What can Veterans expect from the Liberal Majority Government

Well, since they did not use the key words "severely disabled", it would mean giving a lifelong pension to ALL disabled Veterans. That eliminates the possibility that the ELB and PIA, would comprise the new life long pension, because as it has been already proven, very few Veterans actually qualify for those benefits. And nobody is claiming that the Liberals are bringing the PA back. They merely have to mirror the monthly compensation that the PA provided, with the OPTION of taking a lump sum. The Tories kept saying that the disability award was only a small part of the total suite of benefits offered under the NVC. So why does that have to change, just because they change how the compensation is paid?

not asking my MP at this time ill wait for the changeover . my current MP doesn't answer me anymore anyway so why bother .

but rest assured I will be and yes you can just change the wording and you really only need the DOJ to check the language .

ill right the fracking amendment myself and send it to him and leslie as well if need be .

this election was not an end to the buyout but rest assured its the beginning of the end .

propat

wild thing I'm not being negative I am explaining that there is a procedure to reinstating a life long pension that has to be done. It is not as simple as you think it is. This is the reality I have learned as an advocate that I'm sharing with everyone.

Yes they change wording in a bill all the time. This is not a change in wording it is a change to the bill itself. If you think it's as simple as reinstating the PA procedure I'm saying it's not.

Listen I want the life long pension back what I'm trying to tell everyone is this topic has been discussed all the time at meetings with the ADM's, VAC lawyers, various Chief's of Staff to the Minister and the answers are consistent it is a "change" to the NVC and it has to go thru the bureaucratic parliamentary process which takes time. There is a lot of legal mumble jumble that needs to be addressed and established because if there is a flaw there will be a lawsuit.

Also the topic of merging the PA and NVC has been discussed with the same people and it's always been a very adament NO.

Believe me I would love to see them merged it would make life a lot easier and the review process would be absolutely worth it! So if the Libs are really in the veterans corner then I say absolutely do it as it will make all veterans lives financially stable for life.

Ask your MP if you don't believe me.

by reinstating the lifelong pension it would have to be a lifelong pension that was used prior and is no longer used .

this leaves out PIA sup and ELB as they were NEVER lifelong pensions therefore IMPOSSIBLE to REINSTATE .

the only 2 that come to mind are the PA pension and SISIP ltd .

now the MOAST sensible of the two is the PA pension as the PA is still in effect and being used by the RCMP and MP,s . and very easily and quickly done by GOC standards .

the other one is insane because its an option to the buyout .

you would either loose the buyout and get SISIP for life .instead of keeping ELB till 65 at the new 90% and get the buyout as well .

that aint costing 100 mil a year that aint costing a fracking dime its actually saving money on the annual budjet .

propat

The actual legislation does not say how the disability award has to be paid out, it does not specifically state that it is a lump sum, so it could be paid out as a lump sum OR a monthly pension. Therefor the legislation would not need to be amended.

"Disability Award

Eligibility

45. (1) The Minister may, on application, pay a disability award to a member or a veteran who establishes that they are suffering from a disability resulting from

(a) a service-related injury or disease; or
(b) a non-service-related injury or disease that was aggravated by service."


So therefor, only the regulations would have to be changed, and do not require a vote in the House of Commons. After all, the Tories did not require a vote when they started giving the Veterans an option of the lump sum, or that amount paid over time

Teen,

I'm beginning to think that the questions asked to the Liberals prior to the Liberals winning the election regarding the lifelong pension were answered by individuals from the Liberal party who were all told to answer each question as per their Veterans platform.
In the case of the lifelong pension the platform says this ; "A Liberal government will re-establish lifelong pensions for our injured veterans.
We will increase the value of the disability award in line with the sacred obligation and social covenant we have to those injured while serving for injured veterans, they will be able to determine the form of compensation that works best for them and their families".

