Assorted Merged Stored Topics

This is funny, I've been a VAC client since early 2004 and the only time someone from VAC stepped foot in my home was when I initially applied for VIP services. I'm rated at 75% and have been living at the same residence since my release move in 06, and I don't even know who my case worker is. No phone calls, no letters, nothing. In fact the only unsolicited correspondence that I get from VAC is the yearly VIP forms to verify that my degenerative conditions haven't miraculously improved. And it's not like I live out in the boonies, I was in Ottawa when I became a client and have since moved to Halifax, where there is actually two VAC offices within 30 minutes from me , so not being near an office cannot be used as an excuse.

I did call back and she left a message all nice saying just want to see how your doing and I know nothing has changed. She also mention by law she has to see the veteran but all nice and sweet. It makes me sick because I think they are just covering there ass in case anything is in my file. 5 years ago I had a real bitch of a worker she always told me how lucky I was to get vac and when I mentioned the sisip clawback to her she said if I got that it would be double dipping. I asked for a new worker but they actually said no that she was the worker for my area which I lived. So I just moved to the other side of the city and they had to give me another one. This one is like 22 years old, knows everything about everything, and just makes my skin crawl .if I did not need the money I would tell them to shove it up their ass. Some bullshit is not even worth the cash. Navrat out

Well it's pretty hard to call it a coincidence because usually VAC is on a 3/4 year inhome visit. Or the phone call is enough.
Maybe you should call her on Monday and tell her it's odd that you put in an ATI and now you call to do a inhome visit?
Love to hear her answer. Plus I wonder if this is becoming common...ATI=INHOME VISIT

I faxed in my ATI request last week and guess what today I get a message on the answering machine telling me that my VAC worker wants a home visit on Friday just to see how I am doing. Thou it has been 2 years since I had a visit I find it a bit odd maybe I am being a little paranoid. I hate having them coming to my house it kind of makes me feel I am on welfare or should I say they make me feel that way. Sometimes I wish they would just wrap up the whole department and be like cpp. I could care less about them and their big brother attiude. Just give me my cheque and leave me the f&$@ alone. Navrat out

Does anyone realize that Medivie Blue Cross owns the intellectual property that has been paid for to support VAC...that means that the insurance company has set up its own little monopoly and is actually running the show....is it any wonder that it feels like are dealing with a big corporation instead of a government department that owes its existence through statute to be of service to our veterans.
An audit was done on VAC and its third party contractors that showed widespread misuse of information, privacy and security concerns and the fact that no one else could bid on the contract because blue cross holds all the cards.
That was in 2006 ... until there is a political will to help veterans we will see nothing. the Day of Protest is a great start but with your dress code etc you have made it into another old mans flag day.
young vets are a different breed and while your exceptional abiliity to organize this rally is wonderful, you aren't reaching the Canadian public at all....when I ask people if they have seen the coverage etc. ..none of them outside of base neighbourhoods give a s@#$....

"Mr. Blackburn says Mr. Stogran never raised concerns about his confidential information with him and suggested the entire matter of privacy was something the ombudsman should have been examining in the first place."


"Blackburn said one reason there could be problems emerging at the department of veterans affairs is because the department may be slow to adapt as the nature of Canada’s veterans has changed from old men to young people looking to reintegrate back into civilian life."

Is there anything this asshole won't say to save his job? Ok the over/under on Blackburns cabinet position is at 14 days.

I'm going to go with under.

Veterans Affairs facing privacy investigation

View larger image View larger image
Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart holds a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, July 16, 2009. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart holds a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, July 16, 2009. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Updated: Tue Sep. 28 2010 18:31:50

CTV.ca News Staff

Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddard has announced she will investigate how Veterans Affairs handles the personal information of wounded Canadian soldiers, after she found evidence that widespread privacy violations may have taken place at the department.

Valerie Lawton, a spokesperson for the commissioner, announced the pending investigation Tuesday afternoon in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said he had requested the probe. Stoddard's office refuted that.

"The Commissioner has advised Minister Blackburn's office that her investigation into a complaint about the handling of one veteran's personal information has raised concerns about the possibility of systemic privacy issues," Lawton's statement said.

"As a result, she had already decided to initiate an audit of the department's privacy practices."

At a news conference to announce new support for the families of severely injured soldiers, Blackburn said that he was "very concerned about what's happening" at the department.

"This morning we have a discussion with the privacy commissioner and I thought with all that news is coming, that it would be appropriate for the commissioner, the privacy commissioner, to look further in the department to see what's going on, to enlarge what she has done up to now, to look further into the department to be sure that what's going on there," the minister said.

