NDP Calls for Beefing Up of Vets' Charter

[The Bread Guy]

My only concern - participation in an partisan event by (what appears to be) an OSSIS staffer?  Or is a "director" on the governing board?

- edited new info:  This organization is NOT the same as OSISS. Grazie mille, Tess -

New Veterans Charter must be improved says NDP
Current legislation not good enough to assist disabled veterans and their families
NDP news release, 14 Jan 09
Release link (.pdf attached if link doesn't work)

HALIFAX – NDP Veterans Affairs Critic Peter Stoffer (Sackville-Eastern Shore) wants the Conservative government to allocate more financial and human resources in the upcoming federal budget for disabled veterans, military personnel, and their families. Stoffer was joined by Megan Leslie (Halifax), Nova Scotia NDP Leader Darrell Dexter, as well as Bill Maguire, a director of the Operational Stress Service Injury Support (OSSIS) centre in Halifax, and Dr. Heather MacKinnon (Ret’d Lieutenant Commander), a medical doctor specializing in veterans’ care.

“Now is the time to re-open the two year old Veterans Charter and make improvements,” said Stoffer. “Young veterans with high levels of disability and their families are dealing with financial hardship and are struggling through a system of bureaucratic red tape.”

Stoffer pointed out that the federal government offers a maximum lump sum payment of $250,000 to its most severely disabled soldiers whereas Britain recently doubled its compensation to wounded soldiers to $855,000 US. In addition to receiving a lump sum payment, injured soldiers in Britain with a high level of disability are also entitled to a lifetime monthly disability payments. Compared to Canada, Australia also provides a more developed budget to care for its veterans and their families.

Under the new Veterans Charter, Canada eliminated monthly disability pension payments for modern day veterans in lieu of a one-time only lump sum benefit.

“Quite frankly, men and women who have been injured while serving their country deserve to be treated fairly,” said Dexter. “The financial compensation they receive now is not enough to pay for a lifetime of medical expenses and to provide for their family. In fact, many disabled veterans and their families are living at or below the poverty line.”

Stoffer also pointed to a report published last February by researchers at the University of Alberta that found that families who care for seriously disabled, younger veterans are at a “substantially higher risk of poor financial, social and health outcomes than any other group of caregivers.”

“Three and a half years ago, when this new legislation passed, Minister Thompson said the Charter was a ‘living document’ and that they would improve it as required. Now is the time, in advance of the upcoming federal budget, to make those changes,” said Leslie.

 

[chris_log]

Since when does the NDP care about anyone associated with the military...

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Since a good chunk of the voting public is....

 

[Redeye]

I was wondering the same thing.

After hearing some NDP-cheering morons yammering on about how Canadian soldiers are just war criminals.  I guess if they had us all in jail, then the pensions would be cheap...

Thankfully we'll never see an NDP government, I'm confident of that at least.

Since when does the NDP care about anyone associated with the military...

 

[the 48th regulator]

Bill Maguire, a director of the Operational Stress Service Injury Support (OSSIS) centre in Halifax

Please do not confuse OSSIS, with OSISS.

It appears, this fellow may be from another organization.  I will get clarification, soonest, however Dave McArdle is the OSISS rep for Halifax.

dileas

tess

 

[Journeyman]

Since when does the NDP care about anyone associated with the military...

A)

Since a good chunk of the voting public is....

B)
they therefore have to say something about the military to get a sound bite that resonates with voters, so they focus on the injured, in the belief that it bolsters their anti-war bleating, regardless of any justification. "If you'd voted for us, these poor folks wouldn't be injured.....but since YOU voted for 'Harper and the war mongers,'  we'll seek photo ops with veterans........(after all, they're not actually fighting any more, are they) "


Cynical? You bet. But if it helps our injured troops, giddy-up Taliban Jack.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Please do not confuse OSSIS, with OSISS.

It appears, this fellow may be from another organization.  I will get clarification, soonest, however Dave McArdle is the OSISS rep for Halifax.

dileas

tess

Thanks VERY much for this subtle, but "makes all the difference in the world" distinction.

 

[jollyjacktar]

Until Paul Martin kindly re-drew the electoral boundrys of Sackville Eastern Shore and Central Nova in NS, I was a constituant of the former.  Peter Stoffer NDP is the MP for that riding.  Now, I belong to Peter MacKay.  

As Mr  Monkhouse rightly points out there are substancial numbers of voters who are connected to the military, and many in Mr Stoffer's riding.

But, that aside Mr Stoffer has consistantly brought up topics and issues for the benefit of  both veterans and members of the CF. Unlike many if not most of his caucus mates.

As my MP, when he was, I always felt he was genuinely concerned about the CF members welfare and most definatly not towing the party line.  He has come out to sea with the fleet as part of the MP program to see what we do and how we live at work and meet with members of the ship's company .  Which is a damn sight more than most of them.

I think he is a good man and MP despite his party of which I am not a fan.  I wish he was still my MP instead of the present MND.

