Archive for January, 2009

If you are a former member of the Canadian Forces whose Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP) Long Term Disability (LTD) benefits have been reduced by the amount of your monthly disability pension from Veterans Affairs Canada, you should know that you can be part of a class action lawsuit. If the action succeeds or is settled out of court, your entitlement to an award will depend upon your individual circumstances. The Federal Court of Canada has certified the case of Dennis Manuge against the government as a class action. Under the terms of the SISIP LTD plan, an amount equal to [...]

Just about every day in this country—in big cities and in small towns—there are thousands of small, but important visits taking place in long-term care facilities. These casual get-togethers between Legionnaires and the war veterans who reside in these places don’t attract a lot of attention. In fact, they usually pass unnoticed by the general public, but each visit makes a huge difference. In this issue of Legion Magazine we salute the volunteers who make it part of their week or, remarkably, part of their daily routine to drop in and spend a bit of quality time with men and women [...]

It was not an unusual occurrence on Oct. 31, 2003, when workers excavating for a gas pipeline near a new suburb of Avion, France, unearthed some human bones, a grim reminder of history. Little did they know that they themselves were setting history in motion when they notified authorities to come deal with the remains. That began a series of events that would lead to DNA evidence being used for the first time to put a name to recovered remains of an unidentified First World War soldier. During the four years of the First World War the countryside around Avion was [...]

It is hard to say that a Remembrance Day ceremony could have a star, but this one did. When Canada’s last remaining First World War veteran, Jack Babcock, popped up on the big screens surrounding the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa, the crowd—some 25,000 strong—reacted with the kind of excited applause that just doesn’t normally happen at such a solemn ceremony. They were overjoyed to see the old soldier. And the part Babcock played, of passing on the torch of remembrance, was as important as it was appreciated. Tuesday, Nov. 11th, 2008, was a bitingly cold and cloudy day in the nation’s [...]