MY FACE TO FACE MEETING WITH MR. BLANEY IN KINGSTON NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Mr. Blaney
We met at the Canadian Military & VETERAN Health Research seminar at the Ambassador Hotel and Conference center in Kingston on November 27, 2012 . You were sitting with three of your aides in the coffee shop prior to your speech at 0830 hours that morning. I was the RCMP veteran wearing the RCMP patrol jacket with my medals from my three UN tours that I gave to Canada i.e. Cyprus 1980/81 (Miltitary), Croatia 1992/93 (RCMP human rights monitor) and Kosovo 1999/ 2000 (RCMP to enforce law).

You approached me at my table because it was obvious that I was there to speak to you. I want to thank you for the opportunity to do that. I asked you quite frankly what was the statistics of suicide within the RCMP veterans community i.e. how many RCMP officer retired with undiagnosed PTSD over the long number of years and again what are the statistics. The Canadian Military have a handle on their statistics for their veterans but I find it strange that you and Conservative Government have never bothered to find out. I mentioned to you that when I was employed by the RCMP, I served undiagnosed with PTSD for 10 years before my melt down a few years after my deployment to Kosovo which ended my RCMP career. I was broken due to an injury called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder .

I asked you if you knew who the first British colonial Recipient of the Victoria Cross was and you did not have a clue. I stated that it was ;
Sgt. A.L. RICHARDSON , North West Mounted Police, regimental number 3058 who showed valour and courage at the battle of Wolve Spruit in 1900 during the Boer War. THE FIRST BRITISH COLONIAL SOLDIER TO RECEIVE THE VICTORIA WAS A NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICEMAN who served under the command of Lt/Col. Samual Beneford (Steele NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE) who created the Lord’s Strathcona Horse to fight as cavalry in the Boer War at the request of Lord Strathcona himself. Sgt. Richardson was with the RCMP from 1894 to 1907.

I ask you Mr. Blaney, when did the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and its predecessors the North West Mounted Police and Royal North West Mounted Police STOP being veterans???

Was it when Sgt. Richardson saved a comrade pined under a wounded horse during the Boer War? Was it during the First World War when the Royal North West Mounted Police served as a cavalry regiment in France and Flanders (A and D Squadrons)? Was it when the Royal North West Mounted Police 1917 were instrumental in creating the Canadian Provost Corps? Was it when the Royal North West Mounted Police served as Cavalry in Siberia ( B Squadron) with the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force during the Russian Revolution in 1919? Was it when King George V in 1921 bestowed upon the Royal Canadian Mounted police, the military distinction and honour of being a Military REGIMENT OF DRAGOONS in order to display a Dragoons Guidon (Military Battle Flag) displaying the previous and future BATTLE HONORS)? Was it was when the Number One Provost Corps RCMP served in World War Two in Italy ( some of these RCMP officers are still alive today)? Was it when Canadian Government asked for volunteers from the RCMP to serve overseas in Namibia in 1989 and numerous other United Nations Missions to date? Was it when the Canadian Government asked for RCMP officers to volunteer, train, and be equipped by the Canadian military with gear and weapons to serve in Afghanistan at the start of the combat mission in 2007 to the end of the combat mission in 2011 and are still there to date? Was it when an RCMP Sgt. was critically wounded by a suicide bomber in 2010 in Kabul Afghanistan?, Was it when two RCMP officers were killed during the earthquake in Haiti in 2011? Was it when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were bestowed the honor to replace the Queen’s Life Guard during the 2012 Olympics the second time in British and Canadian history, the first time during the coronation of King George Vl in 1937 as a Regiment of Dragoons?
Mr. Blaney when did the Paramilitary organization called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the officers who have served since the beginning of Canada, stop being veterans? To deny the Royal Canadian Mounted Police its status as veterans with the Canadian Military is to dishonor the memory and valor of Sgt. A.L. Richardson NWMP V.C. again the first Canadian and British Colonial recipient of the VICTORIA CROSS for Valor not to forget all those Mounted Policeman who gave their lives and sacrificed for Canada both here in Canada and abroad???

On the Veterans Affairs Canada web site it clearly says “Military, veterans and RCMP???” When a military veteran goes to the Canadian National War Museum there is no charge but an RCMP veteran has to pay. Why was the exhibits in the National War Museum removed connecting the RCMP and its predecessors with its military contributions to Canada’s wars??? Is it not an insult to the remaining veterans from the Number One Provost Company RCMP who served in WW11 and are still around today? Is denying the RCMP and veterans acknowledgement of its military history not discrimination contrary to the Charter of Rights and the Veterans Bill of Rights signed by Mr. Harper himself?

