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In the face of growing calls for him to resign or be fired, Fantino had tried to offer an olive branch Wednesday to the former soldiers left angry and insulted after the veterans affairs minister abruptly cancelled his meeting with the veterans, only to then “barge in” at the last minute and apparently insult the group. The minister blamed a Tory cabinet meeting that ran late for the “regrettable delay. ”

“It’s human nature that people make mistakes,” said Bruce Moncur, a 30-year-old veteran who served in Afghanistan. “But if you keep making the same mistake over and over, sorry’s not good enough.”

The Conservatives were in full damage-control mode as both opposition parties joined veterans in demanding Fantino be fired over his brusque handling of the meeting late Tuesday.

“I absolutely regret yesterday’s events and, as I did last evening, I apologized directly to the veterans and again I apologize now,” Fantino said as he read from a prepared statement in the House of Commons. “I wanted to meet with them to hear their case and their stories, and explain to them the changes that we are making that will, in fact, look after their interests and their families in the long term.”

But the veterans, stung by the encounter, refused to accept Fantino’s apology.

“We’re not interested,” Paul Davis said. “He doesn’t mean it from the heart.”

Second World War Veteran Roy Lamore called Fantino’s apology a performance that was “ridiculous, stupid and the worst thing” he has ever heard.