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Mark Campbell
by Trooper Mon 13 Nov 2017, 1:17 pm
Soldier among group suing federal government over slashed disability benefits speaks out
By Simon Little . Posted November 12, 2017
As Canadians from coast to coast honored our soldiers’ sacrifice on the battlefield on Remembrance Day, one veteran is reminding them that for many, the fight is ongoing.
Major Mark Campbell is one of a group of soldiers suing Ottawa over slashed disability benefits.
“Every day is Remembrance Day. All I gotta do is glance down, I see my missing legs.”
Campbell lost both of his legs to an IED in Afghanistan, but when he returned home in 2006, he learned the federal government had ended lifetime disability pensions for veterans.
“I didn’t find out my financial compensation had been reduced by 40 per cent over my lifetime compared to the former pension act until I was in my hospital bed watching my left leg get shorter by an inch every other day as they shaved the bone back to try to make a viable stump. So, a really bad time and place to find out that you’ve been financially stiffed.”
“In the middle of the war, without telling any of us busy fighting the war, they reduced our disability compensation.”
Campbell is now part of a lawsuit spearheaded by the Equitas Society that wants to see those benefits restored, protected, and made tax free and immune from claw-backs.
The former Conservative government eliminated lifetime pensions in 2006, in favour of a lump-sum payout.
The Trudeau government says it’s working on a new pension option, but Campbell says he’s worried it will still fall short of pre-2006 benefits.
Campbell was speaking on the Roy Green show.
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Re: Mark Campbell
by Edgefore Thu 21 Feb 2019, 8:25 am
For the Soldier: Veteran details struggles, support at military fundraiser
ANNA JUNKER February 21, 2019
ANNA JUNKER February 21, 2019
In 2008, while serving on what would be his final tour in Afghanistan, retired Maj. Mark Campbell was “blown up” by an improvised explosive device. He lost both his legs and suffered damage to his lungs. On the operating table, he died and was brought back to life. He says that was the easy part.
Speaking at For the Soldier, a fundraising event hosted by the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) Foundation Wednesday morning, Campbell and his wife Donna Campbell detailed their difficult experience navigating the military and Veterans Affairs, all in an effort to get support for their family after Campbell came home.
The Campbells said they all struggled in the aftermath of his injuries. Campbell — who served 34 years in the Canadian Forces, 28 of those with the PPCLI — turned to alcohol. But he said his journey was easy compared to what his wife and kids went through.
Having to balance the responsibilities of two parents, caring for two children while being her husband’s caregiver and still having to go to work, Donna Campbell’s mental health deteriorated. She was diagnosed with extreme stress and anxiety. She said all the stress added up from “fighting an archaic system developed during the Korean War.”
Donna Campbell said the first time she met her husband’s case manager, she asked about whether there was any document that detailed what assistance would be available to the family. She was told, however, that if the family needed help, they should bring it to the case manager’s attention and they would inform her on whether they could receive assistance.
Around Christmas in 2008, Donna Campbell said she was looking at the Veterans Affairs website and noticed there was a clothing allowance for veterans with amputations.”We applied for the allowance and a year later my husband’s clothing allowance was finally approved but it was not backdated to the date of the injury. He lost out on a year of benefits because no one had told us about this benefit,” she said.
Veterans Affairs has a responsibility to advise you of those benefits being available and a lot of time it doesn’t happen,” added Mark Campbell.
During that time when Donna Campbell was researching benefits, a little bit of Christmas spirit was brought into their lives.
A group calling themselves the Spirit of Christmas began leaving small gifts at our house,” she said. “For 12 days, our family would anxiously await the next gift. It was comforting to know that someone was thinking of us and helping to keep our spirits up.”
She believes it was the work of their regimental family, the PPCLI.
The Campbells said the PPCLI is really an informal family that mirrors what a regular family would do.
To the attendees of the event, Donna Campbell said the PPCLI Foundation helps many of the regiment’s ill and injured soldiers receive care that’s not available through the government.
“The foundation is key to the regiment’s ability and responsibilities to provide basic care for a member or a family in need.”
ajunker@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/JunkerAnna
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Re: Mark Campbell
by Armoured Sat 02 Mar 2019, 9:10 am
Retired army major laments 'revolving door' of Veterans Affairs ministers
P.E.I.'s Lawrence MacAulay will become the 5th minister in 2 years under the Liberals
CBC Radio ยท Posted: Mar 01, 2019
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