Lest We Forget…is not a slogan…It’s a warning.
Lest we forget…We, the citizens of Canada, through our elected representatives, ask our military service personnel & RCMP to sign a lifetime contract with unlimited liability. Being a contract, there are provisions on our side that we must honour, specifically those pertaining to caring for them when they are injured. We are not honouring our side of the contract. They have dutifully stood on guard for us, now we must dutifully stand on guard for them.
Lest we forget…Veterans Affairs Canada was established to distribute programs and resources, and provide comfort and assistance to Military and RCMP veterans and their families, applying the “benefit of the doubt” clause enshrined in the existing legislation to all worthy applicants, and not to act like a US medical insurance company with their culture of denial.
Lest we forget…and I mean no disrespect to the older veterans such as my father, our perception of veterans is changing. As a boy, of course, I remember veterans very differently. Veterans today are more likely to be our children and siblings rather than our fathers or grandfathers. We have vets from Vietnam, Bosnia, Africa, Afghanistan, and domestic service, and they are going to be around for a long time, and it is our duty to assist them.
Lest we forget…the legislation governing VAC contains an important clause known as the “benefit of the doubt” clause which states that, in the absence of irrefutable proof, the benefit of the doubt shall go to the veteran applicant. VAC does not adhere to that but rather uses what is called the “balance of probabilities”, which leaves decisions to the discretion of the adjudicator.
Lest we forget…SISIP (the Service Income Security Insurance Plan) contributions are mandatory for all service personnel but payouts are geared to your income or outright refused once pension earnings and benefits exceed 75% of your salary. Imagine your car insurance company, after your car was set on fire and destroyed, telling you that they don’t have to pay for the vehicle because you earn too much money, but you must keep paying the premiums. Any SISIP benefits you receive stop at age 65.
Lest we forget…many victims of Agent Orange spraying from 1958 to 1984 are still fighting for compensation. Only two years, 1966-67, were recognized and $96M was earmarked for compensation but only $56M of that was actually distributed.
Lest we forget…the lump sum payment of up to $276,000, when amortised over a lifetime works out to a very small monthly supplement. In comparison, British vets receive almost 4 times as much in lump sum compensation.
Lest we forget…while we can appreciate VAC’s close scrutiny and stewardship of our tax dollars, we should be appalled at a statement made personally to Col. Stogran by a senior VAC bureaucrat that it would have been fiscally more beneficial if all the injured vets had died in battle rather than come home and be a constant drain on the system.
Lest we forget…that the freedoms we enjoy are defended daily by our military and RCMP service personnel and come at great personal risk and expense for many of them. In a representative democracy it should not be necessary to shame our government into pursuing the right course of action. Just as we are asked to remember on November 11th the actions of those who fight on our behalf, we will also remember the actions of those we elect to represent us on election day.
