Petition circling legions demand Tories keep veterans ombudsman on the job
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Petition circling legions demand Tories keep veterans ombudsman on the job
By: Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press Posted: 19/09/2010 10:00 AM VVi 19 Sep 2010 db
OTTAWA - Former Canadian soldiers don't want the voice of war veterans silenced just yet.A petition is circling some legion halls that urges the Conservative government to keep popular veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran on the job awhile longer. The Tories have said the retired colonel's three-year contract won't be renewed this fall. But the petition makes it clear the veterans want Stogran to stick around. Among other things, it calls on the government to "renew the mandate of the Veterans Ombudsman, Col. Pat Stogran" The petition will be sent to Parliament once it makes its way through the legions. Stogran, a former ground commander in Afghanistan, has been speaking out in public and on Twitter to highlight the plight of many veterans and wounded soldiers. He held a news conference last month, flanked by wounded veterans, and blasted government officials and bureaucrats for letting down those who put life and limb on the line for their country. Stogran accused Veterans Affairs of adopting a "penny-pinching insurance company mentality" toward its clients. The petition also calls on the Tories to address a central complaint of veterans, the new system of lump sum payments and income replacement. Veterans want the government to restore the post-Second World War practice of granting them lifetime pensions.
A study commissioned by the veterans ombudsman and obtained by The Canadian Press last month, took aim at existing lump sum payments, which can be up to $276,000 for the most severe injuries. The study concluded that the one-time payments — the hallmark of the New Veteran's Charter — unfairly treated low-income soldiers and the most severely disabled veterans. Injured soldiers are given a lump sum cash payout and a monthly income replacement cheque while they are in rehabilitation. The cheques stop when they transition to a civilian job. It's been suggested in order to help soldiers of the lowest rank, the size of the monthly income replacement could be increased. The replacement cheque amounts to 75 per cent of a soldier's pre-injury salary. Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and Defence Minister Peter MacKay are to hold a Sunday news conference, where they are expected to announce an expanded aid package for wounded soldiers. The changes are not expected to address the new system of lump sum payments. Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who fought for improved benefits for wounded soldiers, accused the Conservatives of fumbling the veterans file. "There's a lot of issues out there dealing with the walking injured, as well as those who have injuries that don't just involve body, but also mind," he said.