Feds to cover vets' funeral tabs despite cuts

PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun
DATE: 2011-12-07
SECTION: NEWS
PAGE: 35
BYLINE/AUTEUR: Jessica Murphy
WORDS/MOTS: 353

OTTAWA -- Impoverished veterans will still receive federal funds to cover their funerals despite $4 million in cuts to the burial service program, said Last Post Fund executive director Jean-Pierre Goyer Tuesday.

WILL STILL DELIVER

"(Veterans Affairs) haven't told us they are cutting the program in such a way that we wouldn't be able to deliver," he said.

"I am assured even if they did reduce it and we needed an extra $1 million, it would be automatic."

Federal budget documents for 2011-12 showed the department plans to cut the grant to the Last Post Fund by $4 million, a plan confirmed by Veterans Affairs Monday.

Still, Goyer noted officials with the Last Post Fund -- the federal program that ensures a dignified funeral and burial for Second World War and Korean War vets who have fallen on hard times -- have been lobbying Ottawa for improvements to the program for a decade.

"Very few of the modern day veterans qualify," he said. "We're advocating for the same rules for everybody."

Widows of veterans also have to earn $12,000 or less to qualify for help paying for a funeral and burial. Goyer wants that raised to $24,000, which was the original amount until it was cut in the mid-'90s.

Liberal Senator Percy Downe, who's been calling on the government to improve the Last Post Fund for years, said the department's decision to slash the grant "is simply beyond the pale."

"The government is obviously saving money at the expense of veterans and their families," he said. "The fund doesn't allow for a dignified buria, you cannot bury someone for $3,600."

The average cost of a funeral in Canada today is between $7,000 and $10,000, according to figures provided by the veterans ombudsman's office.

Active-duty soldiers, even RCMP officers, are entitled to a maximum of $12,700 to cover funeral expenses.

OPEN TO IMPROVEMENT

Meanwhile, Goyer said Veterans Affairs Steven Blaney told him the government was open to improving the program.

"I just hope that he delivers," he said.
In a statement Tuesday, the department said it is continuing to review the burial assistance program.