The New Veterans Charter has to be scrapped.

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE - Jan. 9, 2018

Published January 9, 2018 - 6:00am
Last Updated January 9, 2018 - 7:17am

Veterans short-changed

One RCMP member and one military member serve together in a conflict area and they both lose both their legs. They are 30 years old, and entitled to a 100 per cent disability pension.

The military member will get a $360,000 lump-sum payment, period. If he dies prior to his spouse, she will get zero. Meanwhile, the RCMP member will get $2,733.47 monthly tax-free for life, and if he passes away prior to his spouse, she will get $2,050.10 per month tax-free for life.

How do you expect the military member to survive on that measly amount of disability for life? How is he going to pay the rent? The military member is treated as a second-class citizen. Is Canada poorer now than in prior years — the 1940s, ’50s, etc.?

The New Veterans Charter has to be scrapped. Revert to the Pension Act, which has served our military veterans very well over the years. In the 1950s, our Armed Forces were approximately 100,000 strong, and now they are down to 60,000 — but the wars and conflicts are just as dangerous today as they were then.

Gerard Theriault, Church Point

http://thechronicleherald.ca/letters/1534918-voice-of-the-people-jan.-9-2018