Legion to offer its own mental health system
The Royal Canadian Legion hopes to establish a countrywide system to help veterans who suffer from mental illnesses but it’s not backing down from its controversial plan to charge ex-soldiers a fee to join that support group.
Glynne Hines, who heads the legion’s new Operational Stress Injury Special Section, said the group does not provide health services to veterans but instead will direct them to existing programs.
He said he doesn’t believe the initiative is duplicating the extensive system put in place by Veterans Affairs and the Department of National Defence. Those organizations have numerous offices, family and peer support groups across the country, as well as clinics to provide health services to those dealing with post-traumatic stress injuries and other mental illnesses.
The legion’s group will complement the existing system, Hines said.
“Our business is reaching out to veterans and their families who need the support and actually bringing them to where they can get support,” Hines said.
In June, Postmedia reported that the legion would charge those with mental illnesses, as well as their family members, a $10 administration fee.
On its Facebook page, the legion’s Dominion Command posted a claim suggesting the Postmedia article was wrong. But that has since disappeared from the page and Hines confirmed a fee would be charged.
“We started this as a notional $10,” he said.
The money would go toward paying additional administration costs that may be required, providing the group with a degree of independence from the legion, he said.
“If I have to go to the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Legion to do something as simple as (buy) additional public relations brochures, pins, commemorative items, and if the legion says no then I have no way of doing that,” he said.
The news of the fee touched off controversy in the veterans’ community, with some former soldiers pointing out the legion has millions of dollars in the bank and recently donated $500,000 to sponsor a sporting event for injured veterans.
That anger only increased when an article in the Hill Times estimated that executives at the legion’s Dominion Command in Ottawa were receiving salaries ranging from $95,000 for lower-ranked deputies to $255,0000 for the upper executive level.
Other veterans have noted that the DND and Veterans Affairs don’t charge for the services they provide.
Some former military personnel have asked why the legion’s existing service officers couldn’t help veterans dealing with mental illnesses.
Hines said newer veterans feel more comfortable with individuals who have been through similar experiences so that is where the legion’s Operational Stress Injury Special Section can play a role.
As for the existing system operated by the DND and Veterans Affairs, Hines said: “If it was so good why do we have people on the streets, why do we have people who have gone underground?”
Hines said the legion’s new group is fundraising from businesses and individuals and is being congratulated for its initiative to help military personnel.
It hopes to have a presence eventually in many legion branches across the country, Hines said.
Much of it will be in place by the end of the summer, he said.
IF (THE EXISTING SYSTEM) WAS SO GOOD WHY DO WE HAVE PEOPLE ON THE STREETS?