The audit will begin after Stoddard finishes looking into a complaint by Sean Bruyea, a veteran and a blunt critic of the department. Bruyea has said that his medical and psychiatric records appeared in a 2006 briefing note to Greg Thompson, the former minister of Veterans Affairs.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said that Blackburn should be fired for his comments about the pending investigation.

"It's reprehensible, it's disgraceful and this shows that this government has failed veterans very fundamentally," Layton said. "This thing, by all appearances, is against the law. Heads ought to roll and they should be ministerial heads."

Stoddard's announcement came a day after Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran said there had been more than 400 inquiries into his own personal medical file, which he has asked the privacy commissioner to investigate.

Stogran has become an outspoken critic of Ottawa's compensation schemes for Canadian soldiers. He has also battled with post-traumatic stress disorder, and said he is worried that his medical information is being improperly circulated in the hopes of destroying his credibility.

With files from The Canadian Press

Sean Bruyea put Veterans Affairs under the bright lights after the former Forces captain discovered that his medical records were shared widely within the department. - Sean Bruyea put Veterans Affairs under the bright lights after the former Forces captain discovered that his medical records were shared widely within the department. | Ben Nelms for The Globe and Mail
Privacy Commissioner finds evidence of systemic abuse at Veterans Affairs
Murray Brewster
Ottawa— The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, Sep. 28, 2010 6:21PM EDT
Last updated Tuesday, Sep. 28, 2010 6:46PM EDT

Canada’s Privacy Commissioner says she’s uncovered evidence of possible widespread privacy abuse at Veterans Affairs and decided on her own to launch a full-fledged audit into how the personal information of injured soldiers is handled.


Veterans have run out of answers as to why their sacrifices are treated with such neglect or even cavalier disregard. —Sean Bruyea, retired captain and critic of Veterans Affairs

A statement by Jennifer Stoddart’s office, released to The Canadian Press, contradicts Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn who earlier in the day told a news conference that he asked for a wide-ranging probe.

“The Commissioner has advised Minister Blackburn’s office that her investigation into a complaint about the handling of one veteran’s personal information has raised concerns about the possibility of systemic privacy issues,” Valerie Lawton, a spokeswoman for Ms. Stoddart, said in a prepared statement.

“As a result, she had already decided to initiate an audit of the department’s privacy practices.”

Ms. Lawton said Ms. Stoddart welcomed the minister’s invitation.

Mr. Blackburn made it sound as if he initiated the more comprehensive probe during a news conference to announce improved support for the families of the most severely wounded soldiers.

“I’m very concerned about what’s happening there,” he said at Defence Department headquarters.

“This morning, we had a discussion with the Privacy Commissioner and I thought with all that news ... it would be appropriate for the Commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner, to look further in the department to see what’s going on, to enlarge what she has done up to now.”

The scope of her audit of Veterans Affairs practices has not been determined; but the review will be undertaken when the Commissioner finishes her investigation into a complaint launched by Sean Bruyea, a retired Forces captain and an outspoken critic of the department. His medical and psychiatric records found their way into a 2006 briefing note to former Veterans Affairs minister Greg Thompson.

NDP Leader Jack Layton was astounded at the contradiction and said it’s time for the Prime Minister to fire Mr. Blackburn.

“It’s reprehensible, it’s disgraceful and this shows that this government has failed veterans very fundamentally,” he said Tuesday. “This thing, by all appearances, is against the law. Heads ought to roll and they should be ministerial heads.”

News of the audit comes less than a day after Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran, who suffers from an operational stress injury, revealed he wanted an investigation into the way bureaucrats may have used his medical records. He was responding to Mr. Bruyea’s revelations.

Mr. Blackburn says Mr. Stogran never raised concerns about his confidential information with him and suggested the entire matter of privacy was something the ombudsman should have been examining in the first place.

Mr. Bruyea said he’s yet to receive the Privacy Commissioner’s report into his case, but he felt vindicated by Ms. Stoddart’s sense that the vendetta against him was part of a wider problem with the department.

“This is exactly the reason I brought my case to her and exactly the reason why I went public on it,” Mr. Bruyea said Tuesday. “I believe this is reflective of a systemic problem, a moral rot in a system that needs to be thoroughly investigated.”

The Privacy Commissioner has only limited powers of enforcement if she finds evidence of wrongdoing. She will have to rely on Mr. Blackburn to implement whatever suggestions she makes.

