As many Powell Riverites proudly wear poppies leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11, many veterans in Canada are suffering due to cost-cutting measures brought in by the federal government.
The government is closing nine Veterans’ Affairs offices across the country. At the same time, it is releasing an app for mobile devices to help veterans get information about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and other conditions.
The new app is designed to help veterans in times of crisis, but some veterans can’t even afford a smartphone or a computer. Closing offices forces veterans to travel long distances to other cities for service or to rely on apps, websites and call centres for assistance. This kind of impersonal service is a huge barrier for many disabled veterans.
That’s not the only complaint veterans have about the federal government. The New Veterans Charter, which replaced the old Pension Act, provides a one-time lump sum award in place of lifetime pensions for pain and suffering. The one-time payment is much less and has led to veterans suing the government. In fact, the government is trying to overturn a BC Supreme Court decision in October that allowed a lawsuit from veterans wounded in Afghanistan who are seeking fair compensation for their disabilities.
The government’s Last Post Fund is supposed to ensure impoverished veterans receive dignified funerals, but the qualifying criteria results in two-thirds of the applicants being rejected.
We all share a responsibility to remember the fallen, the wounded, the families, veterans and the serving. Under the government’s current programs, the fallen are buried with minimal dignity, families continue to seek assistance and the wounded are forced to sue the government.
Is this any way to honour veterans for their service? Clearly, it’s not.
As Guy Parent, veterans ombudsman, wrote in a report in October comparing the New Veterans Charter with the Pension Act, “It is simply not acceptable to let veterans who have sacrificed the most for their country...live their lives with unmet financial needs.”
Veterans deserve to be treated with dignity, fairness and equity by the federal government. There should be fairness and equity in the availability of benefits, services and programs for veterans who have been injured as a result of their service. After all, they fought and sacrificed for this country to provide the rights and freedoms we all enjoy today. They deserve no less than fair and equitable treatment in return.
The federal government should not try to save money on the sacrifice of veterans who served Canada.
