New announcement: Senator Dallaire ‘pissed off’ at Con MPs complaining veterans ‘cost too much’

Senator Romeo Dallaire 'pissed off' at Conservative MPs complaining veterans 'cost too much'

Murray Brewster, Canadian Press | April 4, 2014 11:04 AM ET
More from Canadian Press

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/04/04/senator-romeo-dallaire-pissed-off-at-conservative-mps-complaining-veterans-cost-too-much/

There are rumblings in the corridors of power on Parliament Hill that MPs have grown impatient with the cost burden imposed by Canada's military veterans, one of the country's most prominent former soldiers said Thursday.

Sen. Romeo Dallaire, a former lieutenant-general and ex-commander of the ill-fated peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, described a number of recent encounters with "politicians who are second-guessing the cost of veterans."

Dallaire — who made the comments in an interview with The Canadian Press before testifying Thursday at the House of Commons veterans committee — did not identify the individuals in question.

But he said he's been hearing privately from politicians who complain about the price tag: the Conservative government spends roughly $3.8 billion each year on the Veterans Affairs Department.

Now that they're home — and the ones that are injured — they cost too much?

"And I say: Oh, yeah?" said Dallaire, describing how he walks them through the dollar cost of equipping and deploying the military on missions like the recently concluded 12-year mission in Afghanistan.

"And then I say, 'Now that they're home — and the ones that are injured — they cost too much?' This has been sniffing its way around the Conservative hallways and it's pissing me off."

The rumblings stand in stark contrast to the Harper government's political messaging, which has been to strenuously insist that the Conservatives bend over backwards for Canada's veterans and will continue to do so.

Dallaire's remarks drew an immediate, sharp rebuttal from Nicholas Bergamini, a spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino.

"It is not appropriate to spread rumours without any kind of attribution," Bergamini said. "The fact remains that no government in modern history has invested more money for veterans services."

Yet, the government has pointedly failed to reconcile its political talking points with the legal stand being taken by Justice Department lawyers in a prominent class-action lawsuit being brought by veterans of the Afghan war.

In a statement of defence filed with B.C. Superior Court, the government argues there is no "social contract" between the country and its soldiers, despite their commitment to lay down their lives without question, and that promises made by past governments to care for the wounded are not binding on current and future governments.

Those assurances, which date back to the First World War, are merely political statements, not policy, which can be amended, they maintain.

There needs to be a legislated social covenant with soldiers, Dallaire told the committee Thursday.

Since 2006, tens of millions of extra dollars have been poured into veterans care, but that can't be considered a measure of success, Dallaire added.

The government's position in the B.C. lawsuit represents a fundamental shift in the way former soldiers are viewed by their government, and it's no accident the Harper government has not withdrawn it, critics say.

The veterans committee has been holding hearings on the New Veterans Charter, the legislation which spells out the benefits and entitlements of ex-soldiers. The lawsuit alleges the new system is less generous than its predecessor, which provided pensions for life to injured and maimed soldiers.

The committee has already heard a chorus of complaints from veterans — and there are signs it is starting to sting.

Conservative MP Parm Gill, Fantino's parliamentary secretary, set his sights on one particularly vocal group last week, demanding that Canadian Veterans Advocacy disclose its funding sources and accusing one of its leaders of being partisan.

"Do you think to help the committee you would be able to provide for the committee a breakdown of your funding for the past two years, and any activity you have engaged in with political parties in Canada?" Gill asked.

Also last week, Conservative MP Brian Hayes took issue with comments posted on a popular website for veterans, including one that said the closest Fantino had ever been to a trench was "a trench coat."

"It disturbs me to see a negative thread, a negative opinion like that allowed to stay," Hayes told the committee.

Ron Cundell, a veteran who is one of the site's administrators, said Hayes singled out one comment out of over 300,000, and wondered if Hayes was endorsing censorship.

"That is unfair for you to take away that person's freedom of speech," he testified.

