Veterans’ advocate Sean Bruyea called the payments “to senior managers at Veterans Affairs Canada way out of whack with reality.”
Photograph by: CHRIS WATTIE, REUTERS
By David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen May 25, 2012 6:59 PM
OTTAWA — The senior managers at Veterans Affairs Canada received almost $700,000 in bonuses and extra pay last…
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 Perry Gray-THE HILL TIMES-November 15, 2010.
Cynthian Münster, The Hill Times
Time for a royal commission: Perry Gray is a retired Canadian Forces intelligence officer and a chief editor of veterans.info.
OTTAWA—Considering the national outcry against the so-called “New Veterans Charter” and the lump sum these past few months, it is interesting to note…
By Jack Granatstein-THE HILL TIMES-October 18, 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs has a proud record. Founded in 1944 to care for and reintegrate into civil society the more than one million men and women who served in the Canadian Armed Forces in the Second World War, DVA was an ornament of …
By Tim Naumetz-THE HILL TIMES-October 18, 2010
Quebec Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire says injured Canadian war veterans distrust the Veterans Affairs Department to the point some would rather continue on in the Army as disabled personnel rather than risk an uncertain future dealing with the department’s now-famous bureaucracy.
Sen. Dallaire, perhaps Canada’s best-known…
By Jeff Rose-Martland-THE HILL TIMES-October 18 2010
Amidst revelations of privacy breaches in Veterans Affairs, there is one question no one in government is asking: why?
We know that several veterans had their medical details spread around VA to people without legitimate need to know. We know that the targets of these breeches—Sean Bruyea, Pat…
By Michael L. Blais-THE HILL TIMES-October 11, 2010
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT.—The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity on the veterans’ front. Nationally, veterans continue to rally in defence of Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran, and the serious concerns he has identified.
Revelations pertaining to repeated VAC violations of retired captain Sean…
By TIM NAUMETZ-THE HILL TIMES-October 11, 2010
Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart says she is concerned other federal departments may be gathering and circulating personal information about critics of the government in the same way the Veterans Affairs Department improperly gave a Cabinet minister medical files about Gulf War veteran Sean Bruyea when he tried to expose…
Sean Bruyea has strived to work in whatever institution or venue which would help increase the awareness of and improve programmes for the plight of injured soldiers and their families. To that end, Sean has worked with all political parties and all parties have been willing to work with Sean to help injured soldiers and…
Editorial-THE HILL TIMES-October 4, 2010
The Hill Times’ Tim Naumetz last week broke the story that Canada’s Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran is under treatment for operational stress injury that dates back to the 1990s and to his time in Bosnia and that he fears Veterans Affairs Canada may have improperly shared his personal medical files and…
By Sean Bruyea, Ottawa Citizen Special-September 25, 2010 10:28 AM
This past week, Canadians learned that federal bureaucrats at Veterans Affairs Canada freely offered up extensive amounts of my confidential medical and financial information to federal cabinet ministers without my permission. And at least 850 federal employees, political staffers and politicians exchanged and/or accessed the most intimate…
By: Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press Posted: 21/09/2010 5:12 PM
OTTAWA – Confidential medical and financial information belonging to an outspoken critic of Veterans Affairs, including part of a psychiatrist’s report, found its way into the briefing notes of a cabinet minister.
Highly personal information about Sean Bruyea was contained in a 13-page briefing note prepared by…
Mark Iype, Postmedia News. Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010
OTTAWA — Facing criticism it has been shortchanging soldiers hurt in the line of duty, the federal government on Sunday unveiled what it says will be the first in a series of steps aimed at looking after Canada’s new generation of war veterans.
The Conservatives plan to pump $2-billion…
‘A huge part of the population that elected the Conservatives were veterans and soldiers hoping for a little bit more respect for the sacrifice that they endure,’ says Sean Bruyea
By HARRIS MACLEOD-THE HILL TIMES- August 30, 2010
The Conservatives have made support for the troops an integral part of their party brand, but when the first ever veterans’ ombudsman recently blasted the government for denying veterans adequate benefits it exposed a sense of betrayal felt by soldiers and their families who thought they would be better off with Harper, said a Canadian Forces veteran and longtime advocate for disabled soldiers.
Friday August 27, 2010
By Richard Mostyn-Yukon News
The line of veterans sitting before Stephen Harper on Thursday were conspicuous.
Were they aware about how cleverly they were being used?
This week, Harper has been flying around small communities in the North – Resolute Bay, Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvik, Cambridge Bay and Churchill. Whitehorse represented his first touchdown in a city…
by Sean Bruyea-The Toronto Star-August 26, 2010
The indisputable lightning rod for the cumulative frustration of disabled Canadian Forces veterans and their families has become the replacement of the lifetime monthly pension for military injuries with a one-time lump-sum payment.
