Posts Tagged ‘New Veterans Charter’

Canadians have handed Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives a clear mandate to govern for the next four years. With this majority, the government—part of the 41st Parliament—is in a position to accomplish much, including moving forward on some long-outstanding issues that are near and dear to the hearts of Canada’s war veterans—young and old. Veterans and veterans’ organizations are also looking forward to hearing more from the new minister of Veterans Affairs, Steven Blaney, who was appointed to the portfolio following the May 2 election which saw former veterans minister, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, defeated. Canada’s men and women in uniform have [...]

The lack of movement on legislation which would improve the New Veterans Charter and the threat of the bill being lost should an election be called dominated discussions when members of Dominion Executive Council (DEC) met in Ottawa Feb. 26-27. Dominion President Pat Varga told DEC members it was imperative that these measures are put into place, even though the Legion sees the improvements as only a first step. She asked DEC for its input. DEC responded by authorizing letters to be sent to Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn as well as all members of Parliament. In addition, a draft letter was [...]

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 [...]

Since 2003, some 300 members of The Royal Canadian Legion from coast to coast to coast have answered the call and interviewed veterans in long-term care facilities at the request of Veterans Affairs Canada. In fact, each year more than 4,500 veterans residing in some 800 facilities are visited by Legion-trained surveyors. During these visits, veterans are invited to comment on the quality of care they are receiving. These completed questionnaires are then sent to VAC for information and, if necessary, followup. Currently, there are approximately 150 Legion surveyors who are available for tasking throughout the country. However, certain regions remain underserved. [...]

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 [...]

In a hastily called news conference Sept. 19, the day before Parliament resumed after the summer recess, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced measures aimed at improving the New Veterans Charter. The changes, they said, would be worth $2 billion in benefits to veterans. While The Royal Canadian Legion’s Dominion President Pat Varga welcomed the news, she cautiously said, “We view the improvements that have been announced as incremental steps in implementing the blueprint that has been forwarded to the minister of Veterans Affairs and to the government….” The blueprint is in reference to recommendations made [...]

Red Thibodeau, former president of British Columbia/Yukon Command, knows first hand how veterans who left the Canadian Forces decades ago can miss out on Veterans Affairs Canada benefits. He was surprised in 2008 to discover he qualified for the New Veterans Charter Rehabilitation Program—even though he left military service nearly 30 years earlier. “Now VAC tells anyone being released or medically discharged what’s available and what they’re entitled to. We didn’t have that,” says Thibodeau, who injured his back in a fall in 1978 while stationed in Germany. He left the CF in 1980, after serving six years. “We were always under [...]

It was the perfect city in which to reaffirm a longstanding and honourable commitment to Canada’s veterans and their families. Located midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Winnipeg is known as the “bull’s eye” of Canada, but for Legionnaires, the city—and one hotel in particular—holds an even more central meaning; it is the birthplace of their grassroots cause, one that has helped shape Canadian society and improve the lives of the people they care most about. Recognition of the Legion’s birthplace and the sanctioning of the Legion’s founding as an event of national historic significance were celebrated June 12, one [...]

Soon after the end of hostilities in the First World War, there was a need to provide life insurance protection for returned soldiers, especially pensioners, who were unable to pass the medical examination required to obtain commercial life insurance.  After first considering paying the extra premiums required by insurance companies to cover the estimated excess risks attributable to war disability, the government decided to provide insurance in limited amounts (up to $5,000) and at standard rates to contributing veterans of the war. Accordingly, Parliament enacted The Returned Soldiers Insurance Act which came into force on Sept. 1, 1920.  The final [...]