On Thursday, Dallaire told the committee he believes that National Defence and Veterans Affairs should be folded into one department, each with its own budget, in order to provide uninterrupted care to the wounded.

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Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

**Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Online Request**

**Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Online Request**

Please click here to process your claim online: https://atip-aiprp.apps.gc.ca/atip/welcome.do


For VAC you should request:

PPU: 055 (Pensions and Compensation), 560 (Disability Awards, Death Benefit and Detention Benefit), 030 (Treatment of a Pensioned/Awarded Condition), 550 (Rehabilitation Services and Vocational Assistance), 010 (Educational Assistance), 056 (Veterans Independence Program), 016 (Residential Care), 520 (Health Benefits Program/Public Service Health Care Plan), 020 (Health Care Programs (Non-pension Related), 080 Reviews, Appeals and 090 Bureau of Pensions Advocates and All Services All Summary Assessment.

For DND you should request:

PPU: 834 (Personnel Security Investigation File), 818 (Personal Information File), 836 (Unit Military Personnel Bank), 831 (Grievance File), 824 (Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada Centre for the Support of Injured and Retired Members and their Families), 817 (Canadian Forces Casualty Database), 810 (Medical Records), 811 (Dental Records), 859 (Pension File), 858 (Pay Records File), 805 (Human Resources Management Information System), 829 (DSSPM - Clothing Online).

Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

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New announcement: Area Legion branches welcome to attend Rock the Hill rally June 4

Area Legion branches welcome to attend Rock the Hill rally June 4

http://www.insideottawavalley.com/news-story/4471094-area-legion-branches-welcome-to-attend-rock-the-hill-rally-june-4/

Carleton Place Almonte Canadian Gazette

Apparently Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino hadn't heard the saying "don't poke the sleeping bear," when he brushed off a group of veterans who had arrived at the minister's office for a scheduled meeting on Jan. 28.

What had been a simmering pot of human emotions among veterans and advocacy groups reached a boiling point at the Fantino office debacle, and it would seem that enough fuel has been added to the fire to ensure a successful turnout of veterans for a rally which begins June 4 on Parliament Hill.

Rock the Hill 2014 is the brainchild of Rob Gallant, a former Royal Canadian Air Force member who was medically released in 2003 after serving his country for 20 years. Gallant intends to show the government "that we, as veterans, have been pushed to the point that we no longer will stay silent while they cut our programs, medical treatment, and benefits, without a fight."

He went on to say that if the expected number of people show up for the event, "it will show this government we will no longer stay the silent minority that they have always counted on. (We hope to) enlighten the Canadian public on all the misleading statements or half-truths stated by this government. In simple terms we will be filling in the blanks that the government seems to always leave out." Gallant's involvement in veterans' advocacy goes back at least to the Service Income Security Insurance Plan

(SISIP) Long Term Disability Class Action in March of 2007. The lawsuit was on behalf of Dennis Manuge and all other disabled veterans whose benefits were reduced by the amount of the monthly Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) disability pension they were receiving under the Pension Act.

A decision by the federal court in May of 2012 ruled in favour of Manuge, and that the government must stop clawing back money from veterans' pensions, and repay up to $1 billion that had been deducted over a period of nearly 30 years. A similar case, the Equitas Class Action Lawsuit, is currently before the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Manuge related that "Rob Gallant provided direct and continuous close support to me personally for the entire duration the legal challenge. He took the added volunteer responsibility for relaying direct SISIP class action information to a database of class members, veterans' organizations, and media members. Despite the SISIP court victory, there remains a multitude of issues facing the veterans' community and their families. The Equitas class action, suicide rates, reductions in staffing and office closures at VAC, homeless vets, systemic failure at Veterans Review and Appeal Board, the current minister's culture of disrespecting veterans, and the list goes on. This is why there is a need for Rock the Hill. Canadians need to hear from us and see us. It's an awesome initiative on Rob's part."

