Veterans Affairs

Court OKs $887M settlement for Canadian veterans

Topics: 
Justice Department, Veterans Affairs, Government ethics
Rating: 
3

Murray Brewster – April 4, 2013

The Federal Court of Canada has rubber-stamped an $887-million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving thousands of disabled veterans. The case involved a three-decade-long federal government practice of clawing back the military pensions of injured soldiers by the amount of disability payments they received.

Halifax resident Dennis Manuge, a former army sergeant, was the lead plaintiff in the case, which dragged its way through the courts for nearly five years, including a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada on a technicality.

Is Veterans Affairs Canada Targeting This Family?

Topics: 
Veterans Affairs, Privacy, Reprisals
Rating: 
0

Jeff Rose-Martland – November 23, 2012

The brother of a veteran suing Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) for millions says his personal records were accessed by department staff without his permission.

Retired Corporal Dennis Manuge is the driving force behind the SISIP class action lawsuit over pension clawbacks. The suit is now under settlement negotiations and could cost government in excess of $600 million. Last year, Manuge revealed that, in 2009, the Minister of Veterans Affairs was briefed on private details of his medical conditions and finances.

Veterans Affairs manager who probed privacy breach praised by superiors for minimizing impact on staff

Topics: 
Veterans Affairs, Privacy
Rating: 
3

David Publiese – November 13, 2012

A Veterans Affairs manager who investigated his colleagues during a probe into one of Canada’s largest privacy breaches was thanked by a senior bureaucrat for the way he ensured that the impact on staff was minimized, according to newly released documents.

That has prompted the Ottawa veteran at the centre of the scandal, former Canadian Forces officer Sean Bruyea, to label the 2010 in-house investigation a farce and to call on government to do more to ensure the personal information of retired military personnel is safeguarded.

Veterans denied key services: auditor general

Topics: 
Veterans Affairs
Rating: 
3

Murray Brewster – October 26, 2012

Injured soldiers heading for civilian life face a bumpy, confusing road where they don’t always get their entitled services and benefits, the country’s auditor general said Tuesday.

Michael Ferguson’s milestone report tarnishes the Harper government’s oft-repeated claims of supporting the troops, but the veterans minister quickly promised a new plan to improve transition services for those leaving the military.

Fund intended for impoverished veterans' funerals rejects most applications

Topics: 
Veterans Affairs
Rating: 
3

The Canadian Press – November 4, 2012

A federal burial fund meant to give impoverished veterans a final, dignified salute has rejected over two-thirds of the applications it's received since 2006.

And of the requests that are accepted, Ottawa contributes just over $3,600 toward the funeral cost of destitute ex-soldiers, a figure that is substantially lower than what some social services departments pay towards the burial of the homeless and those on welfare.

Canadian funeral directors paying to bury war vets

Topics: 
Veterans Affairs
Rating: 
3

Andrew Duffy – October 24, 2012

Canadian funeral directors say they’re routinely subsidizing the burials of this country’s most impoverished war veterans because the federal government pays so little for the service.

Veterans Affairs Canada provides eligible veterans with up to $3,600 for funeral services through the Last Post Fund. But that amount — it has remained unchanged for more than a decade — now covers only about half the cost of a veteran’s funeral, according to the Funeral Service Association of Canada.

Veterans minister halts privacy breach investigation by vets ombudsman

Topics: 
Veterans Affairs, Ombudsmen, Watchdogs
Rating: 
3

 Murray Brewster – November 9, 2012

An investigation by Canada's veterans ombudsman into a controversial breach of privacy was quietly shut down last year on the instructions of Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney, newly released documents reveal.

Blaney asked the ombudsman to discontinue a probe that his predecessor had ordered in January 2011, after the confidential medical information of veterans advocate Sean Bruyea was spread around the department in an alleged smear campaign.

Military dismisses ombudsman’s findings on PTSD

Topics: 
National Defence, PTSD, Veterans Affairs
Rating: 
0

David Pugliese – September 23, 2012

The Canadian Forces senior leadership has dismissed the findings of military watchdog Pierre Daigle that two former soldiers, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders, were unfairly treated by officers and Defence Department managers.

The military is claiming that Daigle, the Canadian Forces ombudsman, has no jurisdiction to even investigate such cases, according to documents obtained by the Citizen.

Editorial: Veterans Affairs bonuses appear bogus

Topics: 
Veterans Affairs
Rating: 
0

Calgary Herald editorial – June 3, 2012

The news that 57 of the top brass at Veterans Affairs Canada raked in nearly $700,000 in extra pay awarded in bonuses and for getting results in 2011, elicits a two-word response: What results?

The results the department has achieved in the past few years have been less than stellar, and certainly not worth an approximate breakdown of $12,200 extra per manager.

Privacy watchdog probes Veterans Affairs – again

Topics: 
Government ethics, Veterans Affairs, Privacy, Watchdogs
Rating: 
0

The Canadian Press – May 3, 2012

The privacy watchdog is looking at whether a Veterans Affairs investigation of a breach of privacy actually involved another breach of privacy.

The department hired an outside contractor, Amprax Inc., to look at how personal information about veterans advocate Sean Bruyea ended up in a ministerial briefing note in 2006.

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