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Feature:
Liberals Fighting Veterans in Court a Losing Battle at the Polls
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PERIODICAL - 15 Jun 2019
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Issue No:
201994 |
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Liberals Fighting Veterans in Court a Losing Battle at the Polls
By Perry Grey, Chief Editor
VVi
VVi 15 Jun 2019 pe
It was a Liberal campaign
promise that has been broken repeatedly: to not fight veterans in
court. Yet that is exactly what the Trudeau government has done.
During the last election
campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marketed what would be the
cornerstone of the Liberal platform paper “Real Change: The Future
We Owe Our Veterans”:
We will demonstrate the
respect and appreciation for our veterans that Canadians rightly
expect, and ensure that no veteran has to fight the government for
the support and compensation they have earned.
Contrast this with CBC’s
reporting last year that the federal government has spent more than
$38 million “on legal proceedings involving Canada’s veterans over
the past two years”.
Last year in an Edmonton town
hall, a disabled veteran confronted the Prime Minister as to why the
Liberals keep fighting veterans in court. The Prime Minsiter’s
response will echo well after the upcoming election campaign. “Why
are we still fighting against certain veterans’ groups in court?
Because they are asking for more than we are able to give right
now.”
They both were referring to
one specific case wherein a group of veterans were suing the
government to honour a covenant with veterans that has been in place
for almost a century: the payment of lifelong pensions for pain and
suffering to veterans and their families. In fact, this was another
of Trudeau’s campaign promises: “to reinstate lifelong pensions”.
Government argued that government has no special covenant with
veterans. The Courts agreed and dismissed the case.
Veterans and serving members
have since seethed with a sense of betrayal.
Liberals symbolically twisted
the knife further in the eyes of many. In settling with Omar Khadr
for $10.5 million, the government claimed that it wished to avoid
paying up to $40 million to continue the legal fight.
Such cost-benefit analyses
ring hollow with veterans and serving members, whether it is the
misguided attempts to prosecute Admiral Mark Norman or the lesser
known legal case involving well-known advocate for disabled veterans
and their families, Sean Bruyea.
Ottawa has racked up a pretty
taxpayer legal bill using crafty legal manoeuvres against Sean. In
response to an article he wrote for the Hill Times which critiqued
the justifiably maligned Liberal “Pension for Life” program, former
Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan accused Sean of “stating
mistruths” and making “numerous other errors” in his writing to suit
his “own agenda”.
Sean sued O’Regan in small
claims court for the modest sum of $25,000. Meanwhile, the lead
researcher for the House Committee on Veterans Affairs as well as
the Parliamentary Budget Officer came to the same conclusions as
Sean that the “Pension for Life” will save the government billions
of dollars compared to previous lifelong pensions.
Even experts in Veterans
Affairs Canada told the Minister and/or his staff that Sean’s
article was largely accurate.
Nevertheless, the Feds then
successfully had Sean’s case dismissed by employing a law meant to
protect little guys like Sean from bullying by big guys like the
federal government. The feds had the audacity to claim that Sean’s
lawsuit was putting a chill on public officials to speak out. The
“chill” must have been downright tropical because Seamus O’Regan was
simultaneously bragging repeatedly about his almost 50 public town
halls he held across Canada to sell the Pension for Life to
veterans.
As former Conservative
Minister of Veterans Affairs Erin O’Toole stated in the House of
Commons last fall, “Now Sean Bruyea in in court to clear his name”.
(Sean was once again in court on June 13 2019 in an attempt to
overturn the dismissal).
And what did it cost Ottawa to
defend against a $25,000 lawsuit so far? We don’t know because the
Department of Justice refuses to divulge the numbers but in the
first few months alone (we are now well into a year since this
began), Ottawa spent $59,039.85 of taxpayer’s money. Sean speculates
that the ultimate cost to defend Seamus O’Regan’s attacks will be
more than $250,000. In comparison, Sean’s GoFundMe campaign (Justice
for Veterans Legal Fund) has raised $6525. David is fighting
Goliath.
Remember, Justin Trudeau is
the Prime Minister who refused to respond to personal attacks from
Jason Kenney. He also defended the media and press freedom.
Meanwhile, he claims he is fiscally responsible.
Could someone please explain
to me, other veterans and the rest of Canada why he allows his close
personal friend, Seamus O’Regan to spend taxpayer’s money to defend
the Minister’s personal attacks and false allegations against a
well-respected veteran like Sean Bruyea who happens also to be a
widely published columnist for the media?
It is clear to veterans, and
to most Canadians, that the federal government will always fight
veterans in the courts regardless of whether or not the government
wins or loses. Is this how the government repays the sacrifices of
veterans and their families?
Perry Gray is a Regular
Force veteran, serving as the Chief Editor of VVi. Perry has been
with VVi for 18 years. |
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