Among the rapidly growing population of more than 680,000 serving and veteran Canadian Forces personnel, approximately 60,000…
By: Sean Bruyea- Winnipeg Free Press- Posted: 24/08/2010 1:00 AM
This past week was a difficult and emotional one for disabled veterans and their families. The outgoing Veterans Ombudsman, Pat Stogran, held what will hopefully be the first of many press conferences highlighting the shortfalls with which the Canadian bureaucracy treats (and mistreats) its men and…
CBC AS IT HAPPENS-August 18, 2010 Duration: 00:08:12
One Canadian war veteran put it this way: “When we need it most… we’re kind of hung out to dry and left on our own.”
He and other veterans gathered at a news conference yesterday to voice their disappointment that their ombudsman was losing his job.
Last night on As It…
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…
For complete testimony, questions and answers, please click here
Mr. Sean Bruyea (Retired Captain (Air Force), Advocate and Journalist, As an Individual):
Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you very much for inviting me and my wife here today to testify on the new Veterans Charter.
In many ways, Canada’s veterans were betrayed by the MPs who…
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…
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.”
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.
By Minister of Veterans Affairs Greg Thompson-THE HILL TIMES-February 11, 2008
It is with great regret that I must write for the second time in two weeks to correct the same error in The Hill Times. But, once again, your Feb. 4 edition contains a column, “Veterans Affairs Minister Thompson should be building trust and showing…
If Veterans Affairs is being operated so well, why was there a need to create a veterans ombudsman office to address all the problems which don´t exist?
By Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES-Published February 4, 2008
That means that the department spends more than 30 cents to administer every dollar which is almost 15 times the 2.1 cent cost incurred by OHIP in managing each of Ontario´s healthcare dollars.
By Minister of Veterans Affairs Greg Thompson-THE HILL TIMES-January 28, 2008
Re: “Veterans Affairs Canada: well-oiled machine or department in crisis?” (The Hill Times, Jan. 21, p. 34.) Some people just can’t take yes for an answer. Sean Bruyea and Robert Smol are two such people. In their doomsday article last week about Veterans Affairs Canada,…
by Sean Bruyea and Robert Smol-THE HILL TIMES-January 21, 2008
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) has a lot on its plate: an unexpectedly large number of wounded soldiers returning from Afghanistan, 2,000 or more World War 2 veterans passing away each month, the appointment of the first-ever ombudsman and introducing the single largest change in veterans benefits in 60 years. While the department paints a rosy picture of effectiveness and client satisfaction, many observers and veterans point to a department in crisis, with top-heavy over centralization, insensitivity to clients and overworked frontline staff.
By Sean Bruyea-THE HILL TIMES-November 5, 2007
Sadly, the process to create the veterans’ ombudsman has abandoned any of the 22 substantive recommendations from the committee’s report. The Ombudsman’s Office will not be legislated nor will it have the necessary robust powers of investigation such as the power to subpoena documents and witnesses, take testimony under oath or enter any relevant premises as required.
By contrast all Canadian provinces have legislated ombudsman offices (except Prince Edward Island) with these important investigative powers.
Whether a soldier has served in World War II, Korea, Kuwait, Afghanistan or Cold Lake Alberta
The Toronto Star-September 21, 2007
Sean Bruyea
Canada ’s hidden tragedy in Afghanistan, seldom reported in detail in the media, is that at least 228 Canadians have been wounded and will likely require some form of long-term assistance for their disability in the future.
This does not include psychological injuries such as post- traumatic stress disorder, which could…
By Sean Bruyea and Robert Smol-THE HILL TIMES-June 4, 2007
The reality is that the Legion is rapidly losing its connectivity to the veteran community. Worse, on a political level, the Legion has done a complete about-turn on the one fundamental principle that defined its existence–ensuring that returning veterans, and especially disabled veterans and families, receive the best possible support that the nation can offer.
While politicians heap praise on our troops, Canadian soldiers disabled in Afghanistan will receive far less than those who fought in World War II
by Robert Smol and Sean Bruyea-THE TORONTO STAR-June 19, 2006-pg. A.17
Young Canadian men and women are at war in Afghanistan. Over here, many immigrants from strife-torn regions understand all too well what…
For complete testimony, questions and answers, please click here.
Report Accompanying Testimony-A Powerful Independent and Impartial Ombudsman for Veterans Affairs Canada
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HTML click here
Mr. Sean Bruyea (As an Individual):
Good afternoon, Chairman and other committee members. I thank you all for inviting us here today. More importantly, I congratulate all of you on the creation of the…