The government continues to effectively and illegally deduct pain and suffering payments from their LTD income.
DND Photo
.
By SEAN BRUYEA
.
Published: Monday, 07/02/2012 12:00 am EDT
.
OTTAWA—Disabled Canadian Forces veterans and their families breathed a collective sigh of relief on May 29 when Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced the government would not be appealing a Federal Court decision…
This isn’t a game. Pain and suffering payments are often the only thing left for the military to know that their sacrifices meant something to Canada and to Canadians. To continue deducting their value also ‘extinguishes’ the value of military sacrifice.
By Sean Bruyea -THE HILL TIMES
Published: Monday, 05/07/2012 12:00 am EDT
OTTAWA—A…
Medically discharged veterans Ron Cundell (left) and Dennis Manuge (centre) listen as Veterans Ombudsman Col. (ret.) Patrick B. Stogran (right) speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday Aug 17, 2010.
Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Michael Tutton
Halifax— The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, May. 01, 2012 5:31PM EDT
Last updated Monday, May. 07, 2012 4:22PM…
An unnecessary bruise upon the CF’s reputation is the continued practice of deducting pain and suffering payments from injured veterans’ reduced income under long-term disability.
By Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES (Defence Policy Issue)-May 30, 2011.
It is often said that a nation is judged on how it treats its most vulnerable. Canada’s…
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4520027&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=3
For complete testimony, questions and answers, please click here.
Mr. Sean Bruyea (Retired Captain (Air Force), Advocate and Journalist, As an Individual):
Thank you, Chair. Good morning, Chair, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting me back to testify. More importantly, thank you for continuing your extensive study on the new Veterans Charter and the well-being of disabled…
By Dave Pugliese-THE OTTAWA CITIZEN-David Pugliese’s Defence Watch-April 18 2010
Filed under: Veterans Affairs, Sean Bruyea
Editor’s note: Veteran’s advocate Sean Bruyea has written a report titled “Honouring Sacrifice with More than Words: A New Direction for Veterans and Veterans Affairs Canada Through Listening Directly to Veterans, Their Families and Frontline Employees.” It has been presented to…
Federal treatment of disabled veterans disgraceful
Government actions seem geared to deny what is justly owed to more than 4,000 injured soldiers
Sean Bruyea. Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alta.: Jan 27, 2010. pg. A.19
The National Defence Ombudsman has called the deductions “profoundly unfair” and said “the inequity might very well be serious enough to attract the protection of human rights legislation” including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “which identify physical and mental disabilities as prohibited grounds of discrimination.” Unfortunately, decision-makers in Parliament and those uber-mandarins at Treasury Board and elsewhere in the bureaucracy who pull the strings of ministers, have often placed pay and benefits of disabled soldiers on the same chopping block as military equipment.
CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Thu. Jan. 21 2010 8:41 PM ET
A group of disabled Canadian war veterans will head to the Supreme Court of Canada today to battle the very country they once served, in an effort to recoup payments they say were unfairly clawed back.
The soldiers are trying to recoup millions of dollars they say…
By Janice Tibbetts-REGINA LEADER POST-January 21, 2010. pg. A.8
Dennis Manuge, a former soldier who served in Bosnia before he was medically released from the military, gets his day in the Supreme Court of Canada today to fight a federal policy of clawing back disability payments to thousands of injured veterans.
“We are fighting our toughest battle…
Sean Bruyea. The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ont.: Jan 21, 2010. pg. A.13
The National Defence Ombudsman has called the deductions “profoundly unfair” and noted that “the inequity might very well be serious enough to attract the protection of human rights legislation” including “the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which identify physical and mental disabilities as prohibited grounds of discrimination.”
The Hill Times-Published January 26, 2009
Re: “Veterans Affairs too secretive, House should assess effectiveness: vet,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 19, p. 1).
Sean Bruyea’s tireless efforts on behalf of disabled veterans, and his continued commitment in seeking public hearings into Veterans Affairs Canada and their programs, service delivery, and overall treatment of veterans is vital to…
For c0mplete testimony, questions and answers, please click here
Captain (retired) Sean Bruyea, as an individual:
I thank the committee for taking the time to study the issue of the unfair deductions from soldiers’ SISIP long-term disability income. I served 14 years in the Canadian Forces as an intelligence officer. I have with me Mr. Manuge, the plaintiff…
by Sean Bruyea-ESPRIT DE CORPS-May 2008-p. 12
Whether or not we agree with the Afghan mission, Canadians are united in standing behind the returning injured soldiers and their families. While the CF has retained many injured soldiers and even provided retraining into other trades, once the uniform comes off, many disabled soldiers have to fight another war, this time with Canadian bureaucrats.
