Graves of 45,000 veterans in disrepair due to funding shortfall: audit
OTTAWA — The veterans’ grave markers standing in orderly rows are clean and well-maintained on a brilliant summer afternoon.
The words on each are easy to read, even those carved decades ago, while the grey stones are all clean, the surrounding grass and flowers are trim and manicured.
Such a sight might not be a surprise at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa, but a new Veterans Affairs audit has found that tens of thousands of other such graves across Canada are in disrepair.
The culprit? A lack of federal funding.