Melvin Swan among those who will receive apology from Canadian military

The Canadian Armed Forces will be making a formal apology to veterans who have faced racial discrimination while serving. The ceremony scheduled for Oct. 30 will be held in Ottawa. Among those in attendance will be Melvin Swan, 66, a retired corporal who was one of the first to openly speak publicly about racism in the military. “Thirty years after the fact I am given an apology,” Swann told APTN News. “In my personal opinion, my health and body has been affected as well as my spirit there is so much distrust. “I had nothing for 20 years no veteran benefits. nothing.” In 1994, Swan won a human rights case against the military. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled the forces violated his rights by not properly investigating at least eight specific cases of racism. “Many instances of discrimination under the Charter of Rights under sec. 7, 10 and 14 I believe.” Swan joined the military when was 18 and joined the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. After four years, he transitioned to the military police. “[The] badge I wore was a thunderbird,” he said. “The thunderbird is personal with me, it’s my spirit, it’s my name and for them to run away from me and not want to hear the truth its ironic.” He left in 1988 after serving 12 years. Swan has heard an apology before. A student of the Mackay Residential School in Dauphin, Man., he listened to former prime minister Stephen Harper apologize to survivors. He said the military apology is much more personal. “What goes beyond this apology, for me I think, is I want to see a spiritual health policy for Veterans Affairs [Canada] to adapt first of all so they can look at our traditional way of life in this country because without that there is no truth and reconciliation in my eyes,” he said. Continue Reading