ACVA Committee Report

Common-Sense Conservatives Recognize Canada’s Wartime Veterans

This Supplemental report reflects the views of Conservative Members who sit on the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. Once again the Liberal government and their NDP coalition partners have spent years ignoring the issues that Canada’s Veterans hold dear. For the past 7 years there has been an effort by Veterans to clarify the system by which the government of Canada designates the operational service of the military. The designation of “Wartime Service” was reserved for only Veterans of the two world wars and later on, after much advocacy, the Korean War as well, when Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney officially recognized the service of Korean War Veterans.

The last large scale conventional war of the 20^th century was the Persian Gulf War in which Canada made significant contributions. Despite this, the Veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War were not given the designation of Wartime service like the Veterans of the other 20^th century wars. This discrepancy was the initial driving factor behind Veterans asking the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs to conduct an investigation into the designation of Wartime Service for Canadian Veterans.

Despite the committee adopting motions to conduct a study into the process of designating Wartime Service, the Liberal/NDP coalition continued to avoid the issue in an attempt to avoid paying the proper respect to Canada’s Veterans.

Common-Sense Conservatives agreed with the testimony shared with the committee by Veterans that the issue of designating Wartime service is not unique to Veterans of the Persian Gulf War, but also to Veterans of other conflicts such as the War in Afghanistan. Even the Veterans of the Persian Gulf War repeatedly stated that this issue was being raised not just for themselves, but for Veterans of Afghanistan and future wars as well.

Even with the unified position Veterans expressed on this topic, the Liberals and their NDP partners insisted on turning a blind eye to what we were hearing from veterans. The obvious issue this raises is that this creates a precedent where just like the Korean War Veterans, the Persian Gulf Veterans continue to need to fight for proper recognition and inevitably the Veterans of the War in Afghanistan will need to do the same.

A Call for Action

Perhaps one of the most egregious findings of this study is that, despite repeated requests from Veterans for almost a decade and while they signal their support, the Liberal Government has sat back and done absolutely nothing to implement even very basic solutions such as the construction of a dedicated monument for Veterans who served in War. Not only do the Persian Gulf War Veterans not have a dedicated monument, but the National Monument to the War in Afghanistan was interfered with by the Prime Minister’s Office for political reasons which marred the project in legal disputes and has left it incomplete for more than a decade after the last Canadian soldiers came home.

              Veterans haven’t been reaching out to the government for years only for more platitudes and phony assurances of support. Actions speak louder than words and tens of thousands of Canadian men and women displayed this when they put their lives on the line in theatres of war fighting for freedom. Its time now that the Liberal government does the same for them and put some action behind their increasingly hollow words.

Experiences of Wartime Veterans

              It is very unfortunate that the committee left out vital testimony from the many highly decorated Veterans who made the effort to appear to testify. The lived experiences of these men and women who were on the ground in these warzones offers a perspective that cannot be obtained anywhere else which is why Conservatives are committed to sharing their thoughts and experiences through this Supplemental Report.

              The committee’s report suggests that the issues which were raised as a part of this study are somehow abstract and therefore commitments cannot be made to the Veterans who appeared and testified. Conservatives don’t believe that and won’t stand for it. While some of the issues raised are certainly complex, there were many other issues that can be addressed immediately by the government and the testimony that reflects this was disappointingly left out of the report.

              Therefore, Common-Sense Conservatives are tabling this Supplemental Report to ensure that the voices of the Veterans who appeared at committee are actually heard. Veterans who fought in the Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan, and other conflict zones all weighed in with their thoughts. The core of this issue is that Veterans need to be given the respect that they deserve. This respect needs to be shown in many ways – whether that be through commemoration or through the timely provision of programs and services by Veterans Affairs Canada. The lack of respect towards Veterans from the Liberal Government means that Veterans are weary of the government publishing yet another report without any action. This lack of trust was expressed by John Senior, a Veteran of the War in Afghanistan when he stated to the committee:

“To be quite honest, right now, I think the lack in the government at this point in time for veterans is at an all-time low. That's the end of the story on that. It is at an all-time low. When this particular thing here goes mainstream, I think there are going to be a lot more upset veterans who will want to get things fixed. Currently, there's a deficit of street credibility of the government toward veterans.”

