Romeos comments on National Post

teen I agree very good rules indeed I think they should always be followed. yes birdy long overdue.

propat

Yup ... # 4 is really good teen.
Political affiliations should not mean squat either. One stardard/One Veteran and Non-partisan.
Kinda like what some of those bearucratic committee's should keep in mind, Mmm? Getting back to Romeo Dallaire,
his personal integrity and mileage means so more to me than his, or any party. The person not the party. And the
veteran... no splintering. Wish I could shake his hand...pinger.

NUMBER 4 WAS LONG OVERDUE....................

propat as long as the 3 rules are followed, actually 4 now, are followed.

1. no swearing unless in the right thread
2. no attacking, bullying a vet
3. no slanderous or libel remarks towards a person or company
4. no open religious recruiting

You have the right to question authority but sometimes the authority, that would be me, has to do what is right and edit and or remove a comment to keep the peace.

teen no long winded speech ive finally settled down im very proud of you for defending our right to free speech . this is the definition of freedom in my mind . I would hope especially on issues of great importance you hold true and grant US that .

yup you are the authority here

and I loved what you said it made me proud of you and this organization.

but as ive done my whole life .

I will always question authority in this case that's you.

ALWAYS QUEASTION ATHORITY

propat

Guess the Romeo topic went to the wayside. Sorry teen.

Puddleduk2,

I read your sit. A small consolation. Rest assured, there are others among us that have or continue to go through the same… some better, some worse.

What did I do? Kept fighting them, tooth and freaking nail, persevered for years but some of us don’t have the time or patience and that is what they count on my friend. The toll.

How did I do that? With support that is sincere, and real. A little family, civie street counselors or therapists that are free, this forum, a dog, a service budgie? Very few friends. Anything. Never approached vac about mental health, I never let them use that against me in that regard. My own sit.

Reading your post reminded me of a few others though. N. Ontario to Winnepeg, or Windsor to London offices like this one…  
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/bruce-moncur/veterans-affairs-canada_b_5106048.html

What really peeves me off though has to do case managers. How come they are not consistent across the board albeit the dynamics and variables? What… good ones and bad ones?
Everyones sit might be different, but still…

Stay strong puddle and never ever lose hope. Pinger.

Mr Stoffler MP is a good resource for those able,

When I was looking at help after OVO's assistance, I contacted Mr Stoffler's office,

The return call I received personally from Mr Stoffler was positive, but in the end I would have to utilize my own MP.   If he was able to take on each and everyone of our issues' and concerns', he and his staff would never get any sleep,

Peter's experience and knowledge in his role as VA critic goes past the political party lines in representing every Canadian that has served.

Puddle, you are able to contact Peter Stoffer, even if he isn't your MP. He is the official VA critic, and is more than capable of stepping up for any Veteran in Canada. the fact that he cares about ALL Veterans, and not just the ones who may vote for him, is one of the reasons that I will do my part to keep him in Ottawa.

Received a mailer from Mr Hayes MP today titled "setting the record straight', double sided, 43.13cm x 56.25cm (17.25" x 22.5") in regard to Canada's Veterans and Armed Forces.  

'estimate' and 'forecast' was used in its production to show the constituency how and what should be happening and understood in setting the record straight,

one item missing is how over the next four years our PSHCP goes from 85/15% to 50/50% over the next four years

Not sure of its cost to produce and mail as their are approximately 34000 households in the Soo, unsure how many total households in this present riding,

I wrote mailer as on page three (four pages total) is the section you may write back to your member of parliament.

I have personal experience with Mr Hayes' MP office in regard to a request for assistance and support with Veterans Affairs Canada for myself.

You must go through your own MP and no other.  You cannot just pick a sympathetic ear to ask for help, you must utilize and make your requests for help of those voted in to represent you.

My initial request for help was listened too by the office manager, kept them personally in the loop (cc'd) in informing Veterans Affairs in writing of my request for assistance by my MP on my issue(s) requesting 30 days for contact and action,

I followed up with Mr. Hayes office before the end of the 30 days and was told to give them proper time to follow up on my request as I was told by his office they had not gotten to it yet,

At that time I wrote and sent another letter to Veterans Affairs before my initial 30 day request, requesting proper time for the MP's office to make contact and follow up with VAC,

both letters were logged into my VA file,

The second letter was also cc'd to Mr Hayes office,

Two months later my Case Manager proceeded to action my removal from the rehab program stating no correspondence had been received from me, and promptly dumped me from my program, it took a few weeks for their letter to reach me,

Just in case you didn't read above my letters were logged in and forwarded to my former case manager,

When I received my former case manager's dismissal letter, read it, absorbed it, I felt further betrayed and spent a safety weekend in the local hospital mental health ward, I have and suffer with Chronic PTSD, Mild Traumatic Brain injury, Major Depressive Disorder..etc

 Mr Hayes reminds us locally (by press) that his father was a Veteran each Remembrance Day and also in his mailer and promotes he is "engaged in providing the very best to our veterans",

When I was able to contact the MP's office on the Monday following my stay in the hospital, they stated they thought my issue was already taken care of, and told me to contact VAC.