In an email interview, Gallant acknowledged that Canada's veterans and serving members "have definitely been let down by this government in so many ways it's hard to keep count. This current government has set veterans rights and benefits back at least a decade if not two. One only has to ask: Why do veterans, as a last resort, have to take their own government to court to get the system fixed?" Gallant referred to the two major court cases previously mentioned, the SISIP and Equitas class actions. He said that "in both of these cases the government knows what they are and were doing, is unfair and wrong, but they continue to use taxpayers' money to fight the same veterans that they proudly state in public they support. Not to mention the amount of veterans that have to endure a long and hard fight to get the benefits and treatment they are rightfully entitled to from VAC. Many are taking their own lives due to the way the system is set up against them."

The suicide issue relating to veterans and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was brought to the fore on Nov. 29, 2013 when CBC's Rosemary Barton interviewed retired colonel and former Veterans' Ombudsman Pat Stogran.

"It's not news; it's bad news; it's not new news; there's going to be more," Stogran said in an impassioned response to Barton's questioning. At the time, three confirmed suicides had occurred in that month of November, and in just a few days there would be another. Although those suicides had occurred among serving CAF personnel, experts agree there are also many veterans across the country that are dealing with the horrors and suffering of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is thought to be the strongest link to suicide and attempts. Stogran will be one of the keynote speakers at the Parliament Hill rally.

That rash of suicides forced politicians, military command, and support organizations to address that previously unmentionable subject, when the Royal Canadian Legion, Veterans Affairs Canada, and the Minister of Defence all issued news releases on Dec. 4, 2013.

The level of public outrage was apparent in the CBC interview with Stogran, who is known for his outspokenness and criticism of the government. In a voice shaking with emotion, he asked Barton the rhetorical question: "How many ways do you say tsunami?" Stogran went on to say "how terribly we treat the worst cases and the people who are the most desperate."

Although the Legion has been strongly criticized in the past for not taking a stance on political issues, their news release at the time stated: "The Legion strongly believes that all Canadians trust the government will honour its obligation to the men and women of

the CAF and the RCMP who willingly risk injury, illness or death to serve our country, protecting the values and way of life we all enjoy. There is also a responsibility to the families of these men and women. These recent tragic events highlight that there is a perception by our serving members that there is no hope. How can a culture built on camaraderie and team work leave a soldier so isolated and so alone?" The release ended by asking: "How can we possibly justify spending money to mark the commemorations for our achievements as nation when the mental health care system supporting the men and women of the CAF, both Regular and Reserve, as well as RCMP members and all their families who serve our country, is overburden and lacking resources?" Public debate on how to deal with military suicides was renewed, wrote Andre Mayer of CBC News on Mar. 24, with the recent deaths of two Canadian soldiers who fought in Afghanistan.

"But veterans advocates say that the data collected by the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada on how many active and retired army personnel have committed suicide is incomplete, and makes it difficult to help soldiers who may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)."

As of Mayer's news article, five military suicides had been confirmed in 2014.

Local Legions welcome to attend Legion Branch 244 in Perth plans to attend the rally as a group, and is encouraging other Legion branches in the area to join them. Perth and area Legions are no strangers to advocacy on behalf of veterans, as on Sept. 16, 2013, Medric "Cous" Cousineau and his service dog Thai were welcomed by Perth and other Legion branches during the Long Walk to Sanity, part of the Paws Fur Thought initiative, between Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia and Ottawa.

Cousineau was hailed as a hero in 1986 while serving as a tactical co-ordinator on an Armed Forces Sea King helicopter, when he and his crew responded to a call from an American fishing vessel in distress several hundred miles off the coast of Newfoundland. In spite of being injured during the mission, he managed to rescue the two men, and he was later awarded the Star of Courage by then Governor General Jeanne Sauvé. After showing symptoms of PTSD following the traumatic incident, Cousineau experienced a tragic downward spiral, and he was eventually forced to leave the military.

Paws Fur Thought was an idea born in 2012 and, while the "Long Walk to Sanity" ended on Sept. 19 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, the concept of Paws Fur Thought and other initiatives to assist veterans and their families continues on, thanks to the support of many dedicated individuals and organizations.

