Veterans lacking proper support, watchdog says
Report calls for boost to financial, family help
As many as 1,000 military personnel forced to leave the Canadian Forces each year because of medical problems aren’t getting the help they need to make the jump to civilian life, a new report says. Veterans ombudsman Guy Parent wants “urgent” action by the Conservative government to improve financial help, vocational training and family support offered to veterans. When the federal government brought in the so-called new veterans charter in 2006, it was meant to be a “living document” that would be updated as needed. Yet, in the last seven years, there has been only one update, in 2011, Parent said. “Dissatisfaction and misunderstanding” continues among veterans, Parent said in a report released Thursday. “Former Canadian Forces members continue to face challenges when transitioning from military to civilian life.” Parent calls on Veterans Affairs to address what he calls “well-documented and unresolved shortcomings” and singles out three areas he wants to see addressed:
Military personnel leaving the forces face a cut in pay and the problems get worse for veterans when they hit age 65.
The effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation programs is “unclear.” It restricts access to university-level education and “constrains” employment opportunities.
Veterans and their families face reduced or eliminated support “at a time when support is needed the most.” As a result of those problems, many Canadian Forces members are seeking to stay in uniform as long as they can rather than getting a start on their civilian lives. “They want to hang on to their salary and financial security, to retain the high-quality medical care and support provided to them and their family,” the report says. “This can delay the start of vocational rehabilitation.” Though veterans can draw on a variety of financial benefits, depending on the nature of their illness or injury, quitting the forces still means an “immediate reduction” in salary. The salary hit can be even worse if a spouse is forced to quit their own job to act as a caregiver. And Parent said that veterans over 65 face an even greater salary shock when oth- er allowances come to an end.
The veterans’ charter faces a mandatory parliamentary review in October and Parent said he’s hoping his report will prompt “actionable decisions” on ways to make further improvements.
While the Conservative government has boasted about its support for the military, it has faced sustained criticism that it isn’t doing enough to support soldiers once they are out of uniform.
The Star put the issue in the spotlight in 2010 with its Wounded Warriors series that profiled the challenges confronting injured soldiers.
Last fall, wounded and injured soldiers launched a class-action lawsuit against the federal government over their benefits.
As well, Auditor General Michael Ferguson last fall complained that injured soldiers face a blizzard of confusing paperwork and bureaucratic delays in getting the help they need to make the move back to civilian life.
Parent suggested Thursday that the problem still exists, saying veterans face a “complex” array of benefits that can be tough to navigate.
“Communications has never been a strong point of Veterans Affairs Canada,” he said in an interview.
The office of Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney issued a oneline statement thanking Parent for the report but was silent on whether it intended to act on any of his recommendations.
Meanwhile, the Federal Court has rubber-stamped an $887-million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving thousands of disabled veterans. The case involved a threedecade-long federal government practice of clawing back the military pensions of injured soldiers by the amount of disability payments they received.