Posts Tagged ‘Jean-Pierre Blackburn’

A very busy apprenticeship and short honeymoon marked Jean-Pierre Blackburn’s first year as minister of veterans affairs. He has logged tens of thousands of travel miles: two commemorative trips to Europe, a tense trip to the Middle East marked by a diplomatic incident as the plane carrying him was refused permission to land in Dubai, and by machine-gun fire heard in the distance while hopping onto a helicopter for a quick takeoff during a visit to troops in Afghanistan.

After a flurry of announcements trickling out all fall, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn tabled new legislation Nov. 17 to make improvements on the New Veterans Charter as called for by several veterans organizations, including The Royal Canadian Legion. Called the Enhanced New Veterans Charter Act, the proposed legislation brings together several of the announcements and introduces changes to the administration of the lump sum Disability Award. Under the new legislation a veteran qualifying for the Disability Award, which is a maximum of $276,000, will be able to choose from receiving the single lump sum; equal annual payments spread out over a [...]

The New Veterans Charter is finally starting to show signs of new life. When the charter, properly called the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-Establishment and Compensation Act, came into effect in April 2006, it was promised that it would be a living document. However, more than four years later nothing had changed. Many needed actions have been outlined by the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group and the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs. That worrisome level of inaction changed in November when Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn tabled legislation introducing a number of improvements to [...]

We welcome Quebec member of Parliament Jean-Pierre Blackburn to his position as Veterans Affairs minister. Blackburn, who was sworn in as minister Jan. 19, is a veteran MP who served under Brian Mulroney from 1984 to 1993 and then returned to Parliament in 2006. He has been serving as minister of National Revenue and minister of state for agriculture since 2008 and, while he moved from National Revenue to Veterans Affairs, he retains his cabinet position of minister of state for agriculture. As Veterans Affairs minister, Blackburn will have a full plate. That much is obvious by the 56 resolutions related [...]