Treat vets fairly
ONLY days after Canadians in record numbers formally remembered their war dead, and honoured those surviving world conflicts, came pleas for today’s fighting men and women to be treated fairly.
The call for a better deal for soldiers being maimed or killed in Afghanistan was sounded by Veterans and Concerned Canadians, a group of former uniformed Canadians who are concerned public servants are being better looked after than members of our military.
"We urge you to ensure that our soldiers, who are performing the highest form of public service – and their families – are treated at least as well as we treat our civil servants," retired captain Sean Bruyea told a press conference last week on Parliament Hill. Forty-two Canadian soldiers have died and more than 200 have been injured in Afghanistan since 2002.
Mr. Bruyea pointed to several inequalities between the benefits available to fallen or injured soldiers compared to those accorded civil servants who die or are hurt on the job. The widows or widowers of soldiers killed overseas are entitled to a lump sum payment of $250,000, where between $600,000 and $1.25 million is available to families of senior bureaucrats. Disabled civil servants eligible for a medical pension can collect after two years, while ex-soldiers must wait for 10 years. Disability benefits for soldiers are taxable, but not for bureaucrats.
Canada’s veterans have their own department with special programs to care for them. Veterans Canada, headquartered in Charlottetown, is mandated to ensure those who served in uniform are suitably and compassionately cared for in their golden years. That said, there are still inequities in the system needing to be recognized and corrected.
It’s incumbent on us all to ensure existing and future veterans, and their families, are treated fairly. It’s the least we owe them for doing their duty for Canada.
