Update on Veterans Issues

December 8, 2010

With the appointment of a new Veterans’ Ombudsman, the passing of another Remembrance Day, and the Federal Government’s announcement of yet more promises to veterans and their families, it is clear that we must continue working together to keep pressure on the Government to permanently solve the many outstanding issues faced by veterans and their families. In that spirit, I thought I would take this opportunity to update you on what my office has been working on recently.

As you know, the Government hasn’t been particularly diligent in living up to the commitment it made to give qualified, medically-discharged Canadian Forces veterans priority when it comes to hiring in the Federal public service, to the degree that sixty-seven veterans saw their job priority appointment status expire without finding a position in the public service. In response to this ongoing situation, I wrote letters to all members of the Federal Cabinet expressing my concerns and urging them to increase their efforts in this regard (Note: Copies of letters referred to in this update have been attached for your ease of reference). I regret to say that the responses I received in many cases were not encouraging: what appeared to be form letters simply thanking me for my concern. I then sent a follow-up letter emphasizing the importance of ministerial leadership on this file. I once again received form letter responses from most ministers, however, two ministers deserve recognition: Ministers Flaherty and Ambrose sent very positive letters (attached) promising to do more to hire qualified veterans in their respective departments. While we all know that there’s a difference between talk and action, we should give credit where it is due, and encourage more ministers to follow their example. I will follow up with their office next year to see if their comforting words generated any positive action.

I have continued my correspondence with Auditor General Sheila Fraser about an audit of the New Veterans’ Charter. You may recall that earlier this year she assured me that she would be meeting with her staff “to discuss the best timing for an audit that will include the New Veterans Charter.”

However, a look at the website of the Office of the Auditor General shows that in a list of “Planned Audit reports 2010-2011”, the Charter does not appear. I have since written Ms. Fraser to remind her of the importance of such a study, and to encourage her to undertake such an audit (copy attached). I received a very positive response on December 7th, 2010, indicating that she is “planning to conduct an audit that will examine aspects of the Charter in the near future. The report on that audit is planned for the fall of 2012.”

Of course, the New Veterans’ Charter never ceases to be a subject of concern. For every encouraging announcement by the Government, there is another reminder about why we must keep mindful of the difference between words and actions. For example, there were reports in the media recently about studies conducted by Veterans’ Affairs Canada predicting that the new lump-sum payment Disability Award would result in saving the department up to $40 million (“Leaked documents show feds expected to hand out fewer vet disability claims” Canadian Press, November 1st, 2010). Earlier this year, I asked if VAC experienced any cost savings associated with the new program.  I was assured that, although there was a possibility costs might go down, that was in no way the purpose of the new policy. The fact that the Conservative Government made such assurances while sitting on those reports is another good reason why we should take the recent flurry of announcements with a grain of salt.

Considering the track record of this Government, it’s always important to keep the pressure on. To that end, over the next few weeks, I’ll be trying to get a few more items in the media to remind them of the promises they like to pretend never happened. Hopefully, the public pressure will force the government to honour their promises to veterans and their families.

As always, thank you for your help in keeping me current with the issues you encounter. Without your input and advice, it would be impossible to keep the attention of this Government on these urgent matters.

Sincerely
Percy E. Downe
Senator