This old proverbial message goes to our current government: "Don't poke sleeping bears if you want to live a long and happy life." Perhaps Rock the Hill 2014 will be an opportunity for bureaucrats and elected officials to reach out to the many veterans and supporters assembled there.

Submitted by Terry O'Hearn, Zone G6 public relations officer, Royal Canadian Legion.

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Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

Crisis in the Military - The Social Contract

The Social Contract
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwyapnWLai0


Crisis in the Military
http://globalnews.ca/invisible-wounds/1257394/invisible-wounds/

Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

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

New announcement: Veterans bang heads against Parliamentary, bureaucratic wall

Veterans bang heads against Parliamentary, bureaucratic wall

The government is clearly not holding up its end of the bargain on veterans.

http://www.hilltimes.com/opinion-piece/2014/04/14/veterans-bang-heads-against-parliamentary-bureaucratic-wall/38146

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 between Canada and those who were and are prepared to lay down their lives in her service.

By SEAN BRUYEA

Published: Monday, 04/14/2014- THE HILL TIMES

The hue and cry from veterans and their families has not dimmed but grown stronger since 2005 when Parliament passed the legislation we now know as the 'New Veterans Charter' or NVC. Will Parliament take up veterans' torch and finally make bureaucracy work for veterans? As the unaddressed recommendations accumulate, will the NVC become increasingly unfit to provide adequate shelter for our veterans and their families in the coming years?

Last week, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs wrapped up hearings on the NVC. We must remember that elected Members of the House of Commons have never debated nor given serious independent and binding consideration of the dramatic changes that the NVC made to the relationship between Canada and those who were and are prepared to lay down their lives in her service.

In good faith, far too many accepted the shoddy construction of the NVC because government promised to keep the renovations going. Near stagnant 'incrementalism,' a dirty word in the first 50 years of veterans' benefits in Canada, has become the sad new social contract between Canada and, our veterans and their families.

Veterans Affairs Canada made pretenses to the glory of Canada's post World War II veterans' benefits. The original aptly-named Veterans Charter provided a host of programs for all veterans, whether injured or not. The NVC is not a charter at all but a cynical repackaging of already existing programs with few limited additions.

It took four years before the Veterans Affairs Committee wrote its first report in 2010 with 18 recommendations. Four years later, we are at it yet again with witnesses fighting to implement many of the same recommendations such as boosting the income loss program to 100 per cent matching projected career earnings, not just a fraction of true inflation as is now the case.

Bureaucrats claim to have implemented 10 recommendations from the Parliamentary report, including " VAC ensures that family members who take care of severely disabled Veterans are compensated appropriately." VAC's basis for this claim: the Forces have a "Canadian Armed Forces Attendant Care Benefit." Perhaps being so far away in Charlottetown, VAC senior bureaucrats do not realize veterans are ineligible for CF benefits. Misleading justification is repeated in most of the 160 recommendations that VAC claims to have implemented.

Canadians go to war, fight, die, lose limbs, minds and families, all at Parliament's orders, for our values, our nation. They sacrifice for all Canadians. The military does not do all of this for bureaucrats even though bureaucrats may think differently. Then, why is it that Parliament, through either inaction or inability, has failed to stand up to the bureaucracy?

There are greater problems with the NVC than just the empty and specious rhetoric coming from Charlottetown. I tabled 30 recommendations for this Parliamentary review in a report titled, "Severely Injured Veterans and Their Families: Improving Accessibility To Veterans Affairs Programs For A Better Transition."

As both sides of the committee table observed during witness testimony, at Veterans Affairs Canada, availability of programs does not equate to accessibility. Why for instance should widows or spouses of incapacitated veterans be time-limited on any program?
In legislation which pre-dated the NVC, the Pension Act, all programs were payable effectively on date of application. The NVC income loss program is payable when "the minister determines that a rehabilitation plan or a vocational assistance plan should be developed." Application for review of any decision must be made within 60 days of VAC's decision. The Pension Act did not place time limits on review.

