Minister touts new and expanded benefits

Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr has all but ruled out a return to the old way injured veterans received pensions, setting up a potentially vicious fight with some of those hurt in uniform.

In an interview Friday with The Canadian Press, Hehr touted the benefits and services available under the New Veterans Charter, which replaced the previous pensions-for-life system in 2006.

Those include a lump-sum payment, career training and targeted income-replacement programs, many of which the Liberals have topped up and expanded over the last two years.

Wednesday’s budget saw the government commit to paying up to $80,000 for long-serving veterans who want to go back to school, as well as additional help to find civilian jobs and new money for families. Those are in addition to a number of measures adopted in last year’s budget.

“The whole suite of benefits under the New Veterans Charter were not available under the Pension Act,” Hehr said. “My dad always says this: ‘The good old days weren’t always so good.’”

But some veterans say the current system provides less financial support over the course of a lifetime and have demanded that the old pensions-for-life be brought back.

Hehr stopped short when asked whether the old pension system is dead, but veterans were told by a member of his staff in at least one briefing earlier this week that it would not be coming back.