The government continues to effectively and illegally deduct pain and suffering payments from their LTD income.
DND Photo
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By SEAN BRUYEA
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Published: Monday, 07/02/2012 12:00 am EDT
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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…
Retired Canadian Forces intelligence officer, shown during an Ottawa conference on Oct. 7, 2010, warns against aggressive budget cuts at Veterans Affairs.
Chris Wattie/Reuters
Comment
By SEAN BRUYEA
Special to Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Mar. 07, 2012 7:36AM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Mar. 07, 2012 7:45AM EST
Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls enlisting in the military the …
Veterans say the Veterans Review and Appeal Board takes a far too legal interpretation of its responsibilities and that the hearings are intimidating and dehumanizing.
Photograph by Jake Wright, The Hill Times
Veterans files: Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney, pictured with Tory MP Candice Hoeppner.
By Ian Bron and Allan Cutler
Published: Monday, 02/27/2012 12:00 am…
By: Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Free Press Online Posted: 02/16/2012 4:21 PM
OTTAWA – Veterans Affairs Canada and the independent board that reviews claims of ex-soldiers grappled with allegations of leaked personal information long before a privacy scandal blew up in public.
A series of leaked documents show the department and the…
Just when Ottawa bureaucrats and politicians thought they would have a quiet week following unsuccessful attempts to placate stakeholders in an Ottawa conference room this week (click here for article), all of Hades breaks loose. One conscientious Canadian reader was supportive of my latest piece (click here) . If only Ottawa was as supportive of…
by Murray Brewster- THE CANADIAN PRESS-2012/02/12
OTTAWA – A prominent, long-standing member of the country’s Veterans Review and Appeal Board had his privacy violated twice in an alleged smear campaign meant to discredit him using his private medical information as ammunition, The Canadian Press has learned.
The behind-the-scenes fight involving Harold Leduc…
by Byron Christopher-THE HILL TIMES-February 13, 2012
Re: “Just one more reason for a commission of inquiry into veterans’ issues,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 23, p. 10, by Sean Bruyea). Hats off to Sean Bruyea for his thoughtful article on how vets are being screwed over by the Canadian government. It’s an odd…
by Roseanne Dornan-THE HILL TIMES-February 13, 2012
Re: “Veterans Board responds to Bruyea,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 30, p. 8, by John Larlee, chairman of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board). My husband Steven Dornan, a veteran of both Bosnia and Afghanistan, was released medically from a very prestigious military career after…
by Perry Gray-THE HILL TIMES-Feb. 13, 2012
Re: “Veterans Board responds to Bruyea,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 30, p. 8, by John Larlee, chairman of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board). As an applicant and veteran, I question the veracity of Mr. Larlee’s letter. There are several different ways that a veteran may…
By Don Leonardo-THE HILL TIMES-February, 13, 2012.
Re: “Veterans Board responds to Bruyea,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 30, p. 8, by John Larlee, chairman of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board). I find Mr. Larlee’s letter troubling for a number of reasons. He completely sidestepped the statistical evidence in Sean Bruyea’s article…
Disabled veterans will never feel justice has been truly served under the current composition of the VRAB, nor will justice be served until each tribunal possesses someone with relevant military experience and the ability to effectively communicate/provide advice based on his/her experience of the rigors of war/peace.
By Michael Blais-The Hill…
Veterans need to shed their well-indoctrinated sense of loyalty and sacrifice to a government system that has neither shown them loyalty at the senior levels nor sacrifice.
Photograph by Jake Wright, The Hill Times
Veterans files: Veterans Affairs Canada, now led by Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney, pictured on Parliament Hill in…
by John Larlee (VRAB CHAIR)-THE HILL TIMES-January 30, 2012.
Re: “Just one more reason for a commission of inquiry into veterans’ issues,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 23, p. 10, by Sean Bruyea. In his column, Mr. Bruyea presents his opinions about the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB) and the administrative law process….
For Canada’s injured military, veterans and their families, there are few government agencies so singularly reviled as the Veterans Review and Appeal Board.
Photograph courtesy of Sgt. Lance Wade, DND, Combat Camera
Maj.-Gen. Jonathan places poppies on every plaque on the Memorial of the Fallen at Kandahar Airfield at the last Remembrance Day…
LINK TO CBC RADIO BROADCAST: DEC 19, 2011 (click here)
Sean Bruyea says veterans should be given more opportunities to enter the public service. (The Canadian Press)
Advocates say departments not hiring from priority list for injured soldiers
CBC NEWS Posted: Dec 19, 2011 6:44 AM ET
Advocates for Canadian veterans say a priority list aimed…
The responsibility for designating a Special Duty Area (SDA) and a Special Duty Order (SDO) lies with the Minister of National Defence. The process also involves advising the Minister of Veterans Affairs due primarily to the fact that service in either is “integral to the provision of benefits” [1]
SDA’s and SDO’s require two basic criteria…
Our democratic building can withstand removing the bureaucratic and political façade which fails to cultivate trust through collaboration, coordination and cooperation.