Legal experts have suggested that the House of Commons information and privacy committee investigate the matter. Mr. Bruyea, however, said Parliament is far too divided and partisan for such a probe. He’s pushing for a public inquiry.

Liberal veterans critic Kirsty Duncan said she’s concerned about the added worry being placed on veterans, many of whom are elderly, sick and injured.

“There’s been a real breach of trust,” she said. “We have to reassure veterans that their information won’t be shared and this doesn’t happen again.”

Since 2004, there have been 16 privacy complaints lodged against Veterans Affairs.

Maybe not.


PLEASE GIVE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION *URGENT*

CTV NATIONAL NEWS tonight (Tuesday September 28) will cover the PRIVACY SCANDAL and the national outcry at the way veterans are being treated. Today the Privacy Commissioner announced a systemic investigation into Veterans Affairs Canada will be initiated. THIS IS BIGGER THAN BIG!

QUESTION PERIOD Wednesday September 29 at 2:00pm to 3:00pm, the HERO of Canada's Veterans and their families, PETER STOFFER will be calling for a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into Veterans Affairs Canada. IT DOESN'T GET ANY BIGGER THAN THIS!!

Why are the Liberals so silent on the greatest privacy scandal of its kind...and it is all about veterans being maligned and attacked for being...you got it, disabled? Isn't that called discrimination? Would any political party stand for members of an ethnic group to be treated that way? Why do they remain silent when disabled veterans are under attack?

Do the Liberals not know how badly VAC is broken in Charlottetown and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up? Do they know that 2 million veterans and their families have had enough and they won't take it anymore? What will the Liberals do to show Canada they support those Canadians who are outraged by they way veterans and injured RCMP are treated?

What can you do?

First: Watch the programmes
Second: Give strong Support to Peter Stoffer and Jack Layton for being the voice of veterans on the PRIVACY SCANDAL
Third: Encourage the Liberals to join in the call for a FULL PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO Veterans Affairs so that it can be cleaned up once and for all.
Fourth: Don't give up!

This is Canada's and Veterans' chance to change things. Speak out, speak up and join in!

Were fucked!

Veterans ombud worried his personal records 'inappropriately accessed'
By BRYN WEESE, Parliamentary Bureau




OTTAWA — The country’s veterans ombudsman is worried records of his operational stress injury were inappropriately accessed by department of veterans affairs bureaucrats in an attempt to discredit him.

Col. Pat Stogran’s allegations come on the heels of similar ones made last week by Sean Bruyea, a retired Gulf War soldier, who, like Stogran, has been an outspoken critic of the New Veterans Charter.

Stogran says his personal file at Veterans Affairs was inappropriately accessed 400 times.

“My initial reaction was I thought these were ‘nosy pokes,’ as my wife would call them. You know, just looking to see who the new ombudsman is,” Stogran said Monday. “But I have good reason to believe it was a lot more insidious than I would have thought at the time.”

What’s worse, he said, there are “many” others who are equally worried their personal and medical information had been passed around in the department.

“I don’t want to divulge the number or where they come from because of confidentiality concerns, but it’s a fact that this is not an isolated incident,” he said. “There are even (staff) at veterans affairs who got in touch with me, echoing these concerns.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said Monday he wouldn’t comment about individual cases, but said overall the allegations of Stogran and Bruyea are very troubling.

Blackburn said he’s been in touch with senior bureaucrats in the department and the privacy commissioner to get to the bottom of it.

“When I have the report (from the privacy commission), it will be very important for me to look at those recommendations. The privacy of the information of our veterans is very, very important,” Blackburn said. “I don’t play around with that. It should not be published for anyone except the employees who have to work on the file — no one else.”

NDP Veterans Affairs critic Peter Stoffer wants Parliament’s veterans affairs committee to start calling witnesses to testify about who did what and when. He’s moving a motion at Thursday’s meeting to get the ball rolling.

He’s worried Stogran and Bruyea are just the tip of the iceberg, and that the nefarious personal file sharing may not stop with the department of veterans affairs.

“The reality is in a democracy you have a right to question the government and its departments, but no one has the right to pass around your personal information,” Stoffer said. “That’s just simply wrong.”

bryn.weese@sunmedia.ca

The plot thickens!

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION

Vets ombudsman asks for privacy probe after personal information accessed

By: Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press

Posted: 27/09/2010 6:04 PM

OTTAWA - Canada's Veteran's ombudsman says he's asking the country's privacy watchdog to investigate why his Veterans Affairs file was access hundreds of times.

Pat Stogran says he believes private information in those records may have been inappropriately used, much like what happened to another outspoken critic of the department.

