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 be stationed…
Archive for 2010
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 Sean Bruyea- THE OTTAWA CITIZEN-November 06, 2010, p. B.7 Serving and retired soldiers know all too well what a wonderful country we have. We know this more than most because we promised to die unquestioningly for Canada and Canadians. Those of us Canadian Forces veterans who survived the missions to the Persian Gulf, Bosnia,…
The five year controversy about veterans’ benefits has reached critical mass in 2010. I and a handful of veterans and our families stood up on May 10, 2005 and publicly pointed out the poor judgement in programmes which were created in secrecy, replaced lifelong compensation with a one-time lump sum and in spite of a an…
By David Hutton, Allan Cutler, and Duff Conacher-THE HILL TIMES-November 1, 2010. The following is letter sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, NDP Leader Jack Layton, and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe last week. It is ironic that, even while we were preparing this letter to you, calling for (among other…
By Tim Naumetz-THE HILL TIMES-October 25, 2010 The federal government appears ready to settle a $400,000 lawsuit by veterans advocate Sean Bruyea after Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart’s ruling that the Veterans Affairs Department contravened the Privacy Act by circulating his confidential personal information and medical files. Mr. Bruyea’s lawyer would say only that following a…
By Jessica Bruno-THE HILL TIMES-October 25, 2010 Christiane Ouimet, Canada’s first federal public sector integrity commissioner, who resigned last week as her office is being investigated by Auditor General Sheila Fraser, will be called before the House Government Operations Committee to explain the situation surrounding her departure. “The committee agreed that we should call the…
By Ian Bron-THE HILL TIMES-October 18, 2010 Jake Wright, The Hill Times Whistleblower: Sean Bruyea, pictured on the Hill. OTTAWA—For the past few months the media have been making revelation after revelation about the management of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The first issue to hit the headlines dealt with the misrepresentation of the New…
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 government. The Veterans…
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 injured veteran,…
Only a non-partisan public inquiry will fix this profoundly flawed department. A judicial royal commission would guide Canada to re-establish its commitment to injured military, veterans, and their families. By SEAN BRUYEA | Published: Monday, 10/18/2010 12:00 am EDT Veterans and all Canadians are grappling with revelations that federal bureaucrats have repeatedly and flagrantly violated…
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 Bruyea’s privacy…
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…
Editorial-THE HILL TIMES-October 11, 2010 Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart announced last week that she’s launching a wide-ranging audit of Veterans Affairs Canada after her office found the privacy rights of former Gulf War veteran Sean Bruyea had been seriously breached. “What we found in this case was alarming,” Ms. Stoddart said in a statement….
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…
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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…
by Sean Bruyea-VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST-September 28, 2010 p. A.12 Canadians learned last week that federal bureaucrats at Veterans Affairs Canada freely offered 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 or accessed the most intimate details of…
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…
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…
by Sean Bruyea, (filed in Reports) The recent announcement by the government of Canada presented by Ministers MacKay and Blackburn included additional benefits for veterans unable to seek full time employment. Although the additional benefits target the group of marginalized veterans who need help the most, these programs are relatively minor compared to the more…
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…
‘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…
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,…
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…
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…
A veteran is any Canadian who wore a military uniform; their average age is 54 and they are being marginalized
By Sean Bruyea-Special to Globe and Mail Update Published on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010
As Canada attempts to remain buoyant after the recent economic flood, Ottawa’s rush to cut the cost of government has one very large but often silent group on the chopping block: disabled veterans and their families.
By LAURA PAYTON, Parliamentary Bureau THE WINNIPEG SUN-Last Updated: August 9, 2010 7:24pm OTTAWA – Veterans of every war from the Second World War to Afghanistan need better service from the department of veterans affairs, starting with leadership from the minister, critics said Monday. The department makes it too hard to get coverage for everything…
By LAURA PAYTON, Parliamentary Bureau
OTTAWA – Veterans of every war from the Second World War to Afghanistan need better service from the department of veterans affairs, starting with leadership from the minister, critics said Monday
There are 600,000 Canadian Forces veterans. More than 50,000 of them are suffering permanent injuries and will need some form of support for the rest of their lives. Why was this statistical elephant in the room ignored? By Sean Bruyea -The Hill Times-August 9, 2010 At first glance, an independent and soundly functioning Statistics Canada’s has…
THE HILL TIMES-July 26, 2010 Re: “Feds’ idea to reward public servants with cash doomed,” The Hill Times, July 19, p. 13). Sean Bruyea and Allan Cutler make a number of valid points regarding the culture of intimidation that frequently surfaces in the day-to-day operations of the federal government. Certainly few would deny that “whistle-blowers”…
Our government has an abysmal record of listening to concerned federal employees brave enough to speak up. By Sean Bruyea and Allan Cutler-THE HILL TIMES-July 19, 2010 OTTAWA—The federal government’s hope to save money by rewarding public servants with cash incentives for cost-cutting ideas hinges on one integral premise: that they will be willing to…
Improvements are hard to make when whistleblowers are punished and misconduct is covered up By Sean Bruyea and David Hutton, Special to the Vancouver Sun July 14, 2010 The recent announcement of cash rewards for public servants who suggest improvements in the federal government is naive at best and disingenuous at worst, given the…