Equitas B.C. Class Action Lawsuit

We will know come Thursday if this all comes to an end.

Best of luck.

Unfortunately this will be over Thursday. I'm sure the Supreme Court will not grant leave to appeal.

This has already been made clear previously by the Court of Appeal.

We as Veterans have nothing in law that protects us in any way shape or form. It is the government of Canada who is authorized to do whatever it pleases with the Veterans file.

We as disabled Veterans have to count on the good will of our government for adequate care, and benefits. Today in particular with the change in the system in 2006 from taken away the pension act leaves all Veterans post 2006, and some pre 2006 who are splitting between two systems at a standard of care which is far below the care of the pension act. This is where the problem lies no matter which way you want to put it. We need to do two things;

1. Get legislated law that protects us.

2. Work on forcing the government to bring back the pension act.

As I have stated many of times negotiating with the government, any party of government is not productive, this has been proven over the past since 2006. Negotiating with the government is actually doing us more harm then good. It is what the government wants so it seems as though the government is trying to listen, and work with Veterans, and groups. It is perfect for the governments PR system. Divisions is also something that works against disabled Veterans. We have to all work towards being on the same page, let the egos go, and start working together with real solid objectives that leads to a start point of success. Perhaps if we were to unite to boycott the government, the Legion, and stick with one clear objective to bring back the pension act, we might start making some ground. But we need to stick to the one goal because the system of today is geared towards several issues that allow the governments tactics to work with Veterans fighting all over the map in the quest to win which is really nothing worth fighting for if you think about it. Not worth fighting for because it's all an insurance base system that does not stack up against the pension act.

Equitas appeal over veterans’ pensions denied by Supreme Court

Decision rejects argument of ‘duty of care’ for disabled veterans

ALEX BROWNE / TRACY HOLMES / Aug. 30, 2018

The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected the White Rock-based Equitas Society’s bid to pursue an appeal for its class-action lawsuit on behalf of disabled Canadian armed forces veterans.

In a judgment issued early Thursday morning, the court said it would not hear the appeal of six veterans suing the Government of Canada – on behalf of thousands of others – for a reinstatement of full lifetime disability pensions.

“It’s not much to read, it simply says dismissed,” Equitas president Marc Burchell told Peace Arch News shortly after the judgment’s release.

The decision effectively quashes Equitas’s argument that Canada owes a “duty of care” to all veterans disabled in the service of the country

Burchell said, however, that it hasn’t quashed Equitas’s efforts.

“It’s the end of the road for the court case, but of course, we’ve had a Plan A and a Plan B and a Plan C,” he said.

Burchell described the federal Conservatives’ recent passing of a policy resolution “recognizing a military covenant between the people of Canada and its military” as “a very big step.”

He also pointed to the society’s creation of a Canadian Walk for Veterans as a positive.

It “was intended to unite the entire veteran community in Canada and bring them together to speak with one voice, and bring regular Canadian citizens in on the conversation,” Burchell said.

“So even though the court case is over, our advocacy doesn’t end. Matter of fact, it simply intensifies now.”

The organization has been battling Ottawa since the Harper Government replaced the Pension Act – which had given veterans disability pensions since 1919, just after the First World War – with its New Veteran’s Charter in 2006.

This instituted lump-sum payments that many disabled veterans have since claimed have left them considerably worse off – and minus a dependable month-to-month income supplement.

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a campaign promise to reinstate the pensions in 2015, and the House of Commons the same year unanimously passed a motion calling for a moral “covenant” to provide compensation and support services to disabled veterans, no legislation was introduced.

Lawyers for the federal Justice Department continued to argue that Canada owed “no duty of care” to the veterans and in December of 2017 the BC Court of Appeal dismissed the veterans’ class-action on the basis that it could only enforce actual legislation.

https://www.peacearchnews.com/news/equitas-lawsuit-appeal-denied-by-supreme-court/

Lots of hard work by a lot of people went into this lawsuit, who would have thought that our own government would turn it's back on us!

Well the way I see this last ruling is a test to those that want to continue advocating for disabled Veterans.

This is what we know, until something legislated in law to protect disabled Veterans comes about the courts are of no value with regards to the Veterans file.

The government of Canada allows the bureaucrats to fully run the Veterans file.

Negotiating with the government does us more harm then good.

The Royal Canadian Legion stands side by side with the government.

The Veterans file system of today is much more inferior then the system pre 2006.

Divisions among Veterans, and Veteran groups are at a all time high for reasons stated above. We need to let go of our egos, and unite together to focus on two particular goals;

1. Get legislation to protect disabled Veterans.

2. Push to bring the pension act back by completely boycotting the government, by focusing on public events, and using the media, and forget about what has been implemented, and what will be implemented. We need to stick to the goal. The government wants us to focus on everything they implement to distract us from the main issue or problem.

Listen folks when the Mounties are not complaining over the pension act, when those Veterans 100% on the pension act are not complaining, what does that tell you?

Make no mistake, the government of Canada, those bureaucrats are no friends to the disabled Veterans! They just let on they are!