Don’t Give Up the Fight - A Blog on Military Trauma and Suicide

Don't Give Up the Fight - A Blog on Military Trauma and Suicide - Part 1 - Introduction

http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/leenaars/?p=4

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Don't Give Up the Fight - A Blog on Military Trauma and Suicide - Part 2 - Suicide is Not Simple

http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/leenaars/?p=8

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Don't Give Up the Fight - A Blog on Military Trauma and Suicide - Part 3- Secrets, Lies, and Suicide

http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/leenaars/?p=11

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Don't Give Up the Fight - A Blog on Military Trauma and Suicide - Part 4 - A Failure in Leadership

http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/leenaars/?p=13

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Don't Give Up the Fight - A Blog on Military Trauma and Suicide - Part 5 - The Suicide's Pain Becomes the Survivor's Pain

http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/leenaars/?p=15

Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

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New announcement: Veterans say Fantino flap obscures real problems with mismanaging benefits

Veterans say Fantino flap obscures real problems with mismanaging benefits

GLORIA GALLOWAY

OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Dec. 04 2014, 9:12 PM EST

Last updated Thursday, Dec. 04 2014, 9:18 PM EST

Check the Video's: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/veterans-say-fantino-flap-obscures-real-problems-with-mismanaging-benefits/article21964721/

Veterans say the real financial problems facing injured military men and women – and the government's failure to address them – have been lost amid current calls for Julian Fantino's resignation.

The beleaguered Veterans Affairs Minister is fending off opposition demands that he step down after the government said last week it was making a six-year, $200-million investment in veterans' mental health, then admitted the money will flow over decades.

But Donald Leonardo, a former soldier and the founder of Veterans Canada, an online network for vets, says the minister's unwillingness or inability to change to the New Veterans Charter is the reason Mr. Fantino must be replaced. "I don't think this is fixable with this minister because of his attitude," Mr. Leonardo said Thursday from his home in Airdrie, Alta.

Last June, MPs on the all-party Commons veterans affairs committee, which is chaired by Conservative MP Greg Kerr, unanimously recommended 14 changes to the much-maligned charter. It was implemented in 2006 and replaced an old system of lifetime pensions for injured vets with one that relies heavily on lump-sum payments.

New veterans say it leaves them inadequately compensated for their sacrifice, and this week the federal government was in court in British Columbia to try to stop a class-action lawsuit launched by soldiers disabled in Afghanistan who say the New Veterans Charter is unconstitutional.

Mr. Fantino responded in October to the veterans affairs committee's report with some positive words, but no definitive promises for when or how most of the recommendations would be implemented. That was a particularly irritating to veterans, Mr. Leonardo said, because some of the proposed changes are contained in multiple previous studies.

Three are particularly critical, he said. They include increasing the monthly payments available to veterans undergoing rehabilitation, treating reservists the same as regular forces when it comes to benefits and support, and making the lump-sum payment for pain and suffering equivalent to the amounts being awarded by the courts in civil liability cases.

"Fire Fantino," Mr. Leonardo said. "Replace him with Kerr. Let's get on with the recommendations."

Even as veterans complain they are not being given the benefits they need, the Veterans Affairs department returned $1.13-billion to the federal treasury that it did not spend in the years since the Conservatives took power in 2006.

It was recently revealed that the department shed nearly a quarter of its work force over the past five years. And the Auditor-General released a report last week saying many vets are waiting months or years to access mental-health disability benefits.

All of which has made Mr. Fantino, who has refused repeated requests for interviews, an easy target for opposition criticism. But it is the New Veterans Charter that has been the ongoing source of frustration for veterans.

Veterans ombudsman Guy Parent issued a statement Thursday saying it is essential that federal decision makers understand the urgency of targeting money to address the charter's deficiencies. "Support to veterans is not a theoretical exercise," he said. "There are real veterans out there, with real needs that need action now."

Brian Forbes, chair of the National Council of Veterans Associations in Canada, which represents 61 member organizations, agrees that lack of action on the New Veterans Charter is a major irritant. "The government doesn't seem to react in any meaningful way to things that are truly significant to the veterans community," he said.

Frank Valeriote, the Liberal who sits on the veterans affairs committee, said, "We were all expecting for there to be some meat in their response" to the recommended changes to the charter. But the word veterans does not appear in the Conservative government's fall economic update, Mr. Valeriote said.

