EvanL
05-17-2004, 12:54 PM
In the town of Bond Head, old-age pensioner Don Caster got to thinking, not about himself but about the war vets unable to afford the journey to attend 60th anniversary D-Day celebrations in Normandy next month.
That said, no one could blame him if he was thinking about himself. Last time we visited, he was sitting on his porch in a rickety wheelchair on a chilled autumn day, having been forced into house arrest by a health system so apathetic that it simply wished he would go away.
And he is still there, and still waiting. In mid-July, two full months from now, the 70-year-old former proprietor of the old O'Keefe Laundry, long since gone from the corner of Yonge and Dundas, has an appointment to see a surgeon in Barrie who might -- just might -- finally operate on the torn rotator cuff which took away his ability to walk on canes. By then he will have waited more than a year.
"But that's life," he says.
What got Don Caster thinking was the almost simultaneous collision between the Leafs being eliminated from the NHL playoffs and the news story about the Liberal government's reluctance to financially assist the now old men who wished to return to the Normandy beaches they stormed long ago and celebrate the victory that cost so many so dearly.
Wheelchair-bound Don Caster never made it down to the Air Canada Centre to see a Leafs playoff game, but he says that even his limited pension will allow him to chip in $500 for something as important as getting a vet to Normandy.
"You learn not to spend money you don't have by not buying things you don't need to impress people you don't like," he said. "It's the philosophy my parents lived by."
But that was not what Don Caster was thinking about. Instead he was thinking about the nearly 20,000 people who would have packed the ACC if the Leafs had knocked off the Philadelphia Flyers, all willing to pay an average of $245 a ticket to see a game in the conference final.
"In the end, it's money they didn't have to spend," says Caster. "So why don't they part with it now to help finance the D-Day veterans? After all, we do owe them.
"It's something to think about, isn't it?"
Indeed it is. Imagine if everyone who had tickets to Game 1 of the third round that never happened donated to the vets the money they no longer had to spend.
Leafs versus Tampa Bay. It's obviously not happening.
But D-Day celebrations are.
Do the math. Round off capacity at the ACC at 20,000, multiply it by the average ticket price of $245, and it adds up to almost $5 million in revenues.
"With that kind of money, we can tell (Prime Minister) Paul Martin and all his so-called ministers to go to hell," says Caster.
"Canadians owe these soldiers. Yes, we do."
Don Caster's idea was taken to Cliff Chadderton, himself a D-Day vet, who is not only the CEO of the War Amps, but is chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations.
But he says it can't be done -- not because Don Caster's idea isn't a good one -- but because the celebrations in Normandy have already been hijacked by politicians, the social elite and forward-thinking travel agencies.
"It's a mess," says Chadderton. "If even we wanted to, we couldn't. There is no more accommodation left in France. There are no more coaches (buses) left.
"It's all been taken over by dignitaries and officials."
Last week Veterans Affairs Minister John McCallum bowed to pressure in the Commons and promised $1,000 to help subsidize any D-Day vet's trip to Normandy.
"But it's not going to happen," Chadderton says. "How can they go when there are no places left to stay?"
Nonetheless, Chadderton's Ottawa-based War Amps could use any donation it can get, including those from Leaf fans who were spared from buying third-round tickets.
Don Caster may just have started something here.
That said, no one could blame him if he was thinking about himself. Last time we visited, he was sitting on his porch in a rickety wheelchair on a chilled autumn day, having been forced into house arrest by a health system so apathetic that it simply wished he would go away.
And he is still there, and still waiting. In mid-July, two full months from now, the 70-year-old former proprietor of the old O'Keefe Laundry, long since gone from the corner of Yonge and Dundas, has an appointment to see a surgeon in Barrie who might -- just might -- finally operate on the torn rotator cuff which took away his ability to walk on canes. By then he will have waited more than a year.
"But that's life," he says.
What got Don Caster thinking was the almost simultaneous collision between the Leafs being eliminated from the NHL playoffs and the news story about the Liberal government's reluctance to financially assist the now old men who wished to return to the Normandy beaches they stormed long ago and celebrate the victory that cost so many so dearly.
Wheelchair-bound Don Caster never made it down to the Air Canada Centre to see a Leafs playoff game, but he says that even his limited pension will allow him to chip in $500 for something as important as getting a vet to Normandy.
"You learn not to spend money you don't have by not buying things you don't need to impress people you don't like," he said. "It's the philosophy my parents lived by."
But that was not what Don Caster was thinking about. Instead he was thinking about the nearly 20,000 people who would have packed the ACC if the Leafs had knocked off the Philadelphia Flyers, all willing to pay an average of $245 a ticket to see a game in the conference final.
"In the end, it's money they didn't have to spend," says Caster. "So why don't they part with it now to help finance the D-Day veterans? After all, we do owe them.
"It's something to think about, isn't it?"
Indeed it is. Imagine if everyone who had tickets to Game 1 of the third round that never happened donated to the vets the money they no longer had to spend.
Leafs versus Tampa Bay. It's obviously not happening.
But D-Day celebrations are.
Do the math. Round off capacity at the ACC at 20,000, multiply it by the average ticket price of $245, and it adds up to almost $5 million in revenues.
"With that kind of money, we can tell (Prime Minister) Paul Martin and all his so-called ministers to go to hell," says Caster.
"Canadians owe these soldiers. Yes, we do."
Don Caster's idea was taken to Cliff Chadderton, himself a D-Day vet, who is not only the CEO of the War Amps, but is chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations.
But he says it can't be done -- not because Don Caster's idea isn't a good one -- but because the celebrations in Normandy have already been hijacked by politicians, the social elite and forward-thinking travel agencies.
"It's a mess," says Chadderton. "If even we wanted to, we couldn't. There is no more accommodation left in France. There are no more coaches (buses) left.
"It's all been taken over by dignitaries and officials."
Last week Veterans Affairs Minister John McCallum bowed to pressure in the Commons and promised $1,000 to help subsidize any D-Day vet's trip to Normandy.
"But it's not going to happen," Chadderton says. "How can they go when there are no places left to stay?"
Nonetheless, Chadderton's Ottawa-based War Amps could use any donation it can get, including those from Leaf fans who were spared from buying third-round tickets.
Don Caster may just have started something here.