My cry of shame is directed at the "dog and pony show" held at CFB Gagetown today Thursday June 23, 2005. As I watched the "media op" for the government. It sickened me. It is obvious that DENY, DENY, DENY is still alive and well in this day and age.

It amazed me to see how quickly they put the forum together. They haven't wanted to talk about this for 50 years but now that it has national attention they can put a forum together a little too quickly. They didn’t give much time for the thousands of indviduals who moved from Gagetown to attend. I know Kenneth Dobbie drove overnight from Ontario. Oh and the timing was incredible…. Thursday afternoon at 1:30. Why didn’t they have it in the evening when more people were not working and able to attend? God forbid they have too many show up! I’m not sure I’m crazy about the location either. Would some be intimidated? I’ suspect there were some present military personnel and spouses who didn’t attend out of fear of repercussions.

It is said that you will not remember what someone says or what they do but you will always remember how they make you feel. The people who put that exhibition together made me feel very insignifigant.

Alas, there is always beauty if you look for it. What I saw today was so much beauty in the form of those who attended. You should all be proud!

Kenneth Dobbie you amazed everyone with your story and calm mannerr. Ken you are my new hero :)

Derrick Williams whose family has suffered so much. Derrick wasn’t sure if he could make it due to work but said his employer were good people and would probably understand. God bless them.

Graham Payne who is "not shy to criticize the Government of Canada" and spent more time at Camp Petersville than the woodpeckers. Thank you Graham

All of you who spoke are heroes. It was wonderful that I now have faces to go with the email you sent here to www.AgentOrangeAlert.com.

We need to speak as one voice. We need to organize. I would like to ask for suggestions on how we can organize… make our voice stronger. I would be glad to offer the use of this website to make the cause stronger. We need to exchange strategies, share ideas, share our stories and above all support one another.

One speaker at the meeting talked about a class action suit. Personally I thought it was sleazy to bring it up at that time and would go nowhere near the lawyer mentioned. I cant help but feel he was using it as an advertising opportunity. Just my opinion. For what its worth.

Tomorrow I will contact a lawyer or two and find out what is involved with a class action suit. I would like to know if this is something that we would be interested in doing. We could use this website to get a database of people who want to join the suit if there is one. Another reason for a class action suit is the publicity. We must keep this story alive. If we do not have media attention then interest will subdue from the public.

According to Greg Weston columnist for the Ottawa Sun says in his column today 

-Art