Many disabled soldiers suspect their sacrifices are less important than sacrificing those dollars necessary to pay for the human cost of war.
By SEAN BRUYEA-The Hill Times-Published April 7, 2008
Whether or not we agree or disagree with the Afghan mission, Canadians are united in standing behind the returning injured soldiers and their families who need…
By Sean Bruyea – HALIFAX CHRONICLE HERALD-Published: 2008-03-06
No doubt thousands of cards and good wishes were sent to soldiers on the frontlines in Afghanistan for Valentine’s Day. Back home, a different expression of affection is being shown more than 4,200 injured soldiers whom the bureaucrats and policy makers would rather Canada forgot.
Last month on Valentine’s…
By Jean Leclerc-THE HILL TIMES-March 3, 2008
Re: “Disposable soldiers: Canada must renew broken trust with its forgotten 4,260 soldiers,” (The Hill Times, Feb. 25, p. 16, by Sean Bruyea.) I have read your column concerning the unfair deductions from SISIP on former service members. As one of those former members affected by this inequity I…
Of the 4,260 soldiers affected by what the National Defence ombudsman has called ‘profoundly’ and ‘fundamentally unfair’ deductions, more than 1,500 are currently so disabled as to be unemployable.
By Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES-February 25, 2008
No doubt thousands of cards and good wishes were sent to soldiers on the frontlines in Afghanistan for Valentine’s Day…
by Sean Bruyea-THE NATIONAL POST- Feb 14, 2008. pg. A.18
Since Tuesday, a Halifax courtroom has been hearing a request to certify a class-action lawsuit that would force the federal government to stop deducting pain-and-suffering payments from disabled soldiers’ long-term disability plans. The judge has read an affidavit from Andre Bouchard, the president of the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP), the disability plan mandatory for all Canadian forces personnel. Mr. Bouchard, who in fact served in the military for almost 30 years, claims that should the SISIP plan stop deducting pain and suffering payments, the result would be “exorbitant premiums which would impose significant hardship on the members of the Canadian Forces.”
By Robert Smol and Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES- October 8, 2007
But soldiers may be forgiven if they assume that the military’s long-term disability (LTD) plan is on par with the civil service plan. Both civil servants and soldiers have additional benefits for work-related injuries. However, a closer look at the LTD plans of both gives a barometer of sorts as to how the government compensates those in public service, in and out of uniform. Indeed, Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed the belief of the vast majority of Canadians when he stated that “military service is the highest form of public service.”
Enter now the financial reality of risking your life for Canada and the world 24 hours a day. When comparing the military and civilian long-term disability plans one sees that the LTD plans afforded to the civil service are in key areas considerably more generous than those granted to members of the Canadian Forces. This situation appears counterintuitive as it is widely recognized that the personal lives of soldiers on average endure greater strain than that of most civil servants. It is in the personal lives when LTD plans are most relevant.
Five reports from two different DND ombudsmen called the deductions ‘profoundly’ and ‘fundamentally unfair’ while the latest ombudsman Yves Cote indicates ‘the inequity might very well be serious enough to attract the protection of human rights legislation
By Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES-September 24, 2007
OTTAWA–For a soldier, the battlefield is often rendered in black and white in…
Approximately 4,000 former Canadian Forces members, who are now disabled, are subject to these deductions.
By Robert Smol-THE HILL TIMES-September 17, 2007
A group of young disabled Canadian Forces veterans took their fight to Parliament Hill last week over what they say is the federal government’s ongoing refusal to reverse a clawback of injured veterans’ disability insurance.
“I am here to ask if there is any one Canadian citizen who thinks theft of my long-term benefits is okay,” said Ron Cundell, a disabled veteran
By Robert Smol-THE HILL TIMES-June 18, 2007
The Conservative government is forcing a group of disabled Canadian Forces veterans to proceed with their class action lawsuit involving disability pension clawbacks, despite a promise by Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor to resolve the issue.
Filed last March in Halifax, N.S., the class action lawsuit involves deductions from compensation awarded…
But NDP MP Peter Stoffer says two DND ombudsmen have asked that the SISIP for injured soldiers be fixed and wants to know what the government is waiting for.
By Robert Smol-THE HILL TIMES-April 2, 2007
Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor (Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Ont.) responded: “Mr. Speaker, this issue has been in existence since 2003. The previous government did not resolve the issue. We now have the recommendations and we will resolve the issue.”