Veterans Ombudsman Doubts Julian Fantino’s Claims That Government Is Willing To Improve Veterans Charter
October 1, 2013. 12:42 pm • Section: Defence Watch
Report from the Canadian Press:
OTTAWA – Veterans ombudsman Guy Parent says it’s hard to believe the federal government is willing to improve the veterans charter after years of inaction.
A report released by the ombudsman today says government compensation for veterans’ pain and suffering is insufficient.
The report also says hundreds of severely disabled veterans will take a financial hit once they retire because some of their benefits will end and they don’t have military pensions.
Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino has said the government will support a House of Commons committee as it looks at how changes to the charter enacted in 2011 have affected those benefits.
But Parent says changes need to be made quickly.
And he says his office and veterans organizations need to force politicians to keep their promises to fix a broken system.
“We have been working on the veterans charter improvements for many years and so have many other veterans representative groups,” Parent told a news conference.
“What is important here is to hold the parliamentarians to their promise when they first introduced it, that there will be continuous improvement,” he added.
“And it’s very hard to believe (Fantino’s statements) when in fact for six years there was nothing done about the charter.”
Full story is here:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Veterans+Charter+leaves+some+vets+poverty+once+they+retire/8982035/story.html
