How Canada Is Shafting Its Vets July 30th, 2010 at 6:29 am Peter Worthington VVi 05 Aug 2010 Arguably, the worst thing that could happen to Canada’s shrinking number of WWII and Korea veterans (now down to about 150,000) and the growing number of Afghanistan vets, would be the blending on Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) into the Department of National Defence (DND). Bit that is precisely what is being considered as a cost-saving gesture – the kiss of death for every veteran, young or old, who needs support. Especially those veterans of Afghanistan, some of whom have horrendous injuries and have already been given short shrift by those who run the country. Recommendations to down-size VAC are understandable, since veterans of the past are falling like leaves in the fall. But the new crop of veterans have different injuries and needs – concerns that are difficult enough to get from VAC, and virtually impossible from DND. The difference between DND and VAC is that DND is an aggressive, dogmatic bureaucracy with the bit in its teeth, and is virtually uncontrollable. A law unto itself. VAC has always been a low-priority department with neither clout nor resources – a second tier ministry comprised of people who have good intentions but little influence. Melded into DND, it will have even less influence. DND exudes arrogance, disdain and stubbornness, while VAC traditionally lowballs applicants for disability pensions, but is open to argument and can be persuaded to be more generous. A case in point is Cliff Wenzel, a decorated WWII bomber pilot who earned a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), then won the Air Force Cross (AFC) during the Berlin blockade, and flew in the Malayan insurgency and Korean war – four wars and 20 years active flying with the RCAF, then nine more years in the RCAF auxiliary, teaching pilots. In 1960 Wenzel was wrongfully denied a reduced pension. He appealed through a succession of federal governments, and was always denied. Some 44 years later he got the ear of then Liberal Defense Minister Bill Graham, who saw the rightness of Wenzel’s case, turned the ombudsman loose on it, and personally apologized to Wenzel on behalf of Canada.
When the Harper Tories ousted the Liberals, Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor took the torch on Wenzel’s behalf and got him a grudgingly lump-sum settlement that was roughly 25% lower than actuarially it should have been – and then took back 60% of the payment in taxes. “My case was never about money,” says Wenzel. “It was about what’s right and what’s wrong. How many others are there who’ve been cheated?” For Wenzel, VAC was no help and DND was (is?) adamantly hostile. He recalls senior DND people telling him he’d not get one penny. As for the ombudsman’s recommendations as ordered by Bill Graham – not one has been implemented. This outrages retired Col. Michel Drapeau, now the country’s most prominent lawyer on military matters who represented Wenzel, and whose legal fees have yet to be paid by DND. Wenzel credits O’Connor and Graham with doing the right thing – but they were both transitory mirages in the DND hierarchy where deputy ministers last longer than ministers, and wield real power. (As deputy minister, Robert Fowler outlasted half a dozen defence ministers and virtually ran the department). Canada’s present Defence minister, Peter McKay, is a nice guy, but a neophyte who is captive of the DND mindset. If veterans become a DND responsibility, whatever problems they now encounter will increase exponentially. As it is, Canada’s decision to award a maximum lump-sum $250,000 to badly wounded vets sounds generous, but it’s really a cop-out if it negates long-term care and responsibility. Those who care about our citizens in uniform, had better do what they can to preserve Veterans Affairs as an independent department, because if it’s blended into DND, forget about any debt the country owes to veterans. DND is answerable to no one – just look what it wastes its budget on!