Dole Out Leftover Agent Orange Funds - Widow
By: Michael Staples
The Daily Gleaner

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Bette Hudson isn't impressed with news out of Ottawa concerning compensation money that was once earmarked for Agent Orange victims.

 The Lincoln resident, who speaks for the group Widows on a Warpath, said politicians have to go back to the table and re-examine the way they've handled the entire issue.

 Recent revelations that $33 million, originally intended for those affected by the 1960s spraying of the deadly chemical, is being returned to government coffers is proof that something is wrong, Hudson said.

 "There is no need for that money to go back to general revenue," she said.

 "It's just ridiculous, ludicrous, or whatever else you want to call it. It's time they owned up to some responsibility here."

Hudson's comments follow information released this week by Charlottetown Senator Percy Downe.

Downe said he learned from Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn that the $33 million - part of the original $95.6-million compensation package for veterans and civilians affected by the U.S. military's spraying of Agent Orange at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown during the 1960s - will be returned to the consolidated revenue fund.

Figures released last month by Veterans Affairs Canada revealed that 3,136 payments, representing $62.7 million, had been paid out to Agent Orange victims. Those who qualified under the plan received a $20,000 ex gratia payment.

Hudson's group, meanwhile, was excluded from the 2007 compensation package because their husbands didn't die within the parameters identified by the Tory government.

Monetary awards were considered for primary caregivers of qualifying individuals who passed away on or after Feb. 6, 2006 - the date Stephen Harper took office.

 "We have demanded that every cent of the money be used for victims," Hudson said.

"I am sure that $33 million would cover all the widows in our group and, perhaps, a few more across the country. We lost our husbands and (the government) needs to come forward and be honest with us and give us what they owe us."

Reached Friday, Downe said he found the $33-million revelation disappointing.

The money should have at least been returned to Veterans Affairs so that veterans in need can be helped, the senator said.

Downe said it's important for Canadians to keep the pressure on the government to honour its commitments to veterans.

 The senator said the prime minister promised during the 2006 election that his government would stand up for "full compensation for persons exposed to defoliant spraying during the period from 1956 to 1984."

Because the government package was so limited, Canadian veterans and their families launched a class-action lawsuit against the federal government in an attempt to have Harper honour his original promise on Agent Orange, Downe said.

Wayne Cardinal of Lincoln, who served at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown with the Black Watch Regiment during the spraying years, said the $33 million would have gone a long way in meeting the needs of those impacted by the deadly defoliant.

"That little bit of money could have easily been distributed to veterans and people who are still suffering from many ailments," Cardinal said.

© 2010 The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)