I wrote to Prime Minister Harper 4 times some years ago asking why he on his Prime Minster of Canada web page only mentioned and recognize the sacrifice the Canadian Military and their families have made and are still making in Afghanistan and have not bothered to acknowledge that of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the volunteers from the numerous police services from across Canada (not enough Mounted Policeman to release) who have been serving in Afghanistan since 2007 to date???

Why has the Harper government not funded the Occupational Injury Social Support program (OSISS) for the RCMP which was created by the Canadian Military to deal with high rate of suicide which not only provides peer support for Occupational Stress Injuries such as PTSD for the serving Canadian Military and their families but also provides the same help and support for the military veterans and their families?
WHY WAS THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE NOT INVITED TO THE CANADIAN MILITARY AND VETERAN HEALTH RESEARCH SEMINAR????? There was one representative from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans Association and as a veterans organization can only ask the RCMP to fund programs such as the long sought after Veterans Independence program that the military veterans have had available for many years. Their requests have fallen on the deaf ears of your government for the last ten years. It is irresponsible for your government to not include the RCMP at these annual Veteran Health Research seminars. Very Irresponsible.
Why has the VIP program not been funded for the many aging and disabled RCMP veterans simply because the word VETERAN mentioned in the acronym VIP would give the perceptions that the RCMP and Canadian Military are equally veterans which we are. The RCMP History proves that!

Mr. Blaney is the reason that your government will not fund the Occupational Injury Social Support Program and the education about Occupational Stress Injuries for the RCMP is because it would open the door to the thousands of former RCMP officers who retired with undiagnosed PTSD and have been living a life of hell and committing suicide forever and a day?

Mr. Blaney is the real reason Mr. Harper will not fund this affordable valuable OSISS program for the RCMP, veterans and families because of the tens of millions of dollars of his precious Canadian tax dollars it would take to honour the flood of legitimate PTSD claims that would be filed with Veterans Affairs Canada (keeping in mind the RCMP are still under the costly Pension Act) while the Military were forced under the New Veterans Charter?

Mr. Blaney the RCMP Occupational Health and Safety studied (copy attached) and recommended the Occupational Stress Injury Social Support Program for the RCMP members in 2006 which fell on deaf ears by your government thereby preventing the thousands of RCMP veterans and their families from benefiting from it not to forget the veterans and their families.

In 2010 the RCMP Occupational Health and Safety again recommended the Occupational Injury Social Support Program for the RCMP members, Families which again would also open the door providing the same valuable peer support and education for the RCMP Veterans and their families. It is my belief that the Conservative Government has put saving tax dollars as a priority over the well being and lives of RCMP officers, their families and veterans and their families. Again Mr. Blaney what are the statistics? The way I see it NO STATISTICS NO PROBLEM in the case of the RCMP and veterans.

There is a moral obligation for the Canadian Government to take care of those injured RCMP officers who can no longer continue with the RCMP and have no choice but to integrate the best they can into civilian society which is where they become your responsibility Mr. Blaney. The problem these new disabled veterans and I can personally attest to that because I have been living it since 2006 is that there are no New Veterans Charter Programs available to the RCMP veterans. I am considered unemployable and there are no repeat no programs available to me that the New Veterans Charter provides to the disabled Canadian Military veterans to get a new start in civilian life. NOTHING!!!

Mr. Blaney there is a lot of talk these days of homeless veterans and recently a disabled friend of mine went to Toronto and found a number of them i.e. several Canadian military reservists that volunteered to serve Canada at your Governments request, came back messed up with PTSD received the infamous lump sum, pissed the money away, got divorced and are on the street homeless.

In the case of an RCMP officer with for example 10 to 12 years service and I know several who have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, are the only bread winners for their spouses and kids, are responsible to provide a home and feed them and are very concerned about losing their jobs due to their disabilities, and I will repeat seriously concerned about losing their jobs.

With no pension locked in and being considered damaged goods what will these RCMP officers face if medically discharged and forced into civilian life and become disabled veterans some who will become unemployable like myself? They will receive their pension contributions, what little severance pay they are entitled and of course to deal with the dysfunctional Veterans Review and Appeal Board and please do not tell me they are playing fair because the recent Veterans Ombudsman’s reports states that to the contrary.
These young in service RCMP veterans forced out the door will of course have to push the preverbal rock up a hill firstly being low balled if their PTSD claim is accepted (happened to me) and receive the absolute minimum 40 percent and have to appeal and appeal again to get to where they should be in terms of percentage of disability. It took two appeals for myself to be close to the 70 percent my psychiatrist assessed I should be and was so worn out left it at 65 percent. If the evidence supports a higher percentage then why screw them with the absolute minimum of 40 percent? Why is the low balling practice continuing?

