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Disregard
for Rights and Freedoms Part 3
Perry Grey
Chief
Editor VeteranVoice.info (VVi)
VVi 01 Aug 2017 pd
The
problem with unlimited liability is that it has fostered unrealistic
expectations. The government assumes that Veterans can do anything
assigned to them without complaint, but if they fail, then they
should be punished severely.
Nobody should be treated this
way, which is why there are Charters of Rights and Freedoms.
Our charter is based upon the older UN charter and it is this
which I quote below:
Article 5.
No one shall be
subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to
recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to
equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this
Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy
by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the
fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled
in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and
impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and
obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
I have
indicated that Veterans have suffered “cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment” in service to Canada. Their rights have been suppressed
in contradiction of Canadian law. They are subject to discrimination
contrary to Canadian law and do not receive the same protections,
thus they are not equal to other Canadians. Effective remedy is not
provided by a national tribunal, the Veterans Review and Appeal
Board (VRAB), which is very biased in my opinion, and legal
representation is provided by VAC (hardly impartial).
Yet,
our government likes to see Canada as an excellent model of UN
ideals.
Can Canadians really expect much from its government?
Given the number of rights and freedoms violations, the answer is a
resounding NO.
DND, which I consider is a social and
political experiment gone badly wrong, is at the whim of a
government that one experienced federal bureaucrat stated:
“a government that either doesn’t understand the basic principles of
good governance or simply doesn’t care” (Alan Williams 16 June 2017
http://www.lfpress.com)
Mr Williams used a term which seems
to confuse the government; a concept of clear accountability. It
should be easily understood given its repetitions in government
communications. It is also used in conjunction with three other
words; transparency, participation, and inclusion.
The NVC
is a good example of the government failing to appreciate all four
words. It was developed in secret by VAC, consultation never
included all of the draft, a brief summary was approved by six
Veterans (officially even if their organisations supported them),
who never saw the draft, and the government has failed to be
accountable by ensuring it is a “living charter”. The last failure
is due to the fact that VAC has not significantly changed it despite
over 400 recommendations from Canadians. And because of the NVC, VAC
seems to have forgotten about older legislation, which also remains
in effect because the NVC did not replace, only supplement. This is
a key distinction that VAC would rather not discuss.
In my
opinion, unlimited liability should be compensated with unlimited
responsibility. This means that the government should be more
generous in its treatment of Veterans and truly honour its
commitments to treat Veterans with dignity and respect. In other
words, if you break it, then you pay full costs, and do not try to
settle for 20-30% or offer excuses.
Since the government is
unlikely to redress the inequalities of its unfair compensation
policies, it is left to individual or groups of Canadians to follow
Omar Khadr’s course of action, namely initiate legal action. This
may not end as favourably as it did for Omar Khadr because the
government continues to oppose the Equitas law suit, which has
probably cost millions as did the SISIP class action. Of note, the
previous Conservative government tried to settle the Equitas case
with the Critical Injury Benefit of $80,000 (again chump change for
the “chump” Veterans).
Omar Khadr was not the first Canadian
to seek legal redress because of mistreatment by the US government
because of the “war on terror”. He probably will not be the last.
In my opinion, Omar Khadr should receive compensation similar to
that provided to other Canadian “Veterans”, namely the New Veterans
Charter. He should be paid a lump sum up to $360,000, or probably
less because he has less than a 100% disability. VAC will only pay
the full amount if he is totally and permanently incapacitated. Of
course, he can take his case to VRAB, if he feels that he deserves
more.
One major concern that is never discussed is the
accountability of the officials and politicians, who were either
culpable for Khadr’s abuse or did nothing to protect him from abuse.
The government knows the names of the irresponsible people, but has
done nothing to punish them, just the taxpayers. Also missing is any
effort to punish the people, who forced Khadr to join the Taliban
and make IED’s. Will the government ever hold them accountable?
It seems that the government takes the easy option all the time;
namely throw money at the problem. Prime Minister Trudeau should
have announced the plans by which the Department of Justice will
prosecute all those complicit in these crimes against Khadr
including US officials and the Khadr family. This would be money
well spent because it is positive proof for all Canadians to
demonstrate that the government will protect every Canadian.
But that would require political will, which seems to be lacking.
For example, how much money was paid to the families of the 12
Canadian soldiers killed and wounded by the US during the Tarnak
Farm Incident of 17 April 2002 in Afghanistan? Did the government
seek millions in compensation from the US government?
A
former Liberal government decided to pillage the CAF pension fund of
$4.5 billion to help balance its budgets. Paul Martin was the
Minister of Finance who orchestrated this plan. Did the government
ever compensate Veterans? Again the answer is no as stealing from
and abusing Veterans are acceptable business practices.
Another question that the prime minister should answer; why are none
of the guilty held accountable in these cases? If they broke the
law, then why are they not prosecuted? Instead only Canadian
taxpayers are held accountable. Doing only this is both ethically
and morally wrong!
The Prime Minister stated his commitment
to Veterans in his mandate letter to Minister of Veterans Affairs
Kent Hehr in 2015:
“our government lives up to our sacred
obligation to veterans and their families…
We have promised
Canadians a government that will bring real change...I made a
personal commitment to bring new leadership and a new tone to
Ottawa...also committed to set a higher bar for openness and
transparency in government...”
He echoed his commitments
while speaking about defence policy in May 2017:
"It is going to
be extremely important moving forward that Canadians see their
government has heard the pride that all Canadians feel in supporting
our troops and that we demonstrate with concrete actions and
investments that our priority is in supporting the extraordinary men
and women of the Canadian Forces, who choose to serve,"
Well
Prime Minister put you money where your mouth is. Compensate
Veterans as part of supporting these extraordinary men and women.