Such pettiness is endemic in the New Veterans Charter.

Government is quick to march out the hypothetical 24-year-old corporal from the veterans' ombudsman report who is projected to receive $2-million from VAC over his lifetime. Ignoring that $340,000 must be repaid in taxes, when none of the Pension Act benefits are taxable, this corporal represents fewer than 77 individuals, or 0.1 per cent of Canadian Forces VAC clients.

The veterans' ombudsman noted of all the recipients of the permanent incapacity allowance, only one receives the highest grade of $1,724.65 monthly. As for the highly controversial lump sum which now stands at $301,275.26, only 148, or 0.35 per cent of all lump sum recipients have been awarded this amount in eight years. Currently, only two per cent of the 42,000 lump sum recipients have any long term economic assistance.

Contrary to VAC's claims, the NVC does not offer opportunity with security. Canada Pension Plan disability, once accused of being insensitive and lacking compassion now allows disabled recipients to earn up to $5,100 annually without reporting this to CPP. The VAC extended income loss program deducts 100 per cent of earnings. Troublingly, the most seriously ill veterans are also not supported to pursue education.

VAC derogatorily and deceptively claims veterans were focused on disability not ability under the pre-NVC system. However, the Pension Act guarantees, "no deduction shall be made from the pension of any member of the forces because the member undertook work or perfected themself in some form of industry." The Pension Act offered much security for the veteran to explore opportunities. Sadly, the NVC incarcerates our most suffering veterans in a lifelong psychological and financial prison of frozen human potential.

Would it not be better to provide access to life-enriching education and opportunities to seek employment without penalty while these veterans in turn begin to pay more taxes, hence offsetting some of their disability costs? Does that not make better economic sense?

All veterans and their families especially the most seriously ill, fulfilled their obligation at government's orders without delay, without complaint, without excuse. All they rightly expected was that government honour its end of the contract immediately, expeditiously and for as long as those veterans and their families live.

For our most seriously injured veterans and their families, miserly constructed and administered programs have soundly violated this quid pro quo. Government is clearly not holding up its end of the bargain.

This dire situation wherein even the most loyal and timid of veterans organizations speak out is a very loud alarm clock for our elected officials to stand up to the bureaucracy and stand up for our veterans once and for all.

Sean Bruyea, vice-president of Canadians for Accountability, is a retired Air Force intelligence officer and frequent commentator on government, military, and veterans' issues. For Sean's report and testimony visit www.seanbruyea.com
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times

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Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

New announcement: Why Fighting Veterans Affairs Is Like Fighting the Taliban

Why Fighting Veterans Affairs Is Like Fighting the Taliban

Posted: 04/07/2014 5:33 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/bruce-moncur/veterans-affairs-canada_b_5106048.html

When you are diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) you spend a lot of time being analytical. Whether it's a therapist, a doctor, or even yourself, understanding the origins of your PTSD is essential to your coping, and eventual treatment. And after years of personal analysis, I have come to the conclusion that it was both my time in Afghanistan and the failures within Canada's Department of Veterans Affairs (VAC) that aggravated my PTSD since returning home.

In fact, I have gone so far to argue that my experience in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban (link to original blog post) was equally as damaging to me mentally as the fight I face every day on the home front in Canada, with VAC. The ineptitude that the Department of Veterans Affairs operates under led to my first blog post and I can attest that I am not the only soldier who feels they have not been taken care of when coming home.

The truth of the matter is that the only part of VAC that I have no complaint about is my case manager, who only became involved in assisting me after she read a story about my struggles with VAC in the local newspaper and asked her superiors to contact me. Think about that. The only person within the VAC system who has helped me, was only able to do so after reading about my struggles with VAC in the newspaper. And now, thanks to the government, my local branch is gone, and the one ray of hope, my case manager, is now over two hours away from me in London, Ontario.

The current state of Veterans Affairs is shocking, but is made even more so by the fact that how it operates creates a very specific type of mental illness, known within the psychiatric field as "sanctuary trauma."

