Report shows soldiers’ deployments were not time-limited and no system was in place to track how they were doing when they returned
Afghan-Canadians who deployed alongside soldiers during Canada’s war in Afghanistan should be compensated in recognition of how the Defence Department failed them, the military watchdog says.
She is recommending that the Forces offer independent assessments to LCAs, as they are known, to determine their care requirements and long-term needs as well as award them “immediate and reasonable” financial compensation. In her report, Ms. Hynes found that the working conditions faced by LCAs were not as promised by the military, which had initially said that the advisers would be working “inside the wire.”
Meanwhile, once they returned, their contracts with the military ended, cutting them off from benefits and other supports. Since they were not enlisted soldiers, they had no access to veterans’ benefits and instead were shunted over to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Defence Minister Bill Blair’s letter in response to the report, also being published Wednesday, said he believes that the current regime in place for the LCAs – the support through the WSIB – is sufficient and the department is monitoring the progress of LCA cases.
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