Military veterans detail fight with feds to overhaul disability supports
When his son was nearly killed by an anti-personnel mine in Afghanistan in 2010, Jim Scott had no idea he was about to embark on a multi-year legal battle with the federal government on behalf of his son and thousands of other modern-dayThe battle took the form of a class-action lawsuit over a major overhaul of the benefits and services available to ill and injured veterans in 2006 that provided today’s ex-soldiers less in support and compensation than those in previous generations.
Parliament first adopted the Pension Act in 1919 to assist injured veterans and their loved ones. At the heart of the act was a lifelong pension for disabled veterans. Its value depended on the veterans’ injuries and their home situation.Lionel Desmond’s sister says her family received no help from Veterans Affairs – Feb 17, 2021
Veterans, as well as the Royal Canadian Legion and others, say those supposed fixes have not addressed the underlying inequality between the two systems, or the current system’s lack of financial stability. For veterans with the same disability after 2006, that amount is $3,779 per month. The differences are even greater if the veteran is married and has kids to support. The old pension system accounted for those extra costs while the current system does not.
“So it shows the discrepancy and the financial distress that this can put veterans in,” says Kane, who now lives in Vancouver and sits on the board of the Equitas Society, which continues to advocate for a “social covenant” between the government and its military members.