Sanctuary trauma was first described by Dr. Steven Silver in one of the earliest papers about the inpatient treatment of Vietnam War veterans. Silver defined "sanctuary trauma" as that which "occurs when an individual who suffered a severe stressor next encounters what was expected to be a supportive and protective environment" and discovers only more trauma."

Essentially, the Canadian government's "insurance company" methods of dealing with injured and maimed veterans only exasperated the stress these soldiers were dealing with. Additionally, because these soldiers held the Canadian government in such high esteem, the betrayal of said government created a loss of one's sanctuary, and thus "sanctuary trauma." In my case, being deployed to Afghanistan, shot by Americans in a friendly-fire incident that nearly cost me my life, and then returning home with the expectations of care and proper compensation from our government only to be repeatedly denied, called a liar, told there is not enough proof, and to be given a fraction of what I should rightful have, has resulted in not only PTSD, but severe sanctuary trauma. The way Canadian veterans are being treated is causing a syndrome that first became recognized in American Vietnam Veterans.

As if this wasn't enough, the closure of the nine Veterans Affairs offices over the last year has only enhanced the seriousness of the sanctuary trauma that veterans like myself are dealing with. The federal government claims that the over 600 new points of contact that Service Canada represent will be the answer. By that logic you can put forms behind the counter of every McDonalds and have thousands of points of contacts. The triple DDD policy of Delay Deny and Die will only continue to flourish unless legitimate changes are made.

And so, in order to received the type of services veterans feel they deserve, in the confidential location of a Veterans Affairs office, we are now forced to travel. Unfortunately, under the new charter, our travel costs are no longer reimbursed. Consider this for a veteran from Thunder Bay, Ontario. The closest VAC office he or she can go to is now in Winnipeg, Manitoba, an eight-hour drive in optimal weather. This 1,708 km trek creates wear and tear on one's vehicle and will take at least three tanks of gas to fill. Estimated at roughly $1.25 a litre, the gas mileage alone would cost this veteran $281.00 out of pocket. (Keep in mind, government employees receive mileage compensation at $0.55/km, $939.40 round trip.)

But that's not all. The veteran will have to eat throughout the journey for the two days it will take, and would also require a hotel room to spend the night. Calculated again with the rates available to government employees, breakfast would cost $18.00, lunch $15.00, and dinner $40.00, meaning a total of $73.00 per day in food, $125.00 in hotel accommodations. Now throw in lost wages for having to take two days off work, and potentially childcare. Could you think of anything you would rather spend 1,500 dollars on? The faceless organization that VAC represents has made it so that thousands of veterans are left in this position, further enhancing their sanctuary trauma.

The solution to this is simple. Every veteran who feels that the system has failed them, and in doing so caused them extreme mental trauma, should fill out a disability claim for sanctuary trauma. To do this, you will have to document the failures within VAC that has led you to this claim. Outline all of the insensitive methods that this department has done. Documentation of this will be our greatest asset, because as the system gets inundated with the claims for sanctuary trauma, along with them will come testimonies of veterans about the glaring deficiencies within VAC.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Bruce, if they won't even give you proper financial compensation for being shot in the head, what is the point of claiming sanctuary trauma?" To that argue that if VAC refuses to recognize the existence of sanctuary trauma amongst its veterans, it will show how behind this organization is on the medical comprehension of the side effects of PTSD. There is 30 years of research on sanctuary trauma and by refusing to recognize a well-documented syndrome, then the government is showing that the main reason for the New Veterans Charter had not been to focus on rehabilitation of soldiers suffering from mental illness but the money-saving tactic in the implementation of lump sum payments. By flooding the system with these claims and outlining decades of failures, veterans can finally use the system to their advantage.