I had put in a claim for a disability related to my diagnosed PTSD and the claim was accepted by VAC adjudication but again I was given the absolute minimum possible contrary to the evidence provided. In my claim I provided assessments from my psychiatrist Dr. J McCulloch and Dr. Steele and a specialist in regards to the disability claim. In the VAC decision no where is Dr. Steel’s assessment mentioned at all!!!!

I know for a fact this Dr. Steel’s assessment was sent twice the first time it was a photo copy which I was informed was not acceptable and subsequently arranged for the original to be sent to the Kingston VAC office which was as a fact received by VAC your department. Where are these two medical assessments i.e. the copy and original medical assessments from Dr. Steel and what was done with my personal medical assessments the Veterans Affairs adjudicators lost???

I was informed that at one point of the adjudication process that the medical evidence was sent for review by a medical review department in VAC. I provided the names and assessments of my TWO doctors (one that was acknowledged in the review the other not) and I do believe I have a right to know the name and qualifications of the individual(s) reviewing my medical evidence. I find this to be somewhat unacceptable. Did a Doctor review my medical evidence a nurse, a paramedic or a veterinarian?

Why was specialist Dr. Steel’s report not mentioned in the decision?? Was it misplaced intentionally? What happened to my personal medical information in the care of your department Mr. Blaney, who has it and what has been done with it? I want to be clear Mr. Blaney that I will peruse what I believe is a deliberate intention to complicate this disabled veterans life whose only crime was to serve this country. I look forward to your reply on this one.

The other issue and from what I can deduce as a slap in the face was the fact my application date was in Sept 2011 and of course there is 16 weeks for the adjudication period to take place. Well it took 20 weeks and the date of application was changed to September 12, 2012??? The VAC decision in my case was dated November 15, 2012 approx. one month before the decision. I met with my Vac area Councillor in Kingston and saw on the screen of the VAC computer that the application date of September 2011.

Mr. Blaney you know that I am very active in advocating veterans rights both military and RCMP. I believe you and your department are sending me a clear message that you are not happy with me by providing myself the unnecessary increased stress of pushing another rock up a hill. all because I volunteered to represent Canada on 3 United Nations Missions at the request of the Canadian Government and the Canadian people. Are you taking my personal sacrifice for this country as a joke? .

Do I have to file another access to information complaint to find out where my medical specialists report ended up, that your adjudication department received twice. Am I being toyed with?. If this is another fight for me no problem I will deal with it. I am not providing you with consent to dive into my personal medical file but to only review the evidence provided to P. SIMPSON in regards to my claim associated to the PTSD which resulted from my missions to Croatia and Kosovo. The 5 percent awarded is nothing short of an insult which I believe was the intent.

Mr. Blaney I see a trend here by the adjudicators at Veterans Affairs, the federal department that that you run. I am of the belief that since the Veterans Affairs web site states “Military, Veterans AND RCMP which makes me ask the question is there a double standard between Military and RCMP? Is this a wide spread practice treating RCMP disabled veterans as second class veterans?
Attached is a file outlining the history of the RCMP and its predecessors the North West Mounted Police and Royal North West Mounted Police and the contribution during time of the numerous wars Canada has been involved with. Please correct me if I am wrong but as Minister of Veterans Affairs knowing the history of who you represent may be a good idea.

The last thing that needs to be addressed is the request you recently made in Parliament asking for the RCMP and Canadian Armed Forces Veterans to contact your Parliamentary Secretary Eve Adams with any concerns. The question I have for you Mr. Blaney is how are you going to reach out to the thousand of RCMP veterans who have retired over the last twenty years some who are dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder whose only connection to the federal government is the federal pension stubs they receive every month. Do you expect a huge response? How about adding this request you have made in written form and put it in these monthly pension stub envelopes so they can have a chance to reply to your request for their concerns. Good idea I think. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and their veterans have been been left along side the road for to long and if you have a heart you will do something about it like maybe call the big guy and makes some serious changes in providing the support for a National symbol of Canada and those that have served it. Not to much to ask. Saving tax dollars as a priority over those that have served and bled for this country is very wrong and not a Canadian Value. Have a heart, it is possible.

Eric Rebiere (Former Cst. RCMP 37515 LSGC and Canadian Military Veteran)