Praise is nice, but money pays the bills.
I am sure that
Canadian would approve giving money to Veterans rather than paying
lawyers to fight against Veterans in court…or to an enemy combatant
who could have killed Canadian soldiers defending his rights and
freedoms.
To all Veterans, get angry. Call a lawyer not a
politician. Let us test the determination of the government to
squander taxpayer dollars fighting us before it settles. If we wait
until the next election, then there are no guarantees the next
government will be any better…the Conservative Party also made lots
of promises…
Some harsh facts
Compensation for
government wrong-doing:
1988 — Japanese Canadians who lived
in British Columbia and were interned during the Second World War
solely because of their race. They received $300 million and an
apology.
1989 — The government offered $150 million dollars
to 1,250 people, who contracted AIDS from tainted blood provided by
the Red Cross.
1995 — The British Columbia government awarded
settlements to 150 students of the Jericho Hill School who suffered
abuse. They received between $3,000 and $60,000 each.
1997 —
The Newfoundland and Labrador government provided $11 million to
victims of abuse from the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's.
Payments to the 81 men, ranging from $20,000 to $600,000 each, only
began in 2003 after liquidating the assets of the religious
organization that ran the orphanage.
1998 — The original
hepatitis C compensation package covered about 10,000 people
affected between 1986 and 1990 from tainted blood. It was worth
about $1.2 billion.
2000 — Merchant sailors helped ship
goods, fuel and people back and forth across the Atlantic during the
Second World War and the Korean War but were not in the navy and
thus not eligible for any pension. After decades of protest and
lobbying they were finally awarded about $50 million. The number of
sailors and widows was thought to be between 2,500 and 7,000.
2001 — After tainted water killed seven and sickened thousands
in Walkerton, Ontario and surrounding towns in May 2000, the entire
population was eligible for compensation. A total of 7,600 people
received an average of $6,300 each from a package worth $50 million.
More than $11 million went to administration fees.
2001 — .
Children in Quebec (Duplessis Orphans) during the 1940s and 1950s
who were misdiagnosed as mentally challenged and institutionalized.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 received an average of $25,000.
2005
— Italian Canadians were also interned during the Second World War.
The survivors and spouses received $2.5 million but did not receive
a formal apology.
2005 — Ontario Superior Court judge ruled
that the federal government owes $4.6 billion dollars to veterans
and their families because of mismanagement of veterans’ monies.
2006 — Indian residential school survivors will receive part of
a $5-billion dollar settlement agreed in 2006. Some of the money
will cover administration, legal fees and be spent on healing
programs. Individual survivors will receive amounts ranging from a
few thousand to about $300,000.
2006 — Hepatitis C sufferers,
who contracted the disease before 1986 or after 1990, and who were
excluded from the original settlement. About 5,000 individuals
received $1 billion. The money also covers administrative and legal
fees.
2006 — Chinese head tax. Around $8 million for the 400
survivors or spouses who paid this racist fee at the turn of the
20th century.
2007 - Maher Arar received an apology and $10.5
million compensation because Canadian officials played a role in his
detention in the United States, and his deportation to Syria where
he was tortured. (Note Omar Khadr reportedly received the same
amount a very suspicious coincidence.)
2008 — Komagata Maru.
An apology was issued for not letting would-be Sikh immigrants land
in British Columbia in 1914. No compensation.
2010 — Halifax
mayor Peter Kelly apologized to the descendants of Africville, the
all-black community where residents were evicted and the houses
bulldozed in the mid-1960s to make room for a bridge. Some $3
million in compensation was offered to the local community
association and to construct a museum about the community. No
individual compensation.
2010 — Air India. An apology was
issued for institutional failings of various departments and police
agencies on the 25th anniversary of the destruction of an Air India
plane by a terrorist bomb. Both sides are still negotiating
compensation.
2010 — Apology to 19 Inuit families — moved
from northern Quebec into the High Arctic in the 1950s — for
hardship and suffering.
2010 — Sean Bruyea sued the
government because VAC violated the Privacy Act by unlawfully
sharing his personal and medical information. He sought $400,000 in
compensation and received an apology from the government. No VAC
employees were prosecuted in spite of their actions (“Every person
who contravenes…is guilty of an offence”)
Wrongful
convictions:
- Donald Marshall, a Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq
convicted in 1971 of murdering Sandy Seale. He spent nearly 19 years
in prison before being exonerated by a royal commission report in
1990. He was compensated with a lifetime pension of $1.5 million.
- After being tried twice for the murder of his young neighbour,
Christine Jessop, Guy Paul Morin was finally exonerated by DNA
evidence in 1995. He received $1.2 million.
- David Milgaard
was convicted in 1969 for the murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail
Miller. He was in prison 23 years before also being exonerated by
DNA evidence in 1997. Milgaard was awarded $10 million in
compensation — $6 million from Saskatchewan and $4 million from the
federal government.
MP Entitlements vs Veterans
MP’s
qualify for a pension if they serve a minimum of two terms in the
House of Commons (up to 10 years). Their pension is based on their
salary, which is currently more than $170,000 . By comparison
military personnel must serve a minimum of 20 years to receive a
pension and are limited to 70% of their pay. Considering that the
average age at release is 36, then many Veterans will not be
eligible for a pension.
MP’s qualify for severance pay equal
to six months salary if they lose an election or quit. This is also
more generous than other government employees.
Perry Gray is a
Regular Force veteran, serving as the Chief Editor of VVi. Perry has
been with VVi for 15 years. |
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