Here are just some of the reasons why I am claiming sanctuary trauma because of Canada's Department of Veterans Affairs: you closed my office, you gave me $22,000 for 5 per cent of my brain, you denied my Permanent Impairment Allowance, I have been appealing my pension for eight years, and the insurance company way of dealing with me. All of these failures will be on record within the department Sanctuary Trauma will be in a way a complaint department within the VAC system. If 1,000 soldiers submit a claim with 15 to 20 issues then there will be 15,000-20,000 registered complaints within the department.

By claiming sanctuary trauma then VAC will have to address the way it does business. Soldiers will be able to show VAC what is wrong with their system through disability claims, and the only way to stop more claims would be to fix the system. Once a claim is submitted then VAC has a choice to deny the claim or approve it.

As stated earlier, denying a 30-year-old syndrome with dozens of publications would prove just how inept the system is. An approval would then show that the department is taking responsibility for the sanctuary trauma its system caused and to prevent any further claims a reform of the system will have to be implemented.

Every vet that feels they have fallen between the cracks or have been fighting their pensions for decades needs to take a serious look at claiming sanctuary trauma, so that we can start taking steps towards change and truly creating a sanctuary within our country for the soldiers who safely return home.

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The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

New announcement: Retreat brings mothers of fallen Canadian soldiers together

Retreat brings mothers of fallen Canadian soldiers together

Society expects parents to get over a child's death too quickly, counsellor says

By Erin Ellis, Vancouver Sun April 4, 2014

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Retreat+brings+mothers+fallen+soldiers+together/9701821/story.html?fb_action_ids=10153999262810154&fb_action_types=og.recommends

Sian LeSueur, left, and Nancy Szastkiw of the Mainland BC Military Family Resource Centre, stand at the cenotaph to Canada's fallen soldiers on the Walk to Remember in Langley.
Photograph by: Ric Ernst , VANCOUVER SUN

Sian LeSueur threw a 26th birthday party for her son last month with friends and family, cake and candles. But Garrett Chidley wasn't there to make a wish; he died four years ago while serving in Afghanistan.

"I love to talk about Garrett. I'm going to keep talking about him because I sometimes feel that if I don't, I'll forget things. Because all I have now are these memories," says LeSueur from her home in Surrey. "You have to make memories without them being here physically. You hope they're here spiritually."

In today's Canada, where the sacrifices of wartime are a distant notion, mothers of fallen soldiers make a small, sometimes lonely group. Seven such women who live or have lived in B.C. came together for a retreat earlier this year in Vancouver and eight fathers are doing the same this weekend. LeSueur first came up with the idea and Nancy Szastkiw, a family liaison officer with the Mainland B.C. Military Family Resource Centre in Vancouver found the money to make it happen.

The Toronto-based charitable foundation True Patriot Love contributed about $10,000 toward the mothers' event and the Military Family Resource Centre fronted the same for the fathers. Both are unique in Canada.

"The common thread is that their child is dead and their child had been in the military," says Szastkiw. "You've lost your child. You're devastated. The paperwork has been done and there's a funeral. And then what? ... They may be dead but it's not like they didn't exist."

Szastkiw says many of the women were reluctant to sign up at first, but ended the three-day psycho-social program feeling they had made new bonds with other women whose sons died in Afghanistan or later at home, either by their own hand or, in one case, by the hands of police.

When the last troops came home from Afghanistan last month after operations there since 2001, the number of Canadian casualties totalled 158 soldiers, two civilian contractors, one diplomat and one journalist.

LeSueur's son died along with four others on one of the deadliest single days for Canadians in Afghanistan when the armoured vehicle he was driving was destroyed by an explosive device.

"There's no time limit on grieving and when it's your own child it never — ever — goes away. I remember people saying to me a few months after Garrett died, 'When is the old Sian coming back?' Well, she's never coming back.

"I say to my husband, 'I will never be the person that you married. You have to love me as I am because I'm different now.'"

For LeSueur, there's a Silver Cross, a medal no one wants to receive, for a son who died during service to his country. For those who lost children to suicide, there are no honours.

"I think they've been through a lot more than I could ever imagine. Knowing that your child comes home and you finally think that they're safe then they take their own life … They need the help more than anybody," LeSueur says.

