• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Veterans License Plates

Michael Dorosh

Army.ca Veteran
Reaction score
0
Points
410
http://www.cfcn.ca/

On the right hand side there is a poll about veteran's license plates.  They have them in BC, but not Alberta.  The voting right now is about 2 to 1 not in favour of giving vets license plates.

Vote now if you are in favour of this!
 
68% say NO !!!

F'n ungratefull A' holes!!!!!!!!! >:( :sniper:

I was not going to get one, but now I will after voting and reading those results!!!! :cdn: :salute:
 
Why would people vote against veterans plates? It's less trouble than the already existing custom plates, and doesn't hurt anybody, so what's the deal?
 
Vet's plates

A word of caution from BC, know who is speaking on your behalf otherwise serving members could be left out in the dark...

Being quite familiar with the enabling legislation in Ontario and Nova Scotia, I thought that I would soon be affixing new plates on my vehicle. However, that is not the case as the eligibility criteria in BC, although virtually identical to that of Nova Scotia and Ontario contains one significant difference. To apply in BC you must be â Å“honourably dischargedâ ? while other in provinces you must have â Å“served honourablyâ ?.

I've been told by the office staff of the Pacific Command, Royal Canadian Legion that the door may open up next year which will allow other classes of veterans to be deemed eligible to apply for the plates however, I would suggest that the damage has been done.

I would further suggest that this circumstance is quite typical of the way modern day vets are viewed by many in veterans "advocacy" groups. It seems they convinced the BC licensing authorities, perhaps even inadvertently, that our service is not worthy of recognition. God forbid a current CF member with decades of honourable service would even think of considering himself to be amongst those â Å“trueâ ? veterans. I find it most amazing that currently serving, modern day veterans, as defined by the Government of Canada, can be full members of a veterans group yet are ineligible for veteran's plates...

What would I like to have happen? The criteria should be immediately opened up to allow serving Canadian Forces members who meet the definition as a veteran be afforded the opportunity to access the plates as is the case in six provinces (NS, Nfld, NB, PEI, Ont and most recently Manitoba).
Interestingly, Manitoba's legislation was amended at the 11th hour to include current CF members... I trust that several thousand Canadian Forces members, both regular and reserve, currently serving in the province of BC could be also honoured in the same fashion as those who served before us and since retired.



 
As a reservist who has never served operationally I would be embarrassed to afix "Veterans" plates to my automobile even though I apparently qualify as a "serving CF member."  I guess this mean CIL officers are all "veterans" now too.

I am all for the 'veteran' label being applied to troops who have served in Afghanistan or on peacekeeping duty - I can actually see some logic to the "honourably discharged" requirement also. 
 
My father served 25 years and was operational. He deserves the plate. I'm with Dorosh, I do not qualify, neither do CIL, Veteran....of WHAT?

Cheers
 
They have had them here for years. Personally I think its pretty sad that a :cdn: Vet   :salute: has to wait until he is in his 80s to be recognised this way (although I view any family of a vet or serving or former soldier (with operational service) should have the plates too).

A few wks ago when I was in Saskatchewan, a friend of mine said they were soon to be available in Saskatchewan too.

I think its a good move.  

Say yes.

Regards,

Wes
 
I don't know about other "vets" but my father recieved his plate when he was 62.

Cheers
 
Being quite familiar with the enabling legislation in Ontario and Nova Scotia, I thought that I would soon be affixing new plates on my vehicle. However, that is not the case as the eligibility criteria in BC, although virtually identical to that of Nova Scotia and Ontario contains one significant difference. To apply in BC you must be â Å“honourably dischargedâ ? while other in provinces you must have â Å“served honourablyâ ?.

/snip

I'm sorry, but can somebody tell me the difference

And speaking from a future CIL officer, I would NEVER ever think of getting a veteran licence plate...

 
To have "served honourably" does not preclude those members still serving to have them.  I presume it means either/or - to have "served honourably" for the three year time limit, and either still in, or out.

"Honourably discharged" however, means you are obviously no longer serving.

I wish they would have divvied them up into "Veteran" and "Serving Member" plates, but given an either/or, I'm happy that the veterans got them.
 
Ah, thanks for clarifying that for me.

On the same line as 'serving member' plates, it would be cool to get one with one's respective unit on it.

 
I honestly fail to see what all of the "hoopla" is about where currently serving or recently retired CF members are concerned.  I may be way off-base here, but to me the Veteran's license plate is all about recognizing and deferring to those who served on active duty on combat operations in the interests of  our nation.  In that context, I would personally draw the "current" line at those who served in the Korean War - Army, Navy or Airforce.  What does the license plate mean, if it doesn't confer some sort of deferential treatment upon the bearer?  If I see a Veteran's license plate in front of me, then I am inclined to hang back and give the bearer the "first move" traffic-wise.  If I see a Veteran's plate in the parking lot, then I am inclined to concede the primo parking spot to the bearer.  And so it goes....