And Peter Stoffer, the New Democrat on the committee, said many of the recommendations could be put into effect immediately. The government is simply promising more study, he said. "That's why so many veterans are [ticked] off with these guys."

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The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

Equitas, the fight for Sacred Obligation equality to the Pension Act

Equitas, the fight for Sacred Obligation equality to the Pension Act

Two stories, politicians/wounded.

How does Erin O'Tooles comments reconcile with Major Mark Campbell's. O'toole served, but has no connection to the VAC file or committee. Where is Fantino? Where is Gill? Do they just trot him out because he served?

Politicians
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2624675123/

Major Mark Campbell.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2624683706/

Comments welcome

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Michael L Blais CD
President - Founder Canadian Veterans Advocacy
6618 Harper Drive, Niagara Falls, Ontario
905-359-9247 /// hm 905-357-3306


Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/Board2/index.php

New announcement: Opposition calls new Veterans Affairs ad campaign propaganda

Opposition calls new Veterans Affairs ad campaign propaganda

Lee Berthiaume More from Lee Berthiaume
Published on: December 3, 2014Last Updated: December 3, 2014 5:12 PM EST

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/opposition-calls-new-veterans-affairs-ad-campaign-propaganda

Veterans Affairs Canada is preparing to launch a new $5-million advertising campaign, as the Conservative government struggles to defend its treatment of those who have served in uniform.

The upcoming campaign is just one of several government advertising initiatives revealed in budgetary documents tabled recently in the House of Commons, and the second to be conducted by the department over the past year.

About $4 million was spent on a campaign this past spring that included television commercials during the NHL playoffs highlighting services available to military personnel who are moving into civilian life.

While Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino's office did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday, the minister has previously said advertising campaigns are important for informing veterans and their families about the many benefits and services available to them.

But Liberal veterans affairs critic Frank Valeriote compared the ad campaign to propaganda, alleging the purpose was to counter the litany of recent bad news that has undermined the government's record on veterans issues.

The Conservative government was stung last week by an auditor general's report that found many veterans are being forced to wait more than eight months to find out if they qualify for mental health services.

The government has also faced criticism for closing nine Veterans Affairs offices, cutting hundreds of positions since 2008, and failing to reveal it will take 50 years for $200 million in new funding for mental health services to be paid out.

Questions have also been raised about the Veterans Affairs department returning more than $1 billion in unspent funds to the treasury since 2006.

In the House of Commons Wednesday, a visibly annoyed Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended the government's record on veterans issues in the face of renewed opposition attacks.

"We have taken resources out of backroom administration from bureaucracy. We have put it into services," he said in response to a question from NDP leader Tom Mulcair. "That is called good administration, good government, and it is good service for the veterans of this country."

But Valeriote noted one of the programs showcased in the $4-million advertising campaign in the spring benefitted just 296 veterans, each of whom received $1,000 for career counselling, resume writing training and other job-hunting help.

"They spent $4 million in the spring on ads over the NHL playoffs for a program that they spent $296,000 on," Valeriote said.

"They use every opportunity to promote themselves under the pretext that it's really informing of the programs. And that's not the case."

Senior Veterans Affairs officials were scheduled to appear before the Commons' veterans affairs committee on Wednesday, where the budgetary documents were to have been discussed. But committee chair Greg Kerr sent out a notice late last week saying the meeting was cancelled.

The committee now isn't scheduled to meet again until Parliament resumes after the Christmas break at the end of January.

The opposition blames the committees' Conservative majority for suspending the committee's work, which they say is scandalous given the auditor general's findings and other concerns.

"They just said there's no remaining business and things to talk about in that regard, and they have the majority, so that was it," said NDP veterans affairs critic Peter Stoffer. "But there's all kinds of things we could talk about."

Neither Kerr nor Fantino's parliamentary secretary, Parm Gill, who is the senior Conservative MP on the committee, responded to requests for comment.

lberthiaume@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/leeberthiaume

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New announcement: Veterans Affairs shed staff despite increased mental-health risks

Veterans Affairs shed staff despite increased mental-health risks

GLORIA GALLOWAY

OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Dec. 02 2014, 8:04 PM EST

Last updated Tuesday, Dec. 02 2014, 8:07 PM EST

Check the Video: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/veterans-affairs-shed-staff-despite-increased-mental-health-risks/article21897819/

The department of beleaguered Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino shed nearly a quarter of its work force over the past five years even as bureaucrats warned that the changes could put the delivery of services to veterans and their families at risk.

