Canada鈥檚 veterans ombudsman says current legislation is failing some of the most severely wounded and disabled soldiers and the government must address its 鈥渦rgent shortcomings.鈥�
On Tuesday, Guy Parent comparing the New Veterans Charter enacted in 2006, with the old system of compensating veterans under the Pension Act.
The report highlights serious issues with the level of financial support given to veterans, especially those who were permanently disabled in combat.
The report found that hundreds of the most severely disabled veterans will take a financial hit after they turn 65 because they do not have military pensions and some of their charter benefits will end.
More than half of veterans who are assessed as 鈥渢otally and permanently incapacitated鈥� and can鈥檛 find work are not awarded impairment benefits.
鈥淚t is simply not acceptable to let veterans who have sacrificed the most for their country鈥ive their lives with unmet financial needs,鈥� the report says.
Benefits that are supposed to help veterans transition from a military to a civilian career, as well as compensation for pain and suffering, are also inadequate, the report found.
In Parent鈥檚 view, the legislation needs improvement in three key areas: financial, vocational rehabilitation and family support.
鈥淲e either deal with these issues now or we are going to have to deal with the cost later,鈥� he said at a news conference in Ottawa.
Later Tuesday, Parent told CTV鈥檚 Power Play that among its many recommendations, his report proposes options to bring a veteran鈥檚 income to about 70 per cent of his or her pre-release salary, which is the general standard for most Canadians.
Parent noted that injured veterans 鈥渁re no longer employable because they are not deployable,鈥� and when they leave the forces they miss out on career advancement opportunities, as well as the ability to plan for their futures.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e saying is that, in fact, because there was a loss of opportunity to prepare for their retirement years, that there is a debt owed to them by the government to ensure that that is compensated for,鈥� Parent said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e not asking for more, we鈥檙e asking for at least the same opportunity.鈥�
The Royal Canadian Legion said it has been raising the same issues for years and will 鈥渁ctively鈥� push the government to immediately make changes to the veterans charter.
The Conservative government overhauled the charter in 2011 to include more money for lost income replacements. Those changes will undergo a legislated review by a parliamentary committee this fall.
Last week, Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino announced that the government will launch a 鈥渃omprehensive鈥� parliamentary review of the New Veterans Charter, which will look at the entire legislation.
In response to Parent鈥檚 report Tuesday, Fantino issued a statement saying the government is 鈥渃ommitted to taking a responsible approach in reviewing the options to ensure veterans have the support they need, when they need it.鈥�
Fantino鈥檚 office said that 鈥渁 number of improvements鈥� have been made to the veterans charter since 2006, including reduced wait times for services and the 鈥淗ire a Veteran鈥� program.
Parent told Power Play that the charter 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 need to be reviewed again.鈥�
鈥淎ll of the pillars have been identified, so whoever is doing the review and however it proceeds should take into consideration that that has already been done and some of our recommendations were already contained in other reports that have been produced over the years,鈥� he said. 鈥淩eview is enough. It鈥檚 time for action.鈥�
Veterans advocate Sean Bruyea said that in his view, 鈥渁 bureaucrat who never served in uniform鈥� will decide what a veteran needs.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 not happening, and what needs to happen, is we need Parliamentarians to get out of Parliament, to get down from the Hill and go to communities big and small, meet with veterans, meet with family members, ask them what they need,鈥� Bruyea told Power Play.
He said that ultimately, soldiers face risks that civilians do not and their compensation should reflect that.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no other legal organization in this country that can order people into a situation where they know there will be loss of life. Everything is done in all other equivalent civilian organizations to avoid loss of life,鈥� Bruyea said.
鈥淭hey have to be willing to not think about themselves, not think about their families, and be willing to lose their life for Canadians. So that鈥檚 why Canadians have a debt repayment to these people, because they鈥檝e given so much.鈥�
The New Democrats called on the Conservative government Tuesday to 鈥渋mmediately fix the pressing problems鈥� outlined in Parent鈥檚 report.
鈥淭he government could easily fix many of these problems, for example by removing age 65 restriction on pension eligibility to give the veterans and their families the dignity they deserve,鈥� NDP鈥檚 veterans affairs critic Peter Stoffer said in a statement.
Liberal veteran affairs critic Jim Karygiannis told CTVNews.ca that a charter review is 鈥渓ong overdue鈥� and that he welcomes the ombudsman鈥檚 report and comments.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to working with the committee in order for us to come up with solutions to the problems that I鈥檝e been hearing from a lot of veterans,鈥� he said.
With files from Andrea Janus
