Veterans rally for better benefits

Canadian military veterans, unhappy with the disability compensation and pension benefits they're offered, rallied on Parliament Hill and outside constituency offices across the country Saturday as part of the Veterans National Day of Protest.

Many veterans complain that the government's New Veterans Charter, which came into effect in 2006, gives less money to soldiers wounded in Afghanistan than older vets have been entitled to.

They want the government to scrap its lump-sum payment policy in favour of the previous lifetime pain-and-suffering pension plan.

"We have people serving in Afghanistan that are coming home with amputations, and these people, when they get hurt, they figure their fight’s over," said Gary Best of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association. "When they get home, they realize it’s just starting."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Calgary riding office was among the sites targeted in the rallies. Protesters also gathered in Lethbridge, Alta., and outside Conservative MP Laurie Hawn's Edmonton Centre office.

Calgary's Bill Brayley, who fought in the Korean War, said his veteran's pension is adequate but he worries about young soldiers returning from Afghanistan.

"The veterans went out to serve and then they come back and what they're coming against — it's pathetic at times, it really is," he said. "Men and women that have served for our country, they need respect and payback for what they have done."

Respect for veterans

Since the New Veterans Charter was implemented, Brayley said, he has heard many stories about veterans feeling they have been shortchanged.

Mike Blais, head organizer of the protest, said young veterans are no longer treated with respect.

"They should be provided the same standard, the same quality of life for life, as veterans," he said. "In essence, we believe there should be only one standard of veteran and that standard has been set by those who fought before us."

In September, the government announced a series of measures to address some of the concerns and said it would be spending $200 million over five years to support the most severely injured veterans.

Canada's outgoing veterans ombudsman, Pat Stogran, has said he is considering a class-action lawsuit against the government on behalf of injured military veterans.

Bureaucratic blockages

As ombudsman, the retired colonel staged a public campaign to improve benefits for them. He said that while he can appreciate that the government is moving toward improving the system, the level of bureaucracy veterans face is still too daunting, and they have good reason to be angry.

"When I first came into this job, I heard it was a denial culture," Stogran said. "I had heard that you had to apply three times, and when you were granted your benefits, you had to go back again to demand more because they always low-ball the benefits.

"I didn't believe any of them," he recalled.

"But I can say categorically, at the end of my three years, that that's in fact what I've observed in the veterans' community. And I encourage the government to prove me wrong. Show me the facts."

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean Pierre Blackburn said the national protest is not linked to the government's proposed changes.

"It was organized before these changes that we've already been implementing in our government," he said. "The legions don't support this day of protest."