This business of currently-serving CF members whinging about their "right" to have a special license plate gives me serious cause to question their motivations.  It smacks of self-serving clap-trap.  Does a 3 year Basic Engagement in the Regular Force where the member does nothing more than flip eggs in a Service Battalion deserve special recognition?  What about the guy (or gal) who serves 20 years of Thursday nights and a weekend per month in the Primary Reserves without ever leaving their home town?  Just what is it that makes them somehow special and deserving of public recognition? 

I don't presume to know what the ideal criteria for "Veteran" license plates should be, but I do know that the current parameters are so all-inclusive that the plates themselves are meaningless.  Much like the title "veteran" itself - now expanded for politically-correct reasons to include just about anyone who ever donned a CF uniform.  Give me a break - for the vast majority of us it is/was simply a job with some additional "structure".  Genuine hardship and sacrifice are concepts quite foreign to most who have rendered Canadian military service in recent years,  And yet we are all "Veterans".  Veterans of what?  Of having to show up for work on time?  Of having to cut our hair a certain way?  Of having been told what to do during working hours?  Ooohhh - now there are some worthy grounds for a "special" license plate. 

Seriously folks - just what the heck have most of us done to deserve a "special" license plate on par with our countrymen and women who truly put it on the line during the Korean War, in the Medak Pocket, or elsewhere? 

I walk through the J-7 parking lot at CFB Gagetown every morning, and I see roughly every 10th car with "Veteran" license plates.  And do you know what my "gut" response is?  Derision.  Based on a class of people who are evidently looking for some sort of misplaced validation as a result of what they have elected to do for a living.  Quite frankly, I find the entire subject to be quite pathetic.  If your self-esteem is rooted in having a special license plate that is so generic as to be entirely meaningless, then you have some serious issues....

By all official criteria, I am entitled to a "Veteran" license plate.  26 years of Reserve and Regular Army infantry service, including officially-sanctioned combat operations.  But at 40 years old you wouldn't catch me dead with such a plate.  Why?  Because to me the "Veteran" plate says "been there, done that, rendered service to the nation, and am now old and feeble to the point that you should give me a break".  I am not quite there yet. 

When I see a 30 year-old step out of a car bearing "Veteran" plates, I automatically think "pathetic wannabe".  To me, it is a shamefull expression of inadequacy.  Everyone wants to be proud of what they do for a living (or a hobby), and that is cool.  That is why they make "Army" stickers for your car window or bumper.  As for the license plates?  I say leave those to the truly retired who have done their bit.  Exact criteria to be determined, but certainly more rigid than it is now.  Limiting the license plates to someone who made a full or part-time career of the military for a minimum of 10 years would be a good first step in my opinion.  Furthermore, the plates SHOULD only be available to those who have left military service.  How the heck can you be a "veteran/ancienne combattant" if you are STILL SERVING?!?!?!

I say make the plates mean something.  As it stands right now, they are absolutely meaningless.  You may as well put a CF sticker on your bumper for all the distinction that it affords. 

Just my $.02 as a "Veteran in waiting".....
 
Mark, did you actually read any of the other posts before launching? ;D

I think (hope) you'll find that most of us are in agreement with you...

But I daresay, those of you who served in Afghanistan, or Medak Pocket, where hostile fire was exchanged should also count as "veterans". 

I will even go so far as to include peacekeepers, though those same egg flippers who simply did so (or tended bar, drove generals, or pushed paper in air conditioned offices) in Cyprus or Bosnia would also count along those who walked patrols or cleared minefields....

We've all been left to make our individual choices - put our money where our mouth is, so to speak.  I would hope that peer pressure would induce those 3 year BEs to disqualify themselves from getting the plates out of common sense.

As for the ARMY bumperstickers - they were apparently not made to be displayed outdoors. ;D  I am on my second or third one - they fade very quickly in the sun.  I have taken the expedient of cutting away the red lettering and applying the sticker to my red car; the CADPAT, ironically enough, fades less quickly than the red letters.  Applying the sticker whole simplyhas the entire thing fade to an unreadable grey blob rather fast.  So much for pride...
 
Michael Dorosh said:
I wish they would have divvied them up into "Veteran" and "Serving Member" plates, but given an either/or, I'm happy that the veterans got them.

I agree with you there, although I have not yet joined, I think that there should at least be a plate available for CF members, there are plates for the fire department, and others.
 
In ON you can buy custom plates, ie. Fire Dept., Star Trek Fan, Provincial Flower, Cdn Flag.  If you get the Cdn Flag one, it has the Cdn Flag on the left and "CF" in the middle of double didgit numbers.  Would that count?

GW
 
George Wallace said:
In ON you can buy custom plates, ie. Fire Dept., Star Trek Fan, Provincial Flower, Cdn Flag.  If you get the Cdn Flag one, it has the Cdn Flag on the left and "CF" in the middle of double didgit numbers.  Would that count?

GW

Ugh - if CF members are accorded equal status with Star Trek Fans, something has gone seriously wrong...I think I'll pass on the CF plates if that is the case.
 
Correct me if im wrong but I believe Quebec is the last province to authorize a veteran plate.
 
Back
Top