After a history of conflict overseas, retired Col. Pat Stogran is waging a new war on home soil.
"In my retirement, I knew one thing: I wasn't going to work for anybody anymore, but I decided I was going to war - and I'm at war with the Canadian government," said Stogran, who after a career in the Canadian Forces with deployments in Bosnia and serving as commanding officer for Third Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Afghanistan was appointed as the country's first veterans ombudsman in 2007.
On Friday, Stogran brought his campaign to the western front, stumping for Cariboo-Prince George independent candidate Sheldon Clare.
Clare is one of seven candidates in the riding, on the ballot with Liberal Tracy Calogheros, the unaffiliated Gordon Campbell, New Democrat Trent Derrick, Christian Heritage Adam De Kroon, Conservative Todd Doherty and Green Richard Jaques.
Stogran wasn't invited to serve a second term as ombudsman and spent the end of his three-year appointment calling attention to shortfalls in funding and resources for veterans.
"And if we were in the southern hemisphere, I'd be arming you all right now with torches and pitchforks and we'd be dealing with this the way we should. But we're Canada and we don't treat people like that. My experience with government was counterintuitive because they don't act like Canadians," said Strogan, laying most of the blame at the feet of the political party system.
"I took it on and I said to myself 'how do we break that corporate culture in Ottawa?' And I decided that I'm going to push the idea of independent candidates," said Stogran.
Clare and Stogran first crossed paths more than 30 years ago when Clare was a junior officer working at a cadet camp in Vernon. " I was able to serve with Pat Stogran briefly there - he was in charge of adventure training," said Clare.
Clare's candidacy fit snugly within Stogran's anti-party wheelhouse and his visit came on the heels of campaigning with Edmonton-area independent candidate Brent Rathbeger - a former Conservative MP who left the caucus in 2013.
Stogran touted the advantages of independent representation - "even a greasy, right-wing kind of guy" such as Clare, he joked - as a way to build momentum and create a wedge in the House of Commons.
There's a lot to be said for being an independent, said Clare, because he's not tied to a party or their talking points. "I've tried to look at issues in terms of what's best for Cariboo-Prince George, what's best for Canada and what's best for the people that I aspire to serve in the role of your member of Parliament," he said.
And while it's too late for this election for the necessary groundswell of independent candidates, Stogran said he's looking down the road to future contests.
"If we start supporting homegrown representation to go to Ottawa, that aren't members of these corporate entities, .... if we can break that culture, then we can get Canada back on to the track that we all understand," Stogran said.