Photograph by Jake Wright, The Hill Times
Power and Parliament: Should we care that we have lost substantial faith and much trust in Ottawa and its institutions, asks government accountability advocate Sean…
The reality is that the senior mandarins are the ultimate arbiters of power in Ottawa, not the politicians. And the oft-criticized hyper-centralized culture is centered not in the PMO but in Treasury Board and the PCO.
By Sean Bruyea
The Hill Times: Published September 19, 2011
OTTAWA—We …
By Jessuca Bruno-THE HILL TIMES-Published August 22, 2011
Today’s vets more educated, know their rights, and need more flexible service than in past generations.
Veterans Affairs needs to start innovating if it’s going to serve the wave of veterans coming home from Afghanistan with a host of needs unique to their generation, says veterans advocate Michel…
Veterans Affairs is trying to slip under the summer radar a sleight-of-hand approval for regulations on injured soldiers’ benefits. We should not be surprised.
By Sean Bruyea
The Hill Times: Published July 18, 2011
OTTAWA—Just as the sun will rise and we all will one day die, Veterans Affair Canada can always be counted upon to pull…
Kenneth Young is an articulate and persistent advocate for the rights of disabled veterans and their families. Today, Kenneth drafted profound commentary on the current lack of debate at the public and national level as to how veterans and their families are being (mis)treated (see below).
I am honoured that a single line of my article posted on VeteransofCanada.ca…
By Sean Bruyea
Exclusive to VeteranVoice.info and VeteransofCanada.ca-Published July 15, 2011.
Far too many veterans shoot the messenger instead of aiming their sights on government. This is worsened by the impulsiveness which the internet encourages in instantaneous messaging. Veterans have much to contribute to determining their own destiny. The question is how to focus that energy…
By SEAN BRUYEA-THE GLOBE AND MAIL-Last updated Wednesday, Jun. 08, 2011 3:51PM EDT
Sean Bruyea (REUTERS)
For the first time in decades, a federal election witnessed all parties promising assistance for our serving and retired Canadian Forces personnel. Debate on the issue quickly died, but the problems confronting our veterans remain painfully alive.
Those problems escalated in 2006…
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…
(The following article (at the link below) is excerpted from the 2011 report compiled and released by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression “REPORT CARD” on the state of freedom of expression in Canada. This article articulates the reasoning for the government of Canada’s reprehensible grade in how it (mis)treats and deters whistleblowers from providing…
With a majority Government, CJFE says it’s time for Prime Minister Harper to keep his promises to reform the Access to Information system
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression-CNW-May 9, 2011.
TORONTO, May 9 /CNW/ – For the second year in a row, the Harper government has received a failing grade from Canadian Journalists for…
After a rather long and much needed break, I have returned to update the website. This will be a daunting task as there have been hundreds of articles concerning veterans, the privacy scandal and the sad lack of change in government’s willingness to improve conditions for not just injured soldiers, veterans and their families, but…
By Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES-April 11, 2011
OTTAWA—Just prior to the election campaign kick-off, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn showed just how out of sync he and some in the department are with veterans and Canadians, not to mention Canadian law and Treasury Board policies. He recently made a number of public…
By David Hutton-THE HILL TIMES-March 21, 2011.
Photograph by Jessica Bruno, The Hill Times
In the spotlight: Former public sector integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet, pictured at the House Public Accounts Committee on March 10 on the Hill.
Former integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet’s testimony to the House Public Accounts Committee seemed to be all…
By Ian Bron, Allan Cutler-THE HILL TIMES-March 21, 2011.
When Christiane Ouimet was appointed as the first integrity commissioner in 2007 there was no reason to think anything but the best: her long service in the bureaucracy seemed free of blemishes, and she had experience in investigations and training in law
When…
By Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES-March 21, 2011.
In a most bizarre déjà vu, history repeated itself on March 11 when the House passed Bill C-55. The bill was sold as the fix-for-all that ails veterans’ legislation originally passed in 2005, legislation which replaced lifelong payments for pain and suffering for injured soldiers…
By Jessica Bruno-THE HILL TIMES-March 21, 2011.
The gag order on former public sector integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet’s $500,000 exit deal with the government is the most concerning part of the arrangement, says prominent lawyer Paul Champ.
“If this was a private sector settlement then that would make sense, but we’re dealing with…
By Jessica Bruno-THE HILL TIMES-March 14, 2011.
Former disgraced public sector integrity commissioner Christiane Ouimet, who defiantly refuted Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s scathing report last week of her office and her conduct on Parliament Hill, may get the chance to tell her side of the story again when she’s called before the…
By Jessica Bruno-THE HILL TIMES-January 17, 2011.
Photograph by Jake Wright, The Hill Times
Tricks of the trade: Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Stoddart, ‘You have to reassure employees on two things: of the integrity of the mandate about having a healthy working environment, and that’s respectful of its employees.’
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart,…
By Ken Rubin-THE HILL TIMES-December 6 2010.
OTTAWA—Ottawa under the Harper government operates with the principle that only a few insiders need to know what’s really going on. This results in tightly-controlled spin on what is said and makes a mockery of public access.
For example, more than 900 Army personnel are to…