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…
Archive for the ‘History of Veterans’ Benefits’ Category
By PERRY GRAY JUN. 19, 2019 THE HILL TIMES The prime minister’s, and his government’s, responses to veterans will echo well after the upcoming election campaign. In December 2017, then-veterans affairs minister Seamus O’Regan announced the government’s plans for a lifelong pension for Armed Forces veterans. But those moves ring hollow when Ottawa has racked up a…
By SEAN BRUYEA APR. 1, 2019 The only magic the Liberals will see is how they allowed bureaucrats to pass the wand over an election promise that made not just veterans’ benefits disappear but veterans’ votes for Liberals in the next election. Canada’s new Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, pictured on March 1, 2019, at Rideau Hall…
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…
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…
Opinion: The federal government is failing to truly deliver on its promises to veterans, and it’s doing so with less and less transparency by Sean Bruyea Nov 8, 2018 Veterans watch the Remembrance Day ceremony at Ottawa’s National War Memorial on Nov. 11, 2014. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images) Sean Bruyea is a frequent commentator and author…
by Sean Bruyea OCT. 22, 2018 THE HILL TIMES The upcoming Veterans Stakeholder Summit on Oct. 29 is the summit of bureaucratic insensitivity when it comes to accessibility. Our disabled veterans and their families deserve more. More voice, more consequential input, and more dignified treatment. Mounties, pictured April 9, 2017, at the Canadian National Vimy…
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…
Opinion: The Liberals promised the first meaningful reintegration program for veterans in decades. Then, the bureaucrats got involved by Sean Bruyea Apr 5, 2018 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, centre, greets veterans while visiting the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 128 in Sydney, N.S. on Thursday, November 10, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese Sean Bruyea is a frequent commentator and…
By SEAN BRUYEA-THE HILL TIMES-MAR. 26, 2018 The new benefit doesn’t come close to addressing what veterans asked for and families need. Having an all-or-nothing program that anticipates recognizing only those with a ‘disability assessment of 98 per cent or greater’ does not acknowledge immense sacrifices that families endure caring for those suffering significant disabilities. Veterans…
By SEAN BRUYEA-THE HILL TIMES- MAR. 19, 2018 Behind the scenes, the Trudeau Liberal government continues a longstanding war on veterans in minimizing or denying access to democracy and due process, writes Sean Bruyea. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured recently on Parliament Hill. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade OTTAWA—”Why are we still fighting certain veterans groups…
Published on: February 20, 2018 | Last Updated: February 20, 2018 11:56 AM EST Shadows from veterans are scene on the ground prior to the start of a ceremony honouring the National Battle of the Atlantic took place at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, May 3, 2015. CHRIS ROUSSAKIS / OTTAWA CITIZEN By Sean Bruyea Defence Watch…
The Hill Times-February 12, 2018 By SEAN BRUYEA The more Canadians and veterans learn of the 2019 Liberal programs, the more the confusion and anger grow. How do we survive the dizzying daze induced by trying to understand veterans’ benefits? Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan, pictured recently in Ottawa. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade…
CBC News Jan 02, 2018 5:00 AM ET by Sean Bruyea Not only does the pension option not pay any additional amounts for family members, the average monthly payment is expected to be around $200. Compare that to the pre-2006 pension that pays up to $2733 monthly, with an average of $680. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)…
The Globe and Mail December 17, 2017 by Sean Bruyea, vice-president of Canadians for Accountability and author, is a retired Air Force intelligence officer It is difficult to conceive of a more disheartening outcome for veterans, or greater victory for the federal government. The recent B.C. Court of Appeal ruling strikes down, in its entirety,…
The Hill Times- DEC. 11, 2017 By SEAN BRUYEA The ruling means bureaucrats can continue to write laws which Parliament is manipulated into passing that create an increasingly complex class and caste system of veterans forced to negotiate a labyrinth of bureaucratic injustices. Yes, it’s that bleak. …
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…
Budget 2017 for veterans is a hodgepodge of Band-Aid measures, shot-in-the-dark initiatives, and one or two hopeful tools for some to take steps towards a productive life. We need more than exclusionary piecemeal impulses and Band-Aid fixes for our veterans, such as what has so far been offered by the current Liberal government, writes Sean…
The real question is whether PCO, Treasury Board, and, ultimately, the PMO are complicit in ramrodding inadequate and regressive measures upon veterans? Or are they merely negligent in perpetuating a system that rewards style over substance? Members of Canada’s Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, pictured training in Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area on Sept. 8, 2016….
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…