It seems to me at least from the feedback from CSAT members who contacted the Liberals in this regard were all told answers that reflect what was said in the Liberals platform.
If this turns out to be the case , I'm almost certain that the individual who is named as our MVA already knows their cabinet position , an has a team in place working on this very issue along with the other promises as early as today - or very soon.
So this could be the reason we have not been given further specifics as the specifics has already been said  RE ESTABLISH LIFELONG PENSION  In other words it may have puzzled the Liberals when they were being asked for specifics , when the specifics have already been told.
They did not say re- establish with provisions - or modifications , the provisions - or modifications could be the option brought forward to take either or.
So in my opinion once this change is brought forward for implementation , an the re- establish is modified in a way that does not mirror the lifelong pension from the PA , it can no longer be called re - establish , it would have to be called re - establish with some modifications , the only modification that should be done is if you can call it that is the way they go about dealing with those Veterans who choose the lifelong pension over the lump sum an have already received a lump sum - or parts of the lump sum , but this would not reflect the re - establishment per say as it stands to it being equal to the PA.

Again , were dealing with a majority government here , so they said they would change this - or re - establish this , so it's just a matter of them getting it done.

Well the advocates have done nothing for me if they want input they can send me a letter and i will reply i don't need you or anyone speaking on my behalf. Teen they took it away easy enough they can give it back just as easy. They have already figured it out anyway hell even i figured it out. This negative talk is just giving them water to throw on our fire. we will except nothing but the old tax free pa monthly. lump sum will have to be fairly determined percentage wise. No more legal mumble jumble talk it gives me a migraine. and stop being so damn negative we don't need that....

doesn't seem that difficult to me its one simple amendment to 52.1 (1) of the act .election as to payment of award .

it goes to (c)

preamble yada yada yada

after (c) the following para is to be added (d) to be paid a pension under section 21 of the pension act as set out in schedule 1 of that act .

or something like that hand it off to the justice department to check the language make any changes if necessary and vote on the fracking thing .

stuff like this is done hundreds of times a year by the GOC just because its a vets issue doesn't mean it will take forever.

sure the cons hate vets but the libs have a majority if the libs want this done it will get done and can be done in short order and the cons will not be able to stop it . sure they can slow it down a bit through the senate but I cant even see that happening .

propat

Rex trust me when I say this any changes to the payment system to a choice of life long pension or lump sum it has to go to the floor for a vote because they have to rewrite/add to the NVC. A sitting gov't cannot just change the wording. It has to be voted.

The pre-amble of the sacred obligation done by the Cons in July was rolled into the omni-bus bill because they changed an existing bill with a new paragraph. It's parlimentary procedure.

Yes the word reinstate was used but believe me it's not going to be the PA payment being reinstated. They said they would reinstate a lifelong pension with NO mention of the PA.

The only way the PA comes back is if they merge both. It's the only way to do it as per parlimentary procedures.

Remember what Leslie said..."like most pensions in Canada it will most likely be taxed".

As great as the possibility of the reinstatement it is a bureaucratic nightmare scenario. If the lump sum is adjudicated to $40K how do you make it a life long pension without going over the adjudicated amount?

Your probably on the right path of PIA and EELB being that life long pension. Even then it will still require a rewording for the NVC benefits and have to be written up and voted on the floor.

A $1 will get you $10 the Libs really don't have a firm idea on how to reinstate the life long pension. That's why the worst thing they can do before February is the following statement..."We are going to have to review the situation to come up with a solution to reinstate the life long pension fairly to the veteran and taxpayer"

A lot of us emailed Leslie for details and all the emails were not answered by him. Why? They don't know what to do. Another thing to remember the Liberal promises were very early in the campaign so was it a hail mary promise to get the veteran vote because they were in 3rd which means they were on the outside of the official briefings about the changes to the NVC before the election.

All the other promises are very doable. The life long pension is either going to make or break the veteran support for the Liberals.