At least 10 suicides were reported in the ranks in 2013, although no official count is yet available. A report by the Canadian Armed Forces noted 42 confirmed deaths by suicide among regular military personnel and reservists in 2011 and 2012.

Among them is Justin Stark, 22, who died in Hamilton, Ont., in October 2011 after seven months in Afghanistan as a reservist. His mother, Denise, attended the Vancouver weekend and later received a one-cent cheque dated Feb. 28, 2014, from the Government of Canada marked "release pay."

She went public, prompting an apology from the defence minister in the House of Commons.

"I don't think that enough is said for the ones who have committed suicide, who have been just as brave as the other ones," says Lorraine Matters of Prince George. The death of her son Greg was the subject of an inquest, which ruled it a homicide, but blamed no single individual.

"Or the way my son was killed. They're all heroes among their brothers in arms."

Greg Matters was 41 years old, living with his mother and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder when he was shot in the back by an RCMP emergency responder in a 2012 standoff. He was holding a hatchet at the time.

Matters was a career military man at the rank of master corporal before this discharge and had served with peacekeepers in Bosnia.

"I feel that my son gave 15 years of his life to the army," Matters said in a telephone interview, still sounding fragile. "My son is a hero as much as any other."

For Matters, the retreat marked the first time she has felt comforted by people outside the tight circle of her family and friends.

The weekend started with a makeover mixer for fun, but moved on to practical advice for dealing with trigger points like birthdays and holidays, proper nutrition, relaxation and mindfulness techniques — calm awareness of each moment of the day, while observing passing feelings without judging them good or bad.

Lynette Pollard-Elgert, executive director of Living Through Loss Counselling Society of B.C., was the keynote speaker at the women's weekend and will do the same at the fathers' event. She has worked in the field for 30 years and says their experiences are exceptional in several ways: those who lost sons to war are told the deaths were heroic which can make their sadness seem less legitimate; suicide and violent deaths often revictimize the grieving parent for somehow not doing enough to protect their child. Add to that a general unease with overt grieving and the result is isolation.

"North America is a death and sadness-denying society. We don't know what to do with you if you're sad or crying. We are uncomfortable and we have very few rituals other than a funeral. After that you're on your own," says Pollard-Elgert.

"The loss of your child is one of worst losses you can experience. Yet the community allows any kind of loss to be supported for between six weeks and three months and after that we want you to be healed and be back to normal. The problem is that most people don't even know what happened to them until three or four months later because the shock is so intense when you've lost a child, especially through something like war.

"Mums or anybody who has had that kind of traumatic loss needs to talk and retell their story and keep the name of their son alive and not to be forgotten. So they need to say the name, to express their sadness, their loneliness, their horror about what happened to their child and their family."

For the rest of us she advises showing up without being asked.

"I think the best thing we can do is be there and not say to people, 'Call me if you need help' because people who are in deep grief don't have the energy or wherewithal ask for help.

"I think grief takes a lot longer than anybody expects."

Generations have passed since the First and Second World Wars when most Canadian families felt the death of a loved one overseas. Now families of the fallen have to seek out others spread across the province and the continent.

Leona Stock, now of Cochrane, Alta., reluctantly travelled to Vancouver for the mothers' weekend, which she found unexpectedly therapeutic.

"We felt a connection. We weren't alone in this. We were able to talk about it without having to give a backstory, an explanation.

"I cry at nothing and I thought it was weird, but I talked to other parents and it's the same for them."

Her son Stephan died at 25, killed by a bomb in Afghanistan in 2008. The family used to live in Campbell River and then Tsawwassen where Stephan graduated from high school and played football for the school team, which has since retired his number.

"If you can talk about your child — not only how the child was lost — if you're able to open up, you help other people, but you're also helping yourself."

Her husband is here for fathers gathering in the hope, too, of finding solace.

"I've always said that dads feel the same, but there has always been more emphasis on the mothers."

eellis@vancouversun.com

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Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.