The downsizing occurred at a time when soldiers were returning home from Afghanistan with a myriad of physical and psychological injuries, and as growing numbers of veterans were butting heads with a Conservative government they accused of being indifferent to their needs.

Figures posted by the federal Treasury Board on an internal government website show the number of employees at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) declined from 4,137 in 2009 to 3,188 last March. The most dramatic drop occurred between 2013 and 2014, when the department lost more than 400 people.

At the same time, officials in the Veterans Affairs department warned in a government report this year that: "The primary risk being mitigated by the department is that modernization of VAC's service delivery model will not be achieved as expected, and will not meet the needs of veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members, and their families."

Mr. Fantino, a former police chief, is the fourth minister to hold the difficult portfolio since Prime Minister Stephen Harper took office in 2006 – and has had the most trouble. Calls for his resignation came this week after the government said it would spend $200-million over six years for veterans' mental health, but staff in Mr. Fantino's office later acknowledged the money would actually flow to the vets over several decades.

"The plan is worth even less per year than the savings from closing the nine veterans services offices," Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons on Tuesday. "It is by now clear to all that the Prime Minister owes veterans an apology."

Mr. Fantino was travelling on official business in Italy last week when the Auditor-General released a report saying many vets are waiting months or years to access mental-health disability benefits.

And, although opposition MPs say Mr. Fantino was invited to appear before the veterans affairs committee of the House of Commons to answer questions about the supplementary budget estimates for his department, as most ministers do, he did not agree to appear.

Those estimates show the Veterans Affairs department is asking for another $5-million to spend on advertising this year. That is about equal to the annual cost of running three occupational stress injury clinics for veterans with mental problems, such as the one in Halifax that will be created with the new funding.

Mr. Fantino's spokespeople did not reply Tuesday when asked why he did not appear at the committee. Nor did they answer questions about how the department is coping with reduced staff.

Stephen Lecce, a member of Mr. Harper's own communications team, has been sent to Mr. Fantino's office to act as the interim chief of staff. That prompted NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair to ask why the Prime Minister felt it necessary to impose third-party management on one of his own ministers. "If he's lost confidence in his minister, why is [the minister] still there?" asked Mr. Mulcair.

Mr. Harper did not directly respond. But, with regard to the announcement of mental-health supports for veterans that was made last week, he said: "Using the Auditor-General's standards of accrual accounting over a life cycle, the costs of these new announcements to the government are, in fact, $200-million over the next six years. Obviously these funds are available to veterans over many decades, over their lifetime."

Frank Valeriote, the Liberal veterans affairs critic, said the essential point about the money is that "veterans get it over 50 years."

Mr. Valeriote said the fact that the department staff has been reduced at the same time bureaucrats worried aloud that services to veterans could be put at risk "is a contradiction of what they say and how they respond. And that is exactly what our veterans have been facing …"

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The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

New announcement: Stephen Harper aide takes over as chief of staff to Veterans Minister Julian Fan

Stephen Harper aide takes over as chief of staff to Veterans Minister Julian Fantino

Oppositions MPs call on Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino to resign over criticisms of Ottawa's handling of veterans issues.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/12/01/stephen_harper_aide_takes_over_as_chief_of_staff_to_veterans_minister_julian_fantino.html

By: Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau, Published on Mon Dec 01 2014

OTTAWA—An aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken over as chief of staff to embattled Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino as opposition MPs call for his resignation.

Stephen Lecce, the director of media relations for Harper, will now also serve as interim top aide to Fantino as the Conservative government struggles to get a grip on a file that has turned into a political nightmare.

The staff shuffle comes just weeks after Walt Natynczyk, a retired top general who headed the Canadian Armed Forces, was named deputy minister of Veterans Affairs after a short stint heading the Canadian Space Agency.

The twin moves are seen as an attempt by the Conservatives to turn around a struggling department that has angered veterans and dragged down the government politically.

In the Commons Monday, the New Democrats and Liberals pressed Fantino to resign over criticism the department is failing veterans in need.

Liberal MP Ralph Goodale said Fantino, who has served in the post since 2013, has no trust or credibility left.

"The longer the minister clings to the government the worse they both look. His portfolio has been grossly mismanaged," Goodale said. "To prevent any more trouble for veterans, will the prime minister fire this failed minister."

Last week, the auditor general laid bare new problems with the department's efforts to treat veterans suffering chronic mental health issues, saying those seeking help faced long waits that threatened their recovery.

