Archive for the ‘Mental Health and Psychological Injuries’ Category

Thursday, February 2nd, 2023

In May 2021, I appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. I spoke, among other things, about the broken system at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), a system that has been plagued by problems. The consequence of these problems is that Canada has repeatedly failed its duty and commitment to care for Veterans and…

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Wednesday, March 13th, 2019

The revolving door at Veterans Affairs is making Canada’s relationship with veterans even worse Sean Bruyea · for CBC News · Posted: Mar 13, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: March 13 Veterans and their families need to tell the story of how they have been repeatedly stigmatized, marginalized, betrayed, and abandoned by the government system they were…

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Saturday, November 10th, 2018

Special to Toronto Sun Published:November 10, 2018 Updated:November 10, 2018 12:00 PM EST Numerous poppies have been left at the National War Memorial in this file photo. (Wayne Cuddington/ Ottawa Citizen) By Sean Bruyea and Robert Smol, Special to Postmedia Network All week long, Canadians have been putting a loonie or two in the poppy donation…

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Wednesday, April 18th, 2018

  April 18, 2018 (Volume 25-01) By Sean Bruyea & Robert Smol-ESPRIT DE CORPS MAGAZINE Everything Veterans Wanted to Know About the Liberals’ Pension for Life Plan … And Should Not Be Afraid to Ask Changes to the Pension Act resulting from the New Veterans Charter led to a demand for a new benefits plan…

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Monday, September 4th, 2017

If O’Reagan and the Trudeau government truly wish ‘real change’ as they promised, then cultural change at Veterans Affairs must be their focus. Seamus O’Regan outside Rideau Hall on Aug. 28 just before getting sworn in as Veterans Affairs minister. Sean Bruyea says if O’Regan wants to have a positive impact, he must change the…

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Monday, May 29th, 2017

MFRCs, at $28-million annually, account for less than 10 per cent of the CAF Morale and Welfare Services budget. Families are valued far less than one maritime helicopter that cost well over $100-million in 2003. Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance, pictured in Ottawa. Sean Bruyea, vice-president of Canadians for Accountability, says the federal…

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Monday, September 26th, 2016

Ultimately, politicians and the public must force change. The removal of incompetent and inept leaders perpetuating a culture of persecution, impunity and intransigence is a start. Then, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promised openness and transparency can begin. Without transparency and openness, the military and Canada will fail to keep faith with those who have got…

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Monday, May 23rd, 2016

We need a new model of transition that looks at the military experience of every current and prospective veteran and their families. By SEAN BRUYEA PUBLISHED : Monday, May 23, 2016 12:00 AM “Seamless transition” is the latest buzzword for helping Canadian Forces members and their families releasing into a new civilian life. Throwing money…

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Monday, May 9th, 2016

The Trudeau government is hosting a ‘stakeholder summit’ May 9 and 10. But having a former general and federal government representative chair a group of often marginalized individuals who are highly indoctrinated to be subservient to authority is truly a farce of a most un-Canadian kind. By SEAN BRUYEA PUBLISHED : Monday, May 9, 2016…

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Monday, April 11th, 2016

Secrecy reflexively defended with misinformation is the Veterans Affairs way of doing things over the past decade. Nothing has apparently changed under the new Liberal government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate letter emphasizes ‘inclusion, honesty, and generosity of spirit,’ but so far Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr’s, pictured right with Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett,…

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Monday, December 1st, 2014

By SEAN BRUYEA  THE HILL TIMES Published: Monday, 12/01/2014 12:00 am EST We can be forgiven if we mistakenly believe that Christmas has finally arrived for Canadian veterans suffering psychological injuries. However, veterans will have to hold on to their Santa wish list for another 50 years. Ottawa’s mental health strategy looks more like a sleigh…

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Tuesday, April 1st, 2014

  By Sean Bruyea-ESPRIT DE CORPS-April 2014   When it comes to mental health and suicides in the military, the Canadian Armed Forces can do much to come clean and diminish the self-serving rhetoric. Chief of the Defence Staff Tom Lawson claims the public focus on military suicides could be aggravating the crisis in having…

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Monday, March 24th, 2014

The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright . The last Canadian soldiers returned from Afghanistan last week, pictured arriving in Ottawa. Veterans’ advocate Sean Bruyea says, spread over 41 years when the benefit ceases at age 65, the 24-year-old corporal takes home $23,193 annually in actual income loss. The Statistics Canada low-income cut-off in 2011…

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Monday, March 10th, 2014

When it comes to mental health and suicides in the military, the Canadian Armed Forces can do much to come clean and diminish the self-serving rhetoric. By SEAN BRUYEA  THE HILL TIMES-Published: Monday, 03/10/2014 12:00 am EDT When it comes to mental health and suicides in the military, the Canadian Armed Forces can do much…

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Monday, March 10th, 2014

Maj.-Gen. David Millar tells House National Defence Committee that increased reports of PTSD show the military is ‘de-mystifying the stigma’ of mental illness. By CHRIS PLECASH | Published: Monday, 03/10/2014 12:00 am EDT Last Updated: Monday, 03/10/2014 12:59 am EDT By Chris Plecash The increasing number of Canadian Armed Forces members reporting post-traumatic stress disorder…

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Tuesday, December 17th, 2013

There’s a dire need to directly involve Canadian society to help our Canadian Armed Forces veterans move closer to a productive life and away from the darkness of suicide. Photograph by Jake Wright The Hill Times Afghanistan veteran Kevin Berry, right, pictured Dec. 10 on the Hill with Conservative MP Ben Lobb, left, told the…

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Monday, December 9th, 2013

There is a 15 per cent to 20 per cent shortage of mental health professionals in the CAF and quality and consistency of the existing care is found wanting, exacerbated by sending military members to unmonitored outside providers. As well, by merely wiping their hands of those who don’t come forward, DND has perpetuated a…

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Monday, May 7th, 2012

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 Federal…

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Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

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…

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Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

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…

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Monday, February 13th, 2012

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…

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Monday, February 13th, 2012

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 has been so…

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Monday, February 13th, 2012

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 appeal decisions…

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Monday, February 13th, 2012

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 Times- February 13, 2012…

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Friday, October 21st, 2011

Alienation and abandonment by the Canadian government of its Canadian Forces veterans has long scarred our noble warriors and their families in a much more profound manner than what’s motivating the current worldwide protests. Into war: Canadian soldiers pictured in Afghanistan. Sean Bruyea says 600,000 CF veterans have been denied comprehensive programs including education in…

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Monday, August 22nd, 2011

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…

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Saturday, May 28th, 2011

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 treatment of injured…

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Saturday, November 6th, 2010

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,…

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Monday, October 18th, 2010

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,…

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Monday, October 18th, 2010

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…

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Monday, October 18th, 2010

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…

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Monday, October 11th, 2010

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…

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Saturday, September 25th, 2010

  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…

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Monday, August 30th, 2010

‘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.

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

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…

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