Mr. Senior went on to add:

“Again, there's a drastic lack of confidence. That's why, on social media, there are so many start-up, local groups that take care of our own. It's because the government can't do it. Veterans Affairs can't do it, through bureaucracy, stonewalling and a denial-until-death kind of policy. That's what we call it. The pizza pension earned that name because you cannot buy a pizza once a month with less than $36, which is what you get for missing a leg.

We have to take care of ourselves because it's not happening, at the end of the day.”

Michael Blois, another Veteran of Afghanistan also testified about the lengths Veterans are forced to go to in court simply to force the government to “keep up their end of the deal” by ensuring combat Veterans get the care and benefits they are owed.

“The Prime Minister of this country, prior to being elected as the Prime Minister, stated that no veteran should have to sue the government for benefits that they're entitled to, but that's had to happen many times since he has become Prime Minister.

In my capacity as a lawyer, I've represented a class of Afghanistan war veterans suing Veterans Affairs Canada and the government for failing to meet their own policies and time frames. The wait times that Afghanistan veterans suffer while waiting to get benefits is unacceptable, and nothing seems to change. In this lawsuit, we were successful in obtaining certification and are now in the appeals process.”

Several witnesses spoke to the importance of commemoration and expressed frustration in the fact that this simple step hasn’t been taken despite the current Liberal/NDP government constantly claiming that it is a priority for them. Mr. Blois agreed with his fellow Veterans on this point when he said:

“Commemoration should be the easiest thing we do. Putting Afghanistan on cenotaphs is a no-brainer. Getting a monument for a war that is in our recent collective memory, for which the average veteran ranges from their late thirties to their early sixties, should be a no-brainer and it should be done.

When these things aren't done, it feels like somebody is at best ignorant of how you feel and at worst indifferent to what went on and what we did. The horrors of war and the impacts of war don't change from generation to generation. Watching somebody die in front of you or having to take a life doesn't change, and the impact of that doesn't change, so the commemoration shouldn't be any different, and it should be done easily. When it's not, it hurts twice as much.

              Sgt retired Christopher Banks reflected on some immediate changes that could be made to restore trust in the government by wartime Veterans, but had to concur with his fellow witnesses, that there is frustration in the current government for hearing these suggestions and then delaying any action to implement them:

“When I was doing some research before coming in today, I noticed that there is not a monument in Canada dedicated to the Persian Gulf mission. There are monuments dedicated to smaller missions, but 4,000 Canadians went to the Persian Gulf, and there's no monument. Give them a monument. I mean, here on the Afghanistan side, we're hammering for a monument. Give them a monument too.

There's another thing that I mentioned briefly in my opening statement. I talked about the combat action declaration that is teased every couple of years. We're talking about war service among different generations of veterans. Why not just apply that? That would give the recognition to those who crossed the line, who went outside the line and actually engaged the enemy. We've been talking about it for decades.

I think Mr. Blois was the one who said that commemoration is incredibly easy, and the fact that the government's dragging its feet on it is indicative.”

So, while we can recognize that there is work to be done with regards to the concerns surrounding the designation of wartime service, there are immediate steps around commemoration that can be taken immediately which will go a long way to rebuild the trust of Veterans that has been eroded by the Liberal Government which continues to drag its feet when it comes to properly recognizing their efforts and sacrifices.

Recommendations

To better reflect what Veterans were asking for, Common-Sense Conservatives have proposed the following recommendations:

Echoing the points on commemoration made by several Veterans who appeared before the committee, the first Conservative recommendation is to call on the government of Canada to immediately commit to constructing a dedicated monument in honour of all those who served in the Persian Gulf War:

1.      That the Government of Canada give Veterans of the Persian Gulf War the respect they deserve by immediately constructing a monument to the Persian Gulf War for the purpose of commemoration and honouring those who served in that war.

