Budget 2017 - And VAC Part in it -

Here is the policy on the disability award payment option, as it stands today.

If you are receiving a Disability Award of 5% or more,, you have flexible payment options:

• a lump-sum payment
  

• annual payments over the number of years of your choosing, or
  

• a combination of these two options
  

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/services/after-injury/disability-benefits/disability-award/da-calc

NOTE: The ceiling of the award remains unchanged.

Here is what was stated in this budget regarding, lifelong pensions.  

The Government will move forward with its plan to fulfill its commitment to re-establish lifelong pensions as an option for injured veterans. This will provide an option for injured veterans to receive their Disability Award through a monthly payment for life, rather than in a one-time payment.

Now, we can see that there's currently no Monthly option available as per policy, just annually, or a combination of annual, and lump sum.

In my opinion, if they bring forward a pension without removing the ceiling of the award, awarded, they cannot call it a lifelong pension, one cannot predict the lifespan of said Veterans. Also, adding the option of Monthly payments, on top of yearly and lump sum that is already in place without removing the award ceiling, would not work any different than what is already in place, again, they cannot call it a lifelong pension.

I'm guessing that what they'll bring forward will be a Monthly payment, this must be tax free, in order to hold merit, no ceiling on the award, awarded. In other words if the Veteran lives for 60 more years, they get the same amount with indexing. The problem I can see with this theory is the formula in terms of determining what percentage of the award will be used, to determine the amount received in the lifelong pension. If the percentage remains the same, the lifelong pension would be exactly like the pension portion part of the old pension act, given the fact that it is tax free and indexed. This would be a major breakthrough in terms of getting back to par with the PA Veterans, however, I'm not holding my breath on them keeping the percentage in determination. What I can see them doing is reducing the percentage where the option becomes less attractive, this seems to be the way bureaucrats run things, they make sure they leave plenty of room for more attention regarding the continuous back and forth between Veterans and the government. This secures future workloads for the bureaucrats, it also notches up the perception that the government has our back.

In closing, this is only my take on what I have seen thus far on the lifelong pension, I could be way off on my theory, but until I hear more, I'll stick to this for now. JMO

The only thing, IMO, that will be acceptable, is them saying that the LSA, only equals 10 years worth of the new lifelong pension. Anything else could discriminate against both younger, and older Veterans , in different ways.

bruce72 wrote:Excuse me waiter, but there appears to be a kent hehr in my soup.

Well said Bruce. ROTFLMAO.

Excuse me waiter, but there appears to be a kent hehr in my soup.

As an nvc vet with 5 children under 18.... breaking the DA up over a life time does not do for my kids what a pension would. There is no real change, just perspective. I've had the option to break my lump sum up already. Nothing new,just word play. Also.. the vocational benefits are a REDUCTION! NOT AN INCREASE.

Federal budget leaves uncertainty over defence spending, wounded veterans’ pensions

March 22, 2017 9:16 PM ET

OTTAWA — The Liberals checked off many of their remaining promises to veterans in Wednesday’s federal budget, but left one big priority marked incomplete: giving injured ex-soldiers pensions for life.

And anyone who was hoping to see more money committed to the Canadian military was left disappointed as the government did precisely the opposite, delaying billions of dollars in planned spending for new equipment.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s new fiscal plan did include new spending for veterans and their families, specifically $725 million in promised additional benefits over five years.

Those include up to $80,000 for long-serving veterans who leave the military and want to go back to school, as well as a new program that will offer job-coaching and other assistance obtaining a civilian job.

The budget also expands the financial benefits available to family members and others caring for disabled veterans, while making it easier for them to also access career training and counselling services.

Funding is also being set aside for organizations that do research on veterans’ issues, and for a new emergency fund the veterans affairs minister can dole out in urgent cases.

Still, as welcome as the new money will be, the big question for many veterans will be how the government plans to bring back life-long pensions as an option for those injured in uniform.

The Liberals were the only party to promise in the election to re-introduce the pensions, which were replaced by a lump-sum payment, career training and targeted income-replacement programs in 2006.

The budget says progress has been made, and further details will be announced by the end of the year, but it also sends a strong signal that the old pension system won’t be coming back.

Officials insisted no decision has been made, but the budget suggests that the lump-sum payment, known as the disability award, could simply end up being spread out through monthly payments for life.