But as the bad news dropped, Fantino was in Italy, leading a delegation of veterans to mark Canada's Second World War campaign in the country, a trip that the minister defended Monday.

"In my world, lest we forget means something," said Fantino, who served as Toronto police chief and commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police before entering politics.

But that prompted a sharp response from Mulcair, who accused the minister of "cowardice" for being out of the country. "How about showing up for work and taking care of them when they are alive," the NDP leader said.

"He showed dereliction of duty by fleeing the country. Will the minister for once do the honourable thing and resign."

Fantino responded to the criticism by listing initiatives launched by the Conservatives to assist veterans while accusing the opposition of "mud-slinging" and "fear-mongering."

"We are in fact making substantial improvements that are generating better outcomes for Canadian veterans," Fantino said.

Still, the problems are piling up with damning revelations of more than $1 billion in unspent funding by Veterans Affairs since 2006, delayed treatment of ailing veterans and continuing charges that wounded ex-soldiers are being short-changed in their benefits.

Nor has the situation been helped by Fantino, who has appeared chippy in his dealings with some veterans. In February, he was forced to apologize for his snub of veterans upset by the closing of regional Veterans Affairs offices. More recently, he was chased down a hall by a woman crying out to him, seeking help for her husband suffering from post-traumatic stress. Fantino didn't stop to talk with her.

Fantino is the face of the problem but the problems run deeper into the bureaucracy that has an insurance company mindset in dealing with veterans who need help, said retired colonel Pat Stogran.

"It's a department desperately in trouble . . . they've really got to change the culture of it," said Stogran, who commanded ground troops in Afghanistan and later served as veterans ombudsman.

As veterans ombudsman, Stogran said he warned two ministers that what was unfolding in the department "was a scandal about to erupt."

Stogran said a public inquiry is needed to probe the problems within Veterans Affairs.

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New announcement: Veterans Affairs Minister Fantino spent much more travelling abroad than in Cana

Veterans Affairs Minister Fantino spent much more travelling abroad than in Canada

http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2014/12/01/veterans-affairs-minister-fantino-spent-much-more-travelling-abroad-than-in-canada/40416

By TIM NAUMETZ |
Published: Monday, 12/01/2014 12:00 am EST

Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino has spent a total of $53,588 travelling abroad to attend commemorations at cemeteries or war monuments, from Korea through Europe, since Prime Minister Stephen Harper named him to his post last year, departmental records and Mr. Fantino's ministerial public expense postings show.

The amount Mr. Fantino (Vaughan, Ont.) spent on the nine trips he has taken abroad from July 2013 to September 2014 dwarfs the $7,772 he spent travelling within Canada to attend meetings with Veterans Affairs Canada officials or to take part in events such as a one-day summit on homeless veterans the Canadian Legion held in Toronto.

Mr. Fantino's foreign travel expenses since his appointment have also exceeded the $13,479 he has spent travelling within Canada to attend veteran and war commemoration ceremonies and deliver speeches, with a few business lunches and one $766 dinner for eight thrown in.

Veterans roundly criticized Mr. Fantino last week for his absence as other government ministers responded to Auditor General Michael Ferguson's annual fall report to Parliament. The report included a scathing chapter on lengthy delays many Afghanistan war veterans face as they attempt to obtain treatment and support for post-combat trauma and operational stress injuries.

When Defence Minister Rob Nicholson (Niagara Falls, Ont.) fielded media questions about the Veterans Affairs Canada chapter of Mr. Ferguson's report, and several other ministers responded to other chapters, Mr. Fantino was either at the Cassino War Cemetery near Rome, Italy, or on his way there.

Mr. Fantino flew to Italy to join a Canadian delegation that left Canada earlier as part of several commemorations taking place to mark the 70th anniversary of the allied campaign in Italy during the Second World War, but Mr. Fantino's office would not tell The Hill Times when he left Canada.

Veterans were angry that Mr. Fantino also snubbed one of the largest and most important summits for military veteran issues that was taking place in Toronto the day Mr. Ferguson released his report.

A three-day forum organized annually by the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research, associated with Queen's University, began Nov. 24. The forum website listed Mr. Fantino as an invited speaker but Veterans Affairs Canada emailed a copy of a department news release dated Aug. 1 that quoted Mr. Fantino announcing he would be attending the Italian war cemetery ceremonies in November.

