Canadian Veteran Medric Cousineau details yet another betrayal inflicted upon Canada’s heroes.
The following is the text of a post made by Canadian Veteran Medric Cousineau. Please read and then share this article to spread the word about how Canada’s Veterans are under attack by Veterans Affairs Canada:
“Disabled Veterans Under attack by VAC
Well Folks,
I have been torn as to whether I spilled the beans before or after Darrell Samson’s Information Session. As much as I would like to blindside both VAC and the useless Crats and Politicians that have just pulled off what they were so kind to provide proof of in writing.I must provide a little context and background so that this makes this mess trackable. Notice I did not say make Sense or defend the Indefensible.
In 2006, with much fanfare, the Pension Act was replaced by the New Veterans Charter (NVC). Life long disability Pensions were replaced by Lump Sum Disability Awards. The system proved to be inneffective for the needs of Veterans and can be directly linked to Veterans Homelessness issues. Successive governments kept trying to rectify problems and address shortfalls but the system became ever more complex and unnavigable. It could best be described as a “frustrating, bureaucratic, inefficient uncomprehensible nightmare with more programs and acronyms then Carters got little Liver pills”.
Enter Justin Trudeau and his Liberal platform of 2015. To great fanfare Trudeau pledged to reinstate disability pensions.
This is were things go horribly of the rails. Rather than fulfill that promise, Seamus Oregan rolled out the New Pension for Life Option in the New Veterans Well Being Act. Given the very justifiable lack of trust by Disabled Veterans having been mired in battles with a broken system with a horrible track record, Veterans were Scared to death of what was coming. I mean given some of their previous stunts and Trudeau’s assertion that Veterans are “asking for more than we can afford to give” it is a very understandable fear.
Then comes the Announcement of the New Pension For Life (NPFL) OPTION. And with it Seamus Oregan pledged that not one veteran would get less than they are currently getting. Those this would effect then sat through 14 months of uncertainty until the rollout of this new fangled benefits suite that was to combine a bunch of benefits and make the system simpler. On the First of April, 2019 those affected finally found out what exactly was happening to their benefits they would be receiving 30 days later. If you do not think that this caused the stress and anxiety meters to peg across the disabled veterans land, then you were not plugged into those communities.
And so it came to pass, the government rolled out its new programs. However, given the magnitutude of the reconstruction and the fact that things have gotten very silent from VAC and the Politicians, one is left wondering what they did, yet again.
This is the part where the story gets very ugly. In their zeal to prove to us (those affected) that the Government had kept their word, they actually provided in writing, proof positive that yet once again disabled veterans are nothing more than a budgetary line item.
Here comes the bomb.
In mid April, those affected received an 8 page letter outlining the changes. On page 5 is a “protected amount”, ie what we were receiving before the NPFL under the NVC. It also shows what we would receive under the New IRB. This lower amount is not because another benefit was grandfathered, made tax free and not in the calculations. This is the apples to apples comparison and it is rotten to the core.Yes, for once I was standing in the right line. Yippee for me, my I get the “bigger” payout. So to all of us with a protected amount that exceeds the IRB amount. However, what that also means, is that in writing, they have jyst demonstrated, clearly that all those who enter he system after 1 Apr 2019 will get less under the IRB. Now we are not talking nickels and dimes. In many cases the difference between the NVC benefits versus NPFL benefits are hundreds of dollars a month. The very thought that a younger veteran or newer into the system gets less for the exact same injuries does not sit well. As a former officer who was trained to place the care and well being of his troops first, this is driving me Bat$hit crazy.
However, unlike the NVC debacle which received support from all three parties, the NPFL fiasco is on the current governments watch. However, the politicians have only stood by like sheep and watched Bureaucrats lead veterans to the slaughter.
I have yet to hear a single solitary politician of any stripe raise their hand and start asking tough questions. Yes the stakes seem to average out that the NPFL amount is averaging $500 a month less. Given the numbers of new claims at VAC each year, it will not take more than a year or two and there will be 5,000 plus veterans receiving less. Do the math. This saves the government $30 Million a year.
So, I am sick to my stomach. I am sickened by a bunch of bureaucrats, headed up by a DM who is the former CDS, who could pull such a stunt. I am even more sickened that our politicians have stood idly by and watched them do it. If the Politicians truly cared about their constituents it would never have gotten to this.
Remember, this is the same group of bureaucrats with the former CDS as DM who were sitting on the theft of a 165 Million in disabled veterans pension money.
Anyone care to hazard a guess why I have been in such a state and on the proverbial warpath?
So yes Seamus Oregan’s promise that “No veteran would receive less than they are currently receiving” was delivered upon. What nobody anticipated, was the fingers crossed behind the back skullduggery of setting up a new system that saves the government money being on display for all to see in the run up to the next election.
If the politicians knew about this, they should be fired. If they did not, then the Senior Bureaucrats should be fired. The Canadian Public needs to know what is being done to their veterans. My bet is they are not going to be pleased.
Karen McCrimmon, Erin Michael, John Brassard…. did you folks have any idea? I am going to give you all the benefit of the doubt. But now that it is out there, what are you going to do?”
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