A single phone call to the VAC call centre and a question of any notes on my file showed that no action except for those by my former case manager were annotated,

 The short story is I was ignored, dumped and then verbally berated on the phone by his office staff that I got what I deserved and requested of the MP's office in my request of help from them,

I sadly and sombrely apologized for my request of help of them, and let the call go.

It has been a year since being dumped from my program by the now closed Thunder Bay VAC office,

I have done my required parole time before being permitted to reapply to my VAC program,

During my parole time I sent in a redress letter to VAC on my previous program,

No one in processing my redress letter looked at or turned a single page in my VAC file as it was rejected stating they found no evidence to support my claim for redress and agreed with the case manager making 'initial contact' with the OVO, OSISS, and IPSC trying to get in touch with me on my file,

 Has any case manager ever, ever, ever made initial contact with any of those offices trying to get in touch with their client, the answer is No, never would a case manager use that route, they would simply close a file or move onto other clients...

 My primary request over the last three years was to have my client case file moved to someone that would help me not ignore my request for services and assistance, replacement of my formerly established (twice over) local clinical case manager and when making client contact they would allow and follow the Veterans Bill of Rights at minimum,

 No support services, clinics, supports or assistance were offered or the Veterans Bill of Rights followed by my previous case manager stating I was too rural for anything and nothing was available as Sault Ste Marie had nothing to offer in these regards.

* this request was made of the Thunder Bay office manager and denied (budget/staffing restrictions),
* VAC dispute resolutions were involved for a very short time, but were told by my case manager that things were being taken care of  and to ignore any of my calls for assistance (abuse of authority)
* OVO was next involved and they were denied (no authority),  
* it was requested of my MP for help (forgotten)

and in the end I was the one dismissed

 If the department looking after my processed redress letter within VAC had actually opened my file as requested in my redress on my dismissal, they would have found plenty to substantiate my request,

 After my previous experience with Mr. Hayes office, no further request for help was given of Mr Hayes office, as in redressing my program dismissal, this was based entirely on their previous lack of involvement and personal treatment.

My file has moved through four VAC offices without action since that time, now currently located in the Winnipeg VAC office, 1300 kms away, even farther away than the former Thunder Bay office, this is now the local office.

 The newly assigned case manager is polite and actually phones back without waiting months or involvement by the Ombudsman's office, OSSIS or the IPSC representative as was the case in my trying to make contact with my former MIA case manager,

By the way as I am not expecting anyone to pop into the Soo area anytime soon for you to see photo advertising on all the local city transit buses "Mr Hayes MP, Proud to Serve " (it was missing from on the mailer)

If by some means you are reading this it's not to late to be that to your Fathers fellow Veteran Brothers and Sisters, my vote depends on it.

Thanks for the comments and thanks for reminding me about Fantino stating he was in the 'trenches' Rex. So maybe that was the road Hayes was attempting to go down.

I can tell you that when the Chief Editor and I were talking to Mr. Kerr we told him that anonymity is what helps vets with PTSD to talk to each other and most importantly it's being anonymous that encourages vets to open up.

I will shut this site down before being forced to give up email address' or changing the rules. And you are right Rex our rules and manners are far superior to other websites and blogs. And I am extremely proud to say we have people on CSAT that believe helping is more important then bashing.

Well one other thing. During Teen's visit, one of the MP's motioned that they request that Minister Fantino submit a bill making immediate amendments to the NVC, based on recommendations already identified in previous studies by the OVO, before the committee finalizes this review. It was said that they had to wait until following meeting to vote, due to committee regulations. Is anyone aware of the outcome of that vote? If it was defeated, by the Torie majority, then my initial statement will have been proven correct, and that they have allowed partisanship to delay making the necessary changes. If I am wrong, and that motion passed, then I will gladly admit it, and offer an apology to Mr Hayes.

Thank for cutting to the chase bigrex. "But since it was Fantino that claimed he been in the "trenches", then onus should be on him to substantiate those claims." Moreover and especially in the very government position he holds, his words could have been more considerate for those who really were... in the mud and the blood. Bad foresight, aka foot in mouth disease.

@ teen, good for you for not getting suckered by bait.

@ Navrat, I hear you. Identity, and privacy.

Now csat being in the public domain reminds me of a little old adage "Loose lips, sink ships" it still holds true so I'm mindful of what I post. pinger

Thank you Teen, you have done us proud.

Great job , Teen, thou it kinda scares me that every time the government talks to csat they always bring up the fact that we don't have to provide our identity. Why is our identity so important to them? And you are 100 percent correct regarding why! VAC holds a lot of power over a large number of us that depend on those monthly payments to live , would anyone chance them knowing even more about us

Teen, I understand what you are saying, but he could have simply said that he thought the statement was inappropriate, and that  would have been the end of it. But by claiming that I was somehow spreading a rumour, meaning that I was knowingly saying something that blatantly untrue. A rumour would be me saying that he had been arrested flashing women while wearing that trench coat, because I know that is not true. But since it was Fantino that claimed he had been in the "trenches", then onus should be on him to substantiate those claims.

In all honesty, compared to most public websites, the comments made on CSAT about elected officials, from all parties, are down right pedestrian, so I think you are right, that he was merely trying to knock you off your game, so BZ for not falling for it.