STEPHENSON: Ottawa should give credit where credit is due

We have been blogging about this for a long time
They will take credit for everything – DND, VAC, GOC, Harper and everybody in politics.
But in the meantime - where is the settlement? Nowhere to be seen?
Maybe we will get it – in 2012, 2013 or 2014 we will see.
Beside those three guys fired from SISIP– everybody said they are fired. - But for what? – They have not set the original SISIP claw back - So what is the real reason they being fired.
DND needed someone to hold the cup some - Bouq Émissaire.
They should come clean on this.
It no mentioned anywhere in any news report – And we should know this?
What is the real reason?
That is my question to you ?
Why those guys have been fired by the military?
We know they have nothing to do with the claw back dating back in the 1970 ?
It is probably in the same instance as taking credit for a settlement, we need Scapegoating to justify everything.
I am wrong ?

Vall2012 - as guess..who

When All is said and done , retro will be coming April 2013

I think that the government should be outed for their lies. Obviously this reporter thinks that Peter McKay has already fixed the SISIP issue for "most" veterans, back in July, which is complete BS. I would like to know how many Veterans are getting benefits including the zero sum clients being reinstated. There most likely is only a few hundred current clients, plus the 900 zero sum clients, but yet there are still over 5000 veterans waiting for their money. I think Peter McKay needs to take some math lessons, since he doesn't understand that a number does not equate to most, unless the number of those receiving benefits is higher than the number of Veterans still waiting for the conclusion of negotiations, which it clearly does not.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/150156-stephenson-ottawa-should-give-credit-where-credit-is-due

STEPHENSON: Ottawa should give credit where credit is due
There are some days when the political spin is best left back at headquarters rather than taking it into the battlefield of public opinion.

Canadians witnessed one of those days last week, when Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney held a news conference to announce what he described as “increased benefits” for military veterans who had fought for years against the clawback of disability benefits.

“We have worked quickly to make these changes to put more money in the pockets of veterans and their families, including some who haven’t been receiving these benefits until now,” Blaney said, announcing the end of the clawbacks Oct. 10 at CFB Valcartier in Quebec.

The move will certainly put more money in the pockets of some veterans, but to describe the government’s action as quick work surely felt like insult added to injury for many of the veterans, who had to take the federal government to court in order to end the clawbacks.

It wasn’t as though Ottawa had voluntarily decided to end the practice, which contravened its own policies. Hardly.

In fact, 4,500 veterans had to launch a class action in 2007 to force the government to change its position. The lawsuit was led by Dennis Manuge of Musquodoboit Harbour, who decided to pursue legal action after five years of attempting to stop the government from reducing his injury benefits by the amount he was receiving in pension income.

A Federal Court decision in May came down firmly on the side of the veterans.

Justice Robert Barnes dismissed the argument by federal lawyers that pension benefits should qualify as income benefits, enabling them to be used to offset disability payments. Those disability payments had been intended to be used for medical and recovery needs, along with pain and suffering compensation, for wounded veterans.

The policy created “a particularly harsh effect on the most seriously disabled Canadian Forces members,” the judge wrote in his decision.

This created “an outcome that could not reasonably have been intended,” he said.

Later that month, the government announced it would not appeal the court decision. In the wake of the court ruling, Defence Minister Peter MacKay did move fairly quickly on the file, ending the clawback for most veterans in July.

The second group, whose benefits come under the jurisdiction of Veterans Affairs, required a cabinet order to enable the change in policy announced last week.

But trying to sell the government’s necessary response to the court defeat as swift action is a bit much.

Nova Scotia MP Peter Stoffer is the New Democrat’s veterans affairs critic. Much to the delight of his supporters, and the entertainment of political observers, he has recently sharpened his longtime knack for speaking in blunt language.

Once again, last week, he didn’t miss his opportunity.

“They’re not doing this out of the goodness of their heart,” Stoffer told The Canadian Press. “They’re doing it because a judge ordered them to.”

The federal government, after years of mishandling the veterans’ file, has received the message that its actions are damaging its political image. Increased funding was announced last month for mental health services to deal with overwhelming numbers of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments.

Blaney has pledged to implement new procedures to cut red tape and simplify benefit applications for veterans. These are worthy initiatives that, if they become reality, will be helpful for veterans frustrated with an insensitive system in need of an overhaul.

Still, Blaney would win more converts if he stuck to delivering on the promises, instead of trying to sugar-coat a message that is long overdue.