Likewise, the Veterans of the Mission in Afghanistan still do not have a dedicated monument or place to honour their fallen. The current Liberal Government has dragged its feet on the process for 9 years now and just when the process was about to begin, the Prime Minister interfered for political reasons, delaying the construction of the monument yet again. This has left Veterans of the War in Afghanistan waiting more than a decade after the last of them returned home with no dedicated National place of recognition. Therefore, Conservatives recommend:

2.      That the Government of Canada give Veterans of the War in Afghanistan the respect they deserve by apologizing for the Prime Minister’s political interference in the design process for their National Monument which has caused years of delay and immediately constructing a monument to the War in Afghanistan for the purpose of commemoration and honouring those who served in that war.

One of the common complaints that was shared by Veterans over the course of this study was frustration surrounding the “insurance principle” which meant that depending on where members of the Armed Forces were, some of their injuries or illnesses were covered without question, while most other times, they were forced to fight the bureaucracy in Veterans Affairs Canada just to process basic claims. In light of this feedback which has permeated not just this study, but all of the studies undertaken by the committee in recent years, Conservatives recommend a change in policy when it comes to serving Veterans. This sentiment was captured well by Veteran Sean Bruyea who shared these thoughts with the committee:

“Currently, Veteran applicants must prove a standard of attributability to military service that approaches beyond any reasonable doubt. The process is more akin to a criminal trial than compassionate values of a caring disability system. This system has left many Veterans suffering sometimes as much from negotiating an insensitive and often opaque system than from their actual disabilities.”

Therefore, Conservatives recommend:

3.      That the bureaucratic nightmares and vastly overcomplicated paperwork burden associated with Veterans Affairs Disability applications be replaced by a simplified process that is more compassionate, responsive and reliable for Canada’s veterans and their families.

In line with this line of thinking, Mr. Bruyea also shared with the committee the difficulty that Veterans and their families face not just navigating the complex bureaucracy of VAC, but just to understand what benefits and help they are entitled to at all. He shared the following with the committee:

“If there is one issue that pervades almost every study carried out by ACVA, it is the complexity of programs for Veterans and their families that only overwhelms and confuses Veterans. Parliamentarians are frequently perplexed by the complex nuances of so many benefits and regimes.”

Further to this point, Mr. Blois a Veteran of the war in Afghanistan and now a lawyer remarked similarly that navigating Veterans Affairs was a challenge for him as a legal professional, which only meant it would be that much more complicated for everyday Veterans and their families. On this point, Conservatives recommend:

4.      That Veterans Affairs enshrine a policy which demands a “Duty to Inform” Veterans and their families of the benefits to which they are entitled.

The more complicated and overarching theme within the study was the concerns about changes in renumeration and entitlements between Veterans who fell under the Pension Act vs the Veterans Well-being Act. What was clear in examining these concerns is that whenever Veterans Affairs Canada makes any sort of changes to their levels of coverage or programs, there always seems to be some Veterans who lose out and fall through the cracks, adding to confusion and frustration. A solution to relieve some of the stress that Veterans are feeling, especially during this time of unprecedented economic hardship under the failed policies and corruption of the current Liberal/NDP government, is that VAC stop income testing its benefits systems. If a Veteran is entitled to a form of benefits, then they should not be penalized for trying to earn money to better the situation of themselves and their families. Their entitlements are in place to recognize the sacrifices and dedication they already made to Canada and they should feel secure that their benefits will never be scaled back or reduced. Therefore, Conservatives recommend:

5.      Allow disabled Veterans to earn additional income without a claw back of their veterans benefits to allow them more opportunities to grow and transition after service.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while we support the recognition of Persian Gulf Veterans as having served in a war, this study should have been on the designation of Wartime service so that veterans of all conflicts could have been included in the report, a sentiment shared even by the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada who were an integral part of this study.

The Liberal/NDP government continue to talk out of both sides of their mouths on this issue, claiming for the past 7 years that they support giving Wartime Veterans the recognition they deserve, but then sitting back and not taking any action on it despite being in a position to enact immediate change.

Further, it is disappointing that the committee’s report tabled completely neglected all of the Veterans who appeared from other theatres of war and completely ignored the many excellent recommendations put forward by these Veterans to try and portray this issue as an abstract issue with an unknown solution.

Common-Sense Conservatives are listening to Veterans. This Supplemental Report serves as their voice to ensure that their service, dedication, and wisdom does not go unrecognized.