They do not have to treat the lifelong pensions as a new benefit. They merely have to change a few lines in the NVC to reflect the option of a monthly pension as an option, based on rates set out under the Pension Act. And as I said before, since they are both options for disability compensation, they cannot exempt one option from tax one and not the other. I think the whole confusion surrounding the issue of taxation, is because of either the PIA, which is also for life and taxable, or there were discussions to make EELB for life, which is also taxable. Obviously we cannot be sure, until we see the legislation, but based on the wording that was used, we can be hopeful. After all, they didn't say they would introduce new life long pensions, like the Tories said they would do. They used the word "reinstate", meaning bring back what we used to have. That doesn't include taxes.

Danny the young Liberal has not resolved anyone's fight. He now needs to go from promises to executing the promises. Until he does that nothing has been accomplished.

As I have stated many times do not let him go into NVC "review" mode. If he does nothing will happen for upwards of 2 to 3 years.

In my conversations with my contacts he has to put forth 2 new paragraphs to the NVC:
- lump sum or pension for life
- increase ELB to 90%

The pension for life is going to be a hard one to figure out. Taxed or not? New benefit which means rules, adjudication, veteran friendly.

These are HoC votes. He has a majority but it needs to be worded correctly or it is just another FUBAR in the NVC.

Re-opening the DO's are most likely going to be "satellite offices" most likely working out of Service Canada. FYI a satellite office is 2/3 VAC staff comprised of either one CM and 1/2 CSA's. You have to remember the 9 offices that were closed were the most underused, overstaffed DO's in Canada. So be honest with yourself why would they re-open a fully staffed DO? It's a waste of money and staff.

One thing they need to move on quickly and we can't let him stall is the Wellness Centre's. One will definitely be in Quebec and one in the Prairies, maybe Saskatchewan. This is a very important initiative that needs to start yesterday! Want to utilize all the PTSD research build the Centre's. Goes without saying our own 1-800 Crisis Line. The Health Canada one is crap! Actually that's insulting crap....if FUBAR and Bureaucracy were to have a child it would be the Crisis Help Line we have now.

Nice to see you post teen , an awesome to know your still looking in on the forum.

I agree that accountability is now our number one priority , we have what was promised on the top of this page.
I would think that being that the Liberals hold a majority things should move quicker then previously thought.
Look for Mr. Trudeau to form his cabinet within the next 20 days.
Once we have our new MVA we will be able to hear what the new MVA has to say.
One change that I can see happening quickly is the increase in ELB , SISIP mirrors the ELB but is run by the CDS , the ELB under DVA two separate departments , so with a majority government we will see how the government reacts to also increase SISIP.

I think it's important to give this new government a chance to show their promises , an respect to Veterans , we are use to holding governments accountable an we have all the promises they made to us  to hold them accountable , promises that are also on public record , I would say we are sitting in a good position for the time being.

I also would agree with those who said Veterans played an important role in getting the Liberals elected , further to this those Veterans who wrote their concerns to the Liberals , before they were to be elected , also making the point of what Veterans wanted in their questions , those who voted for Veterans , those debates right here on CSAT that allowed for a better understanding of what direction to take , I thank each an everyone of you for all your thoughts , your knowledge an interest on the subject were all the very best that anyone could ever ask for.

Stakeholder or Summit meetings are when VAC or VAC Minister has a one or two day meeting to inform veterans of changes and to research/listen/work on veteran issues brought to the table from Veteran Organizations like:
Legion
ANAVETS
CAVUNP
Vets of Canada
Korean Vets
UN/NATO Veteran
Veteran Voice

The meetings happen once or twice a year.

I don't understand what a stakeholders meeting means and what VAC staff is doing at one, what am i missing here. we are not commodities to be bought and sold.

Funny teen, it was the last twelve years I have been fighting the government to receive a monthly pension. There you go your fighting for veterans helped. Never knew it would be a young liberal politician who would resolve our fight.