The lump-sum varies depending on the extent of injury, with the maximum amount being $360,000, which would amount to $1,000 per month if spread over 30 years.

A move to simply break up the disability award sets up a potential battle with those who counted on — and even campaigned for — the Liberals on the assumption the government would return to the old system.

“It’s all smoke and mirrors if they are just going to take the disability award and spread it out,” said lawyer Don Sorochan, who is representing six veterans are suing the government over the lump-sum system.

The lawsuit, filed in B.C. Superior Court, alleges today’s veterans are being discriminated against as the previous pension system provided more financial support over a lifetime.

“This doesn’t make the lawsuit go away, this budget,” Sorochan said. “Why was something good enough for Korean War veterans not good enough for these guys?”

Meanwhile, the budget offered little in the way of good news for the military, as the government revealed plans to spend about $933 million less than anticipated on new military equipment over the next six years.

Finance officials blamed delays in several procurement projects but insisted the money, which is on top of $3.7 billion deferred last year, would be available when it’s needed in future years.

Any delay is nonetheless bad news given the large numbers of old military equipment in need of replacement, while experts have worried such deferred funding could get axed in future deficit-cutting.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair accused the Liberals of deferring the funding to massage the budget’s overall numbers, reducing the deficit at the military’s expense.

“Canadians have every right to be concerned about that,” he said, “because we are in desperate need of new ships for our Navy, we’re in desperate need of new fighter aircraft for our Air Force, and there’s no way that with the type of budget we’ve seen here that they’re going to be getting them.”

The measure was particularly surprising given the pressure the U.S. and NATO are putting on allies to increase the amount they spend on their militaries, which currently equals about one per cent of GDP for Canada.

That is half of NATO’s two per cent target and puts Canada among the bottom half of allies.

The Liberal government did leave open the possibility of adding more money to the defence budget later this year, after it releases its much-anticipated defence policy.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/federal-budget-leaves-uncertainty-over-defence-spending-veterans-pensions

Blink...
Well see you hit it on the head..

Older PA vets had nothing really compared to NVC,

Nvc get everything except a monthly pension.. So in all sense and that, if all they did

was to take these benefits today, and add them to the Old PA, walla perfect, thou the
one thing with the old PA and with being capped at the 2% mark was Inflation rose faster
then what your pension increase was each year, so had they increased the PA to todays $$$

And added the NVC benefits, ya that would be a good deal, and bring the amounts up to todays
Dollar amount, and remove 2% cap.

"Tax Free benefits gonzo!"
Well no cause that Family care relief benefit $1000 a month that was mentioned, is non-taxable

Strange how they made it non-taxable but everything else gets taxed..

Here's that reference on non-taxable
CAREGIVER RECOGNITION BENEFIT
Informal caregivers—who are often family members—play an integral and
irreplaceable role in supporting ill and injured veterans after they leave service.
Yet the sacrifices informal caregivers make for their loved ones are not being
properly recognized.
Budget 2017 proposes to amend legislation and invest $187.3 million over six
years, starting in 2016–17, and $9.5 million per year ongoing, to create the
Caregiver Recognition Benefit for modern-day veterans. This benefit would
replace the existing Family Caregiver Relief Benefit and would provide a more
generous non-taxable $1,000 monthly benefit payable directly to caregivers to
better recognize and honour the vital role they play.

Trooper,
I so understand but the world isn't fair never was never will be. Tax Free benefits gonzo!
The PA I personally know was not near as good as what Veterans have to look forward to.
It was a different time, the budget costs were much lower because the veterans were kept in the dark and guilt tripped into sucking it up and suffering alone.

The new world is that the disabled, due to social media, better education and  improved human rights these post 2006 veterans are so much more aware.

Society no longer uses the words like shell shocked. Mental health acceptance is so much better nowadays. ( still needs work) Thanks in no small part to the many veteran groups and peer/ professional support available.

Yes the older veterans prior to 2006 get tax break but many suffered alone for years without knowledgeable professionals to help them cope. They lived very modest humble lives post release with their demons.
IMO in so many ways the NVC veterans will hopefully survive and thrive. All due to the battles we all are fighting and WINNING. I have faith in that.

What other choice do we/they have?

I have ramble long enough thanks for reading ....good night !

That's why I keep referring back to the old pension act as being far superior than this charter.

I think we need to start with the financial security first. The old act had that in place, it was truly a one veteran one standard across the board system.