Mr. Fantino had delayed his departure for the ceremonies in Italy in order to take part in a weekend government announcement of more than $200-million in expanded health services for veterans as the Conservatives sought to deflect the fallout from Mr. Ferguson's report in advance.

Veterans advocate Mike Blais, who appeared with another veterans advocate at a Parliament Hill news conference only a week earlier to protest the government's prior closure of six Veterans Affairs Canada regional offices, was surprised when informed of the extent of Mr. Fantino's foreign travels over the past 16 months—especially when compared to his limited Veterans Affairs Canada-related travel within Canada.

Although the deputy minister of Veterans Affairs Canada is located in Ottawa, senior associate deputy ministers and many of the key veterans service branches are located in Charlottetown, P.E.I., with other branches across the country.

"I think his priorities are definitely adrift," Mr. Blais, a founder and director of Canadian Veterans Advocacy, told The Hill Times.

"This is one of the issues that we brought up, that he was not in the country enough in order to conduct appropriate oversight into his ministry," Mr. Blais said.

Despite recent speculation that Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) may shuffle Mr. Fantino out of the veterans portfolio because of his poor relations with veteran groups and several controversies over alleged snubs of activist veterans, Mr. Blais agreed that Mr. Fantino's travels to attend war commemorations and related ceremonies appears to conform with the Harper government's policy of emphasizing Canadian military accomplishments and war losses of the past.

"I think that every minister in Mr. Harper's administration has their orders and that Minister Fantino is fulfilling those orders very well," Mr. Blais said.

"I've always told veterans that the problem is not Minister Fantino, he is just the messenger of Prime Minister Harper. And until Prime Minister Harper fulfills his sacred obligation, Minister Fantino will just be a talking puppet that does only what the PMO requests and nothing more," Mr. Blais said.

Mr. Fantino's press secretary did not respond to questions about Mr. Fantino's travel abroad, or whether he left for the ceremonies the night before Mr. Ferguson tabled his report or that same morning.

"Our government has been working hard to provide our veterans and their families with the care and support they need, through the unprecedented investment of $200-million for a comprehensive mental health strategy, thousands of dollars each month in benefits, up to $75,800 for retraining at a university or college, services such as housecleaning, grass cutting/snow removal, medicine, and travel to and from medical appointments," press secretary Ashlee Smith wrote in an emailed statement to The Hill Times.

"Minister Fantino recommended that the auditor general review the mental health supports in order to help improve our programs and services; we thank the auditor general for making constructive recommendations," it said.

Opposition MPs on Nov. 27 pressed the government about Mr. Fantino's absence when Parliament received Mr. Ferguson's report, as well as other issues veterans say are not being addressed.

Conservative MP Parm Gill (Brampton-Springdale, Ont.), Mr. Fantino's Parliamentary Secretary who answers on Mr. Fantino's behalf when he is away from the House of Commons, defended the trip to Italy as well as government management of veterans' issues.

"I can assure the honorable colleague on the other side that the minister works hard and consults with veterans across the country all the time," Mr. Gill said.

"As a matter of fact, he is currently travelling overseas with veterans," Mr. Gill said. "It is a top priority for our government. We are working to address some of the recommendations that were brought forward by the Auditor General to address the concerns when it comes to the unnecessary delays. On this side of the House, we will continue to work in the best interests of Canada's veterans."

Mr. Fantino spent a total of $41,039 travelling abroad on his own airfare, accommodation meals and hospitality, and a further $7,659 on travel and expenses for his chief of staff and a press secretary who accompanied him on three of the trips.

The biggest bill for Mr. Fantino's personal travel abroad was $9,306 for a trip to Korea, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in July 2013.

Mr. Fantino's second most expensive bill, with a total of $8,902 for his own expenses, was a six-day trip last April to Newark, N.J., to attend "ministerial events" and then on to France to attend the 97th anniversary of the Canadian First World War battle at Vimy Ridge.

Mr. Fantino's chief of staff, Jacques Fauteux, accompanied him on that trip, with his expenses boosting the total for flights, accommodation, meals and "incidentals" to $12,984.

Expenses for Mr. Fantino's trip to Italy last week have not yet been reported.

Mr. Fantino, who was born in Italy, also visited Italy in July of last year, also to mark the 70th anniversary of the allied campaign in German-allied Italy.

The campaign began with an invasion of Sicily in July 1943.

tnaumetz@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times

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The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.