Watchdog to Probe Veterans’ Charter:
Auditor General will examine compensation of sick, wounded troops

Bruce Campion-Smith
Ottawa Bureau chief

The Toronto Star – December 10, 2010

OTTAWA—A federal watchdog is launching a formal probe of Ottawa’s controversial veterans charter and the complaint that wounded soldiers are being shortchanged by the government they once served.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser has confirmed that her office will do an audit of “aspects” of the veterans charter “in the near future” with the results to be released in 2012.

“I would like to assure you that the issue you raise is an important one for this office,” Fraser wrote in a Dec. 7 letter to Senator Percy Downe.

But Downe is hoping that the mere fact the audit is coming will be enough to force Veterans Canada to improve its treatment of injured soldiers, which has exploded as an issue in the last few months.

“I suspect we’ll have some significant improvement leading up to 2012,” he said in an interview Thursday.

Downe has been urging Fraser to do a formal examination of the veterans charter, an overhaul of benefits for injured and sick veterans that took effect in 2006.

Among the most controversial changes was its introduction of lump sum payments to replace monthly payouts to help compensate soldiers for their injuries.

Downe suspects the change was made as a cost-saving measure and, like many other critics, fears it will leave wounded soldiers out-of-pocket in the long run.

“In Canada, we have largely avoided seeing people begging on the streets with their war medals on that you often see unfortunately in the United States,” Downe said.

“Part of that was because there was a monthly cheque available,” he said.

Complaints about the lump-sum payment loomed large in a recent Toronto Star series that probed the treatment of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan. Soldiers recovering from grievous injuries have called on Ottawa to increase the lump-sum compensation

And the Royal Canadian Legion has complained that Canadian soldiers are being financially shortchanged compared with their counterparts in Britain and Australia, where payouts are higher.

While the government has made promises to address some of the complaints, Downe isn’t convinced they will become a reality.

“This is the government of reassuring words and promises. Where they’re short is on action,” he said.