The main points being every benefit within the old act was tax free, for life.

Example #1

Soldier released: IF He or She gets all this

3b is injured 100% -$360000 payment  IMO(lifetime monthly pension will be a joke)

Hopefully, can stay in CAF until all benefits are in place

Lets say he/she is Mcpl 12 yrs service Est: $12000/yr indexed pension un-reduced 24% best 5 yrs

Rehab plan & on elb 90% top up  until 65 (Est 44900/yr +COL)

Gets PIA and PIAs $1700 per month for life +COL

receives VIP benefits and spouse/caregiver allowance get $1000 per month tax free

All med benefits/ med equip paid for and travel expense ie mileage

After 65 maintains 70% of his income

Then gets Cpp and old age Pension $1400/month Average at 65 yr of age

If this all a happens how do you think the veteran will make out?

This budget is no big surprise to me. They are panning over time the money from the last budget.

Albeit some policies and names have changed, I'll just wait for the April 1st post-mortem...

Meanwhile, the return to a "life-long pension" is in a holding pattern.
As for that end of the year article Trooper, I do not trust any rooty-toot-toot GoC promise (old news).
And prudence is much better than false hope.
A bigger lump of salt don't hurt either  

Here's hoping the promise don't outlast the... goal

JMO of course though.

6608,

It could be the direction their moving towards, but if they go with the first example of the higher end amount, that would be real close to the pension portion of the old act. Therefore, I would think they will go with the lesser amount, making it less attractive to the Veteran, but fulfilling both the false perception, and of course their promise.

Well if it wasn't crystal clear in realizing or understanding exactly what is transpiring in terms of those responsible for bringing forward changes to this charter with a clear goal of everlasting gap fixing moving forward to secure those bureaucrats own future with careers, bonuses and pensions, it should be now!

Government says it will announce lifelong pensions for vets by year’s end

Janice Dickson

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017

The Liberal government’s latest budget repeats its campaign promise to restore lifelong pensions to veterans — and vows an announcement is coming later this year.

“The government will move forward with its plan to fulfill its commitment to re-establish lifelong pensions as an option for injured veterans,” states the budget.

“This will provide an option for injured veterans to receive their disability award through a monthly payment for life, rather than in a one-time payment.”

The Liberals committed during the 2015 election campaign to restoring life-long pensions, ending the mandatory — and controversial — lump-sum injury compensation program introduced under the New Veterans Charter in 2006.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate letter to Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr instructs him to “re-establish lifelong pensions as an option for injured veterans.”

In last year’s budget, the Liberal government increased the veterans’ Disability Award for illness and injury, and expanded access to an allowance program for veterans suffering from service-related injuries and illnesses.

“This change to the disability award is something that the veterans’ community has long advocated for and the government remains committed to delivering. The government has made considerable progress in its work to develop the pension for life option and will announce further details this year,” reads the budget.

While the budget itself does not propose investments for lifelong pensions, it does promise to help veterans transition from military service to civilian life and support the families of ill and injured veterans, and proposes to establish funds aimed at helping veterans in need.

The Liberal government will create a ‘centre of excellence’ on post-traumatic stress disorder and related mental health conditions.

“The Centre would have a strong focus on the creation and dissemination of knowledge on prevention, assessment and treatment of PTSD and related mental health conditions for veterans and Canadian Armed Forces members,” the budget reads.

The budget proposes to invest $17.5 million in the centre of excellence over four years, starting in 2018-19, and $9.2 million per year going forward.

The government also is creating a veteran and family “well-being” fund aimed at supporting innovations that would improve veterans’ quality of life. For this fund, the government will provide $13.9 million over four years beginning in 2018-19, and $3.9 million per year going forward. The money would be provided to Veterans Affairs Canada with the aim of fostering innovation in the public, private and academic fields.

The budget also sets up an emergency fund to provide $4 million over four years beginning in 2018-19 and $1.08 million each year going forward. This fund will help veterans who do not have immediate access to food, shelter or medication.

https://ipolitics.ca/2017/03/22/government-says-it-will-announce-lifelong-pensions-for-vets-by-years-end/

Trooper i think your first example above is very close to what they are going to be proposing for the disability award lifetime option, very similar to some loto ticket payment options X amount upfront or a higher total amount if you take payments over time (assuming you live that long)


Cheers