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 ‘Military Transition to Civilian Life’ Category
Canadian Forces veteran speaks out against the ‘pernicious disease’ of military secrecy Sean Bruyea · for CBC News · Posted: Dec 18, 2018 4:35 PM CT | Last Updated: December 18, 2018 Veteran’s advocate Sean Bruyea says Cpl. Nolan Caribou’s death by suicide should have been preventable. (Ashley Burke/CBC News) The Canadian military should have prevented Cpl. Nolan Caribou’s suicide….
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…
By SEAN BRUYEA SEP. 17, 2018 The Hill Times New veterans’ photo ID cards are not official government identification and they should be. Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan, pictured in this file photo in Ottawa. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade OTTAWA—Process is as important as product. When the product is destined for a group of…
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…
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. …
Patronizing veterans is the salient problem, not the solution. Sadly, new Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan appears ready to reinforce, not resolve, the VAC cultural mess. Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan, pictured Aug. 28, 2017, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa shortly before he was sworn into cabinet. If the first public comments of newly appointed Veterans…
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…
Omar Khadr’s settlement at the very least provokes conversation so that veterans do not have to suffer in silence. Maybe, politicians and bureaucrats will likewise comprehensively settle with veterans and their families. Omar Khadr, pictured when he was 14 years old. Mr. Khadr’s settlement at the very least provokes conversation so that veterans do not…
by SeanBruyea Newspaper columnist, veterans and government accountability advocate, humanitarian, ethicist, former intelligence officer, husband, & father Posted: 05/01/2017 3:46 pm EDT Updated: 05/01/2017 3:47 pm EDT Canada’s military veterans are suffering another condition of late: envy. They watch National Defence Ombudsman Gary Walbourne, relentlessly petition government to improve the lives of soldiers. Veterans long for their Ombudsman, Guy Parent, to have 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…
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals promised a return to lifelong pensions as their priority commitment to veterans. This should happen. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, pictured Nov. 11, 2015, at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright By SEAN BRUYEA PUBLISHED : THE HILL TIMES…
Veterans Affairs Canada bombards media to sell inadequate programs with paltry incremental changes. Meanwhile, veterans and their families continue to suffer. Veterans will be unlikely to question Walt Natynczyk’s inaction and excuses for not moving on policy issues universally agreed-upon more than a decade before, writes Sean Bruyea. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright By SEAN…
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…
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….
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…
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…
This government has a chance to fix a small part of this and receive the praise of approximately 5,000 totally disabled and incapacitated veterans as well as thousands to follow. Incrementalism is demeaning for veterans who never hesitated to fulfill their obligation to Canada at a moment’s notice while in uniform. The 95 per cent…
Disenchanted and disabled veterans with their families have been enduring a decade of endless platitudes and rhetoric waiting for programs for which less than two per cent of them will qualify. DND photograph Veterans’ advocate Sean Bruyea writes, ‘Let’s stop lying to our veterans and their families. They deserve substantive and immediate action, not scripted…
by SEAN BRUYEA-DEFENCE WATCH October 18, 2015 Not since the 1920’s has a governing party so mismanaged the care of Canada’s veterans that all political parties would include veterans’ promises in their platforms. Prime Minister Harper appointed Erin O’Toole this past January to clean up the mess at Veterans Affairs (VAC) after the public relations…
In the first six months of 2015, which corresponded to O’Toole’s inaugural tenure, the Public Service Commission reports that he oversaw the priority hiring of zero medically released veterans. Since 2010, Veterans Affairs Canada has priority hired only six veterans, two of whom were hired by the Veterans’ Ombudsman. By SEAN BRUYEA The Hill Times Published:…
Almost 120,000 Canadians have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands more have lived and continue to live with lifelong disabilities. Parliament can do better for its veterans. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole, pictured recently on the Hill. Sean Bruyea writes ‘in a bizarre and never-ending déjà vu,…
Despite what Prime Minister Stephen Harper says, Canada does not have the best veterans’ programs and services in the world. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole, left, pictured with NDP MP Nathan Cullen. By SEAN BRUYEA The Hill Times Published: Monday, 03/09/2015 12:00 am EDT Last Updated: Monday, 03/09/2015 2:56 pm…
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…
We need to hear much less about those veterans who don’t need our help and focus upon fixing the system comprehensively for those disabled veterans and their families who desperately need our help. A barrage of propaganda will fail to make the disabled veterans’ lives better. By SEAN BRUYEA THE HILL TIMES, Published: Monday, 09/22/2014 12:00…
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…
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,…
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…