABC are being funded by,” stated Humphrey.
The Veterans for the Conservative Party group has been acknowledged by the Party. Humphrey was invited to attend a rally and meet Prime Minister Harper during his visit to Calgary.
Humphrey thinks the Facebook page will give Canadians the other side of the debate that’s been going on since the existence of groups like ABC.
“We [veterans] don’t move in lock step. We’re a large group with 700,000 in existence and around 200,000 veterans are receiving benefits. We are a group with different opinions, different backgrounds and different priorities. But of the three parties a huge number of us support conservative party,” said Humphrey.
