Veteran Voice.info

VVi is for you, all veterans, regardless of whether you belong to a veteran organization or not. VVi is a distribution centre, a conduit for making sure that the information you need as a veteran is there for you in a timely fashion. Our aim is to provide a forum for all Canadian veterans, serving members and their families to have access to information pertaining to veteran rights.

VVi is an independent site, not associated with any governmental department, agency or veteran organization. VeteranVoice.info is maintained by independent contributions.

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The following polls taken by VVi are ad-hoc, non-scientific polls. They may reflect a general sentiment of those that completed the polls.

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Chief Editor's Comments

(Published in The Hill Times)

In response to Minister Thompson’s comments in the article “Veterans Affairs too secretive, House should assess effectiveness: vet” by Bea Vongdougdouangchanh (Hill Times Jan 19, 2009 ), I offer the following:

One of the major complaints about the introduction of the new veterans charter is that no individual or group outside of VAC was provided with the full text to analyse and offer input before it was tabled in Parliament. Nor was the actual legislation given due process in Committee. Since then there have been no changes made to it, despite the repeated claims that it is a “living document”.  VAC secured support for the charter by providing a synopsis to six veterans organizations and would not permit any group to disclose this information beyond the select few representatives granted access to the synopsis.  Many of the recommendations proposed by veterans advocates over the past decades were not incorporated into the charter and VAC continues to be very reluctant to accept any changes regardless as to how often veterans and their supporters clamor for reforms.

The new charter is not an impressive package for three major reasons.  It does not provide the same programs for the so-called modern veteran and the wartime veteran (those who served in WW1, WW2 and Korean War).  Instead it segregates veterans into two categories, when both groups need similar benefits and services.  It also duplicated many programs which were already available to disabled veterans such as Long Term Disability (LTD) and Vocational Rehabilitation Programs (VRP) which are part of the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP) for which all modern CF members must pay. Finally it does not address any of the long standing deficiencies in older veterans legislation, which means that many elderly veterans and family members are still not receiving benefits and services. Minister Thompson has said on many occasions that Canada can never do enough to honour its veterans, but still veterans must prove that they should receive support through traumatic and convoluted appeal processes or legal actions.  Such actions may take years to resolve and not always in the favour of the veterans or their families.

One obvious exclusion from the new charter’s programs is the opportunity for veterans to participate in university academic programs.  Such benefits were offered to veterans of WW2 and are offered by other countries such as the US .  Canadian veterans are only entitled to vocational training, which means that they will not qualify for civil service jobs that require undergraduate or post-graduate degrees (such as those of VAC, which ironically employs very few veterans).

If the new charter is such a wonderful and all encompassing piece of legislation, then why was it rejected by the RCMP, which has traditionally associated with the Canadian Forces with regards to veterans legislation and policy?

For a party that champions accountability, the Conservatives have been very reluctant to be held accountable for the new veterans charter.  Its many flaws should be addressed and only public hearings can guarantee that it receives the scrutiny that has been denied by the “in camera” sessions of the Parliamentary committees and the advisory groups.

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