In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
Lennie Gallant singing Wounded
When Lennie Gallant visited Afghanistan on an troop entertainment tour, he was moved by the courage and the danger our troops faced.
He also came face to face with the men and women who return from Afghanistan with visual and hidden wounds from war.
In honor of these veterans with disabilities, Gallant along with J.T. Harding wrote Wounded.
Gallant captures the real lives of our veterans in his touching song, which is his forte.
Video of Lennie’s solo and haunting performance follows the story break. Continue reading
by Paul MacNeill, publisher, Eastern Graphic
Much is being made about a white poppy campaign initiated by the Island Peace Committee. Since the story first appeared hundreds of comments have been posted on news sites. The vast majority view the white poppy as a stunt and an insult to the symbolism of the traditional red poppy.
It is neither.
The peace committee started the white poppy campaign several years ago. It in no way competes with the sale of red poppies. Its goal is to raise awareness of non-violent conflict resolution. The red poppy is a powerful symbol of remembrance of the sacrifice by Canadian soldiers primarily in the First and Second World War.
To put the red poppy in context, there are some who believe it should be an exclusive symbol of the two world wars and should not be associated with our current military campaign in Afghanistan, which only proves that the poppy is a different thing to different people. As a society we should revere and honour any soldier killed in action, regardless of where the death occurred. Continue reading
Veterans protest in Ottawa November 2010 (image CBC)
On Sunday, Veterans across Canada took to the streets to protest foot-dragging and benefit cut-backs in a Canadian Veterans National Day of Protest.
They got results.
Veterans Affairs Minister Blackburn was on a media blitz this week trying to re-assure Canadians he had the best interests of veterans at heart. Blackburn said that the $2 billion recently announced for more benefits would go a long way.
Veterans know that is only a partial solution.
Canada is a wealthy nation. It can afford to deal fairly with those for whom it asks the greatest sacrifice.
The Government of Canada has embarked on a program of downsizing services to veterans at a time when we are in a war in Afghanistan.
Instead of declines in veterans and veterans with disabilities, their ranks are growing.
Veterans Affairs have confirmed out-going Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran’s claim that the government finds it cheaper to deal with dead soldiers than soldiers who come home with disabilities. Continue reading
Legion First Vice Pat Varga places a wreath at the Cassino War Cemetery assisted by youth representative Mélanie Morin. (photo Tom MacGregor)
Letter to the Editor, Daily Gleaner – It would seem that the allocated funds, which have not all been spent through the ex-gratia payments made by the federal government as compensation for exposure to the chemical, will lapse with no benefits for veterans.
The legion was at the forefront in advocating for this compensation and applauded the federal government for its initiative on this issue.
But it was concerned on two fronts – the period of eligibility was much too restrictive, and the criteria to allocate these payments was much broader than the test applied to compensate veterans through the disability benefit system where the cause must be proven rather than inferred.
Regardless of our concerns on these issues, we considered this a good first step. Continue reading
President Bush signed the ADA into law
PRLog - The civil rights of Americans living with disabilities were passed into law 20 years ago on July 20, 1990 by President George Bush Sr in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The law was meant to ensure that people with disabilities would not be discriminated in their employment, government services, housing and in the community. It granted them rights similar to the Civil Rights Act.
During the intervening years, the US Courts narrowly restricted the application of the ADA. President George Bush Jr. pushed through Congress and the Senate 1,100 pages of amendments to the ADA to ensure the law did protect them. The ADA Amended was signed by President Obama in 2009. Continue reading
Wikileaks has release 90,000 official documents on the Afghan war. Canada has lost 151 soldiers and created several thousand disabled veterans. The US has lost 1,000 men and women, the UK 320. Civilian deaths may be as high as 33,000. BBC
When you consider the casualty statistics in Vietnam, that’s not bad. But is it going anywhere or is the Afghan war hopeless?
The 90,000 documents released by Wikileaks point to ineptitude on the part of military leaders, complicity by Pakistan with the Taliban, and and every increasing amount of violence.
Continue reading
Jean Pierre Blackburn gave his best non-denial, denial of the rumors about downsizing Veterans Affairs in Charlottetown.
“We heard rumours from time to time about maybe this headquarters would be closing,’’ Blackburn told The Guardian. “I repeat no, not at all, there is no plan to close the headquarters.”
Then Blackburn went on to remind the Guardian of the declining number of veterans from previous wars being served by the office.“If our veterans are dying at a rate of 1,700 each month, you know it means that less people are needed to deliver our services for the older veterans.’’
Along with the Veterans Charter which replaced lifetime pensions with a lump-sum payment, any sensible person can see the perfect storm of downsizing or eliminating DVA in Charlottetown.
HRDC has been organizing itself for a decade to dispense all pensions and benefits to Canadians. Transferring over the last few files can happen on 12 months notice.
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Toronto Sun - OTTAWA – The overwhelming majority of Canadian soldiers who received tens of thousands of dollars in disability payments did not obtain any financial advice, an internal government survey shows.
“I was surprised to learn that less than half of the veterans who received a lump sum payment sought independent financial advice,” said Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn.
Of the 9,138 disabled veterans who received lump sums, worth up to a maximum of $276,080 for injuries suffered, more than 1,000 answered a questionnaire about the award’s effectiveness.
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Jean Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs image: Globe and Mail
The Minister of Veterans Affairs came under repeated questioning in the Canadian House of Commons this week over the treatment of disabled veterans.
Veterans with disabilities will have to wait until December 2010 for the Minister’s report but they should continue to voice their concerns so the matter isn’t shelved by the government.
In 2006, the Conservative government invoked the Veterans Charter which replaced lifetime pensions for disabled veterans with a lump-sum payment of $276,000. That payment, other than medical and rehabilitation expenses, was an attempt to close the book on disabled veterans in one fell swoop.
The payments have been criticized as inadequate and inappropriate. The disabled veterans, many with PTSD, are not trained to be financial planners and some have run through the money and are left with nothing.
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Jean Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs
On June 15th, the Minister of Veterans Affairs told the House of Commons that he was getting ready to make public a report on lump-sum benefits paid to Canadian veterans.
Prior to the Veterans Charter introduced in 2006 by the Conservative government, veterans of Canadian Forces received a lifetime benefit if they became disabled in action. Report earlier this year said that many veterans, especially those suffering from PTSD, were not prepared to become their own investment advisers to wisely invest the funds.
“Some people have criticized the lump sum payment,” said Blackburn during Question Period. “I personally went to Valcartier to hear what was said when the ombudsman held his consultation. I was so concerned by this point that I asked our department to verify what those receiving the lump sum payment were doing with their money: were they spending it carefully or, on the contrary, inappropriately. In the next few days, we will be releasing the results of this survey.”
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