FAIR became a powerhouse of advocacy under the direction of David Hutton, who’s leaving the organization but not advocacy. Hutton’s leaving: Most frustrating for government were David Hutton’s thorough analyses of Canada’s disturbingly weak whistleblower laws and the frequent lame duck operations of the office entrusted to enforce them, the Integrity Commissioner’s Office, write Allan…
Archive for the ‘Improving Government’ Category
by Sean Bruyea ESPRIT DE CORPS July 2014 VETERANS HAVE EVERY reason to be disillusioned with Ottawa once again. But this time, the disappointment could become the nail in Veterans Affairs Canada’s coffin. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The House Veterans Affairs Committee released its much-anticipated report reviewing the New Veterans Charter. The legislation required a “comprehensive review” to…
Never in modern memory has a Cabinet minister by his own poor example brought so much attention to the profound cultural problems at Veterans Affairs Canada. By SEAN BRUYEA– THE HILL TIMES Published: Monday, 07/14/2014 12:00 am EDT Last Updated: Monday, 07/14/2014 12:35 am EDT Dear Prime Minister Harper, Gosh, the Veterans Affairs portfolio has…
Former Air Force intelligence officer Sean Bruyea’s fight with Veterans Affairs Canada for veterans’ benefits and for his own reputation and privacy affected his health, his personal relationships, and his finances. But he’d do it again. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Sean Bruyea suffered from fits of ‘suicidal ideation, physical and psychological breakdowns,…
By SEAN BRUYEA-THE HILL TIMES- Published: Monday, 06/16/2014 12:00 am EDT Prime Minister Stephen Harper has expressed his admiration for America. Explosive scandals in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the rapid response provide a powerful teachable moment for the PM and the “hero” of Canada’s own veteran scandals, Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino. Although longstanding, wait…
The government had better start fighting for veterans soon or Canadians will stop fighting for government. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Veterans pictured last week protesting on the Hill. Sean Bruyea says veterans have every reason to be disillusioned with Ottawa over the New Veterans Charter. By SEAN BRUYEA– THE HILL TIMES Published:…
By Sean Bruyea–iPolitics Jun 3, 2014 8:57 pm War is a terrible business. That is why we commemorate the fallen with two minutes of silence once a year, or on the anniversaries of battles, like June 6 for D-Day. What troubles many Canadians is our government’s inability to remember the survivors of war and their…
Whistleblowers in our federal public service have become caught in a bureaucratic and political propaganda meat grinder. By SEAN BRUYEA-THE HILL TIMES Published: Monday, 06/02/2014 12:00 am EDT OTTAWA—Canada’s public service integrity commissioner, the clerk of the Privy Council, the president of Treasury Board and Democratic Reform Minister of State Pierre Poilievre all need…
The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Finance Minister Joe Oliver, pictured with his top officials Brian Ernewein and Jeremy Rudin May 6 at the House Finance Committee. The omnibus budget bill is a perversion of democracy and ramming through legislation without proper scrutiny is an insult to the dignity of all that the military…
Canadians will hopefully remember this before they walk into a Canadian Forces recruiting centre. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Veterans want respect: In the coming days, Parliament will release a highly-controversial report on the embattled veterans legislation known as the New Veterans Charter. Will this report help repair or will it contribute to the…
All oversight bodies need to be strengthened with impartial non-bureaucrats to manage them. By SEAN BRUYEA -THE HILL TIMES-Published: Monday, 04/28/2014 OTTAWA—Holding government accountable has been granted a ray of hope. Democracy Watch may proceed with a private prosecution of Nigel Wright for the secretive payment of $90,000 to Senator Mike Duffy. This initiative…
The government is clearly not holding up its end of the bargain on veterans. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Veterans pictured last year in Ottawa on Remembrance Day. Sean Bruyea says MPs have never debated or given serious independent and binding consideration of the dramatic changes that the NVC made to the relationship…
Opening Remarks: Sean Bruyea ACVA April 9 2014 Thank you most sincerely for your invitation to speak today. Nine years ago Parliament passed the legislation we now know as the new veterans charter or NVC. The Elected Members of the House of Commons never debated any of its clauses. They have yet to give serious…
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…
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…
At potentially $7,500 per person, Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino’s Cyprus junket cost just over $100,000 for 14 individuals. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino is being criticized for taking a junket to Cyprus to commemorate the UN mission’s 50th anniversary. By SEAN BRUYEA | Published: Monday, 03/17/2014…
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…
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…
Minister Fantino last week in the Hill Times, chose to write a rebuttal to my article on How Veterans Shoot Themselves in the Foot While Government Hits Them over the Head. The Minister’s usual political rhetoric shines through absent any real action on improving the quality of life of veterans and their families. This week, Don Leonardo crafted a…
For 50 years, veterans have largely permitted government to choose the game, dictate the rules, rig the arena, and select the players on the veterans’ team. If veterans allow this to continue, they should not be surprised that they score few, if any, goals. Photo courtesy of Cpl Roxanne Shewchuk, Valcartier Imaging Section Veterans, pictured…
There is little doubt as to the good intentions of most veterans’ organizations in providing quotes to government. However, government has clearly been quite astute at using veterans’ good intentions to further a PR war that does little but says much about caring for veterans. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Media relations teams…
Without the Veterans Affairs Canada offices, political rhetoric about recognizing sacrifice and the debt owed to our military become as meaningless as graphic designs on cereal boxes. The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright and Abbas Rana Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino. Veteran Ron Clarke, pictured on the Hill on Jan. 28. By SEAN BRUYEA…
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…
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…
And true democracy can only be guaranteed by transparency, responsibility, inclusiveness, open dialogue and representation of all (not just the party core). By SEAN BRUYEA Published: Monday, 11/11/2013 12:00 am EST OTTAWA—Another Remembrance Day has come and will quickly be gone. Lest We Forget. But we do forget. This is sad because now we need…
And Canadians are looking on with a common reaction to Ottawa’s gruesome infighting: nausea. By SEAN BRUYEA | Published: Thursday, 10/31/2013 10:51 am EDT OTTAWA—Ottawa is a scary place. It is so frightening that most Canadians avoid thinking about the blood-curdling, or is it blood-boiling, antics of Parliament and its bureaucratic minions. Much…
Sean Bruyea, National Post | October 28, 2013 | Last Updated: Oct 24 2:51 PM ET Veterans are in an uproar after Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino fanned the growing blaze of discontent amongst our former service men and women by penning an op-ed in which he claims there is a “tangle of misinformation regarding…
By SEAN BRUYEA Published: Monday, 10/14/2013 12:00 am EDT OTTAWA—Veterans aren’t happy and recently-appointed Veterans Affair Minister Julian Fantino is only fanning the fire with the usual parroting of bureaucratic misinformation. How do veterans and other Canadians hold a minister and his bureaucracy accountable for spreading half-truths and misleading claims? The first step to accountability…
The government continues to effectively and illegally deduct pain and suffering payments from their LTD income. DND Photo . By SEAN BRUYEA . Published: Monday, 07/02/2012 12:00 am EDT . 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…
The wider federal public service has grown by 34 per cent in the last 10 years, Veterans Affairs Canada staff has grown by a mere 12 per cent. The elimination of 500 positions alone will bring VAC to below its 2001 staffing levels. Veterans Affairs Canada files: Why is Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney eagerly…
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…
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…
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 agency…
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 has been so…