Dear Editor
Prime Minister Robert Borden made a social covenant in 1917 that if you were injured fighting for Canada, you and your family would be cared for. That promise was repeated and reflected in veteran legislation until recently, but has been broken by the way Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government administers the New Veterans Charter it put into force in 2006.
A pending disabled veterans’ class action lawsuit argues the NVC, with its infamous one time lump sum payments instead of pensions, is unconstitutional, but the Harper government coldly responded it has no social contract with veterans. Government lawyer Travis Henderson conceded the new system is “less generous” than the old one, but argued current and future governments cannot be bound by past political promises.
Government policy has left Veterans Affairs Canada in turmoil, with offices closed, and 897 jobs cut (33 per cent) in the disability awards branch – the area singled out for criticism in the recent Auditor General’s report for being too slow to approve treatment. The health and rehabilitation branch also had 372 staff cut. Retired Captain Medric Cousineau says, “This institutional betrayal is a national disgrace.”
There is a direct connection between staff cuts, application wait times, and the $1.13 billion in allocations for veteran’s services that went unspent, and returned to the federal treasury, since 2006. Chaos in Veterans Affairs meant veterans missed out on $133 million unused in 2013-14. Twenty per cent of veterans with mental health issues, and their families, go without treatment for eight months – literally fighting for their lives. Wounded veterans say government is trying to balance the budget on their backs.
Harper’s strategy to head off the impending public relations crisis caused by the Auditor General’s report was a misleading announcement of $200 million for veterans. A Globe and Mail article since revealed it could take up to 50 years for the money to be used.
From the recent past and extending back to Robert Borden’s straightforward promise during the First World War, Canada established a historic precedent for caring for injured soldiers. Our present prime minister should honour that obligation, a debt Canadians would be proud to pay.
Doug Bone
Elrose
