O’regan listens to Lennoxville veterans
Federal Veterans’ Affairs Minister Seamus O’regan was in Lennoxville on Friday to hold the 43rd of a series of town-hall style meetings with local veterans that he has been participating in across the country since January with the goal of explaining new programs that the government has put in place to support veterans and to listen to their concerns. The meeting took place at the Army, Navy, and Air Force Veterans in Canada Hut on Saint-francis Street and saw about 50 people turn out.
“No matter who you are; young, old, military or civilian, your wellbeing is important,” O’regan told those gathered in his opening statements, highlighting mental health as being at the heart of all of the new programs that the government has put in place. “The pension for life is at the heart of these changes, and at the heart of the pension for life is mental health,” said the minister, who is also co-spokesperson of the Bell “Let’s Talk” campaign for mental health.
“Every year about 5,000 members of the regular forces make the transition to life after service,” O’regan said, explaining that in an 2016 survey nearly one third of those people said that the found that change difficult.
The question and answer period of the meeting was not open to the media, out of respect for the possible trauma of veterans’ lived experiences. More information about the Pension for Life and other Government of Canada programs for Veterans and their families is available on the Veterans’ Affairs website: http://www.veterans.gc.ca