Dear C&E Association Members,
Below is a preamble from Brian Forbes – the Chairman of the National Council of Veterans Association along with a Press Release/Op-ed that he is releasing addressing the continued disparity among military pensions between the Pension Act and the New Veterans Charter. For information.
“I have prepared the attached Press Release/Op-ed in response to recent statements by the Minister of Veterans Affairs Seamus O’Regan whose comments I feel are misleading and uninformed.
In my judgement, this rather combative Press Release/Op-ed will hopefully help clarify the fundamental questions surrounding the disparity between the New Veterans Charter and the Pension Act (the “elephant in the room”) and, at the same time, advance our overall agenda to encourage the Government to improve its proposed financial package prior to its implementation in 2019 and prior to the Federal election.
There is no doubt that there remains considerable confusion in the veterans’ community as to the impact on individual veterans of the Minister’s announcement on December 20, 2017. It is, however, readily apparent that the Minister’s proposals fall well short of veterans’ expectations.
In this regard, we will aggressively continue our crusade for reform of the New Veterans Charter in accordance with our NCVA Legislative Agenda adopted at our Annual General Meeting in November 2017.
In my mind, the Liberal Government’s/Prime Minister’s failure to fulfill the election commitment in the Fall of 2015 will be of great significance to the vote in the veterans’ community this time – should the Government not take heed, they may indeed pay a substantial price for failing to satisfy this expectation.
Without question, the Prime Minister’s recent exchange in a public forum in Edmonton with Brock Blaszczyk, a young war amputee, has also thrown more fuel on this fire.
I would request that, in the event you have the opportunity, you forward our two Press Releases to your local Member of Parliament – although our Press Release/Op-ed is given wide distribution in the Canadian media and in the Hill Times (the Parliamentary-read publication), our member organizations approaching local Members of Parliament may be helpful in promoting our cause and the objectives that we are seeking.
I will keep you apprised of developments.
Kind regards,
Brian Forbes
Chairman”