Broken Contract: Why Veterans Affairs Is Failing the People Who Fought for Canada

Dave Morrow, a Canadian Air Force veteran and founder of the Hard to Kill project, delivers a powerful testimony before the ACVA Standing Committee, exposing systemic failures in Canada's veteran rehabilitation system. Drawing from his own experience and that of fellow veteran Nick, Morrow reveals how the PCVRS program—managed by a for-profit contractor owned by Loblaws and American private equity—prioritizes corporate KPIs over genuine care. He condemns the bureaucratic culture within Veterans Affairs (VAC) that treats injured veterans as data points to be processed rather than individuals to be healed, citing internal VAC documents that reveal contempt for benefits deemed 'too generous.' Morrow argues that the current model is dehumanizing, emasculating, and fundamentally broken, especially for combat veterans who served with honor and expect reciprocal care. He calls for a radical shift: independent oversight, veteran-led advocacy, and a rehabilitation model centered on physical health, fitness, and individualized recovery—rather than therapy and medication alone. The episode underscores a profound breach of the unwritten social contract between veterans and the state, urging systemic change through grassroots mobilization and direct government accountability.