 

[Marshall]

A)
B)
they therefore have to say something about the military to get a sound bite that resonates with voters, so they focus on the injured, in the belief that it bolsters their anti-war bleating, regardless of any justification. "If you'd voted for us, these poor folks wouldn't be injured.....but since YOU voted for 'Harper and the war mongers,'  we'll seek photo ops with veterans........(after all, they're not actually fighting any more, are they) "


Cynical? You bet. But if it helps our injured troops, giddy-up Taliban Jack.

Yea. ( Journey hits it on the nose)

Don't anyone go thinking the NDP are suddenly a pro-military / pro-war party now or anything.. But hey, at least they are acknowledging putting funds towards something military related instead of taking away, its a start.  ;D

 

[helpup]

I am not a fan of the NDP but I don't paint all the party faithfull with the same brush. I do respect if not agree with their Defence Critic and do believe in his intentions if not the results most of the time.  Now as to the article. I don't care what party brought it up. It does bring up valid points that should be addressed.  I understand the Gov't view in reducing the regular payments with a lump some and have no doubt there was or is some abuse of that system.  But what we got in return does do a disservice to those who have been disabled especially if they have been injured early in their career. Yeah you can bank that money and the formula reads that it could work. But with what I have seen.  Younger soldiers are being hit hard by this approach.

 

[len173]

The NDP is great when it comes to wages, benefits, unions. They will fight to the bloody end for you. They will try to get better wages for serving members as well.

But it won't matter because they will tax the living crap out of you, to pay for every beefed up social program under the sun. And they think the happy little soldiers will be so happy that they got a few more bucks, that they won't notice that no new equipment is in the budget for the next 100 years, and they've been renamed the "Royal Canadian Peacekeeping Brigade". Your moddo will be, "we shoot hugs, not bullets"

 

[schart28]

Ex-soldier’s struggle with feds over benefits common, Stoffer says
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1100913.html

Bill Maguire has a chest full of medals and thoughts of suicide.

The Eastern Passage man spent 37 years in the Canadian military. Haunted by memories of two tours of Cyprus and stricken with liver disease, the former soldier said in 2006 "the demons, the flashbacks and the horror stories" started playing with his mind.

"I was very, very close to saying, ‘Enough is enough, let’s eat some lead. Let’s finish it,’ " Mr. Maguire told reporters Wednesday at Province House.

The 60-year-old veteran, who left the army in 2001 as a master corporal, now sees several medical specialists for ailments brought on by his military service.

"I’m not going to be dishonest, I’ve considered suicide more than once," Mr. Maguire said.

When he was in Cyprus, the Turkish military used F-4 Phantoms to drop napalm bombs.

"It came awful close to us," Mr. Maguire said. "They were going after the Greeks."

Senior soldiers who had served in Korea and the Second World War saw him through "touchy times" in Cyprus where "you had to grow up fast."

"They would say, ‘You listen to me and you’ll live to see tomorrow. If you don’t listen to me, we’ll be putting you in a body bag.’ "

He got a lump sum payment from the federal government in 2006 for ailments brought on by post-traumatic stress. Mr. Maguire used the money to fix up his home and pay some debts.

But he was shocked to learn about 18 months ago that the federal government would claw back most of his monthly $1,067 disability pension.

"I damn near broke down when I got the news from Veterans (Affairs) Canada," said Mr. Maguire, a director of the Operational Stress Service Injury Support Centre in Halifax.

He now survives on a military pension of about $1,500 a month.

"If it wasn’t for (my wife) working, we wouldn’t make ends meet," Mr. Maguire said.

New Democrat MP Peter Stoffer called on Ottawa on Wednesday to provide more help in the next federal budget to disabled veterans, military personnel and their families.

"There are some major gaping holes within" Canada’s 3 1/2-year-old Veterans Charter, said Mr. Stoffer, who represents Sackville-Eastern Shore.

The NDP’s veterans affairs critic compared this country’s lump sum payments of as much as $250,000 for severely injured soldiers to Britain, which just raised its maximum payouts to about $1 million.

"We’re always proud to say that our men and women are fighting shoulder to shoulder with our allies in Afghanistan," Mr. Stoffer said. "But don’t you think that their benefits should be shoulder to shoulder as well?"

Lump sum payments present a problem for disabled vets, he said.

"In many, many cases, that money is evaporated very soon and then there is no assistance afterwards to some of the veterans."

If former soldiers can’t work, they should also be eligible for pensions "to ensure that they’re able to look after themselves and their families," he said.

It takes some veterans up to two years to fight through bureaucratic red tape surrounding benefits, said Mr. Stoffer, noting many give up and suffer in silence.

"These men and women have served their country. It is time for us in Parliament to make sure that we serve their needs without them having to go through a Cirque du soleil act to get the help that they need," he said. "It is simply unacceptable that we put them though hoop after hoop after hoop."

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this lump sum is no good..... a point to note is that the RCMP does not fall under the new charter and they still get montly pension