Whether we like it or not, Canada is perfectly placed to be the battleground of choice in a future conflict: we share a long and long-disputed Arctic border with an increasingly militaristic and hostile superpower.

For at least the last 200 years, whenever veterans required care, government provided sometimes begrudgingly regardless of its economic circumstances.

Making the situation worse is the reluctance among teachers and administrators to report violent encounters to the police.

The sight of thousands of decorated veterans marching in protest and in unison to Parliament Hill would surely be too difficult to ignore.

Through no fault of their own, the very public show of individual strength and perseverance among Canadian Invictus athletes will give the very mistaken impression that all is well among those who have returned from war. It isn't.

We inherently expect the U.S. to make up for the ever-increasing gaps in our military capabilities. And, like the classic enabler, the U.S. unwittingly continues to allow Canada to live its traditional middle power delusion of global significance.

This would mean giving the military rank and file the right, as a group, to self-advocate and negotiate for improved salary, benefits and working conditions within government-approved parameters.