Sean Bruyea, who prior to Stogran's appointment in 2007 was the face of veterans issues, last week revealed that portions of his medical and psychiatric reports ended up in a briefing note to Greg Thompson, the former veterans minister. His file was accessed 648 times by bureaucrats within the department, including policy planners with no connection to his treatment or pension.

Stogran doesn't have that kind of detailed written evidence, which Bruyea obtained through a Privacy Act request on himself.

But he says he is concerned.

"I have all sorts of reasons to doubt the sincerity of the people on the other side," Stogran said in a recent interview.

When Bruyea's story became public last week, Stogran told The Canadian Press he knew in 2007 that his own file had been accessed over 400 times. Stogran said he initially thought it was innocent and nothing more than idle curiosity but he's had second thoughts as the debate over Bruyea's treatment has intensified.

Privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddard is expected to rule soon on a complaint from Bruyea.

Since 2004, the Veterans Affairs Department has been the subject of 16 Privacy Act complaints, according to federal records. That is a fraction of the nearly 1,000 complaints the commissioner receives annually, mostly about the Correctional Service of Canada.

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn promised to swiftly implement whatever recommendations Stoddard makes as they relate to the handling of veterans' files.

"When I will have this report, it will be very important for me to look at those recommendations," Blackburn said Monday following question period.

"The privacy of the information of our veterans is very, very important. I don’t play with that. It should not be (accessed by) anyone except the employees who have to work on the file, not...other people."

Stogran, the former commander of a Canadian battle group in Kandahar, acknowledged he suffers from an operational stress injury that dates back to his days as a peacekeeper in Bosnia during the 1990s.

How that information has been used within the government to frame his criticism of the New Veterans Charter and the way the federal bureaucracy treats former soldiers is unclear, but Stogran says he's determined to find out.

The Conservatives decided last summer not to appoint him to a second term as ombudsman and since then the retired colonel has been on a scorched-earth mission with bureaucrats whom he's accused of penny-pinching veterans.

The focus of his criticism has been the charter's emphasis on lump sum disability payments and income support, rather than guaranteed life-time pensions. An audit by the ombudsman's office found the new system short-changes the most vulnerable and severely disabled soldiers.

Blackburn told the Commons he will make an announcement soon to address that problem. That follows a $2 billion planned increase in life-time benefits announced on Sept. 19, just prior to the opening of Parliament.

Abuse of information


The Ottawa Citizen September 23, 2010 Comments (6)



Ministerial briefing notes from 2006 show federal bureaucrats were treating a citizen's highly personal information as a political weapon. This is a privacy violation of the worst kind.

Sean Bruyea, a retired captain and a critic of Veterans Affairs, says he discovered the notes when he requested a report about himself under the Privacy Act.

Buried in that report's 14,000 pages was a briefing to then-minister Greg Thompson. It included details about Bruyea's medical condition, his pension, what Veterans Affairs spent on his treatment, the number of his doctors' appointments, a quote from his psychiatrist about his mental state.

The information seems to have been shared among bureaucrats, without Bruyea's permission and for no reason pertaining to the service he was receiving from Veterans Affairs. That's bad enough. What's worse is that the information seems to have been treated as a political weapon, arrows in the minister's quiver. It isn't clear whether the information was ever overtly used against Bruyea, but that's not the point.

Bruyea's activism on the Veterans Charter began before the Conservatives took office in 2006. If bureaucrats were scheming against him under a Liberal minister, the Liberals deserve some of the blame for running such a slipshod department.

But it was a Conservative minister who got those briefing notes. The current minister today, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, must get to the bottom of this scandal and answer for it. The principle of ministerial accountability is there to ensure that, after cabinet shuffles and even changes of government, scandals don't just disappear. Someone must be accountable.

Ten years ago, Liberal Human Resources minister Jane Stewart was forced to dismantle the government's Longitudinal Labour Force File, a set of linked databases that rightly worried the privacy commissioner of the day. The existence of a universal citizen profile conjured up the image of bureaucrats being able to discover everything about any citizen's private life with a single mouse click.

The government may have backed down from creating a citizen profile for every Canadian, but it seems that didn't stop bureaucrats from compiling information they had no business sharing with each other.

Canadians trust the government to collect information about them for specific purposes. We provide our income information so that taxes are fair, for example. Bruyea says, "Canadians must be able to trust the government -- especially the soldiers that go off to war."

If bureaucrats and politicians are willing to use our personal files to intimidate us when we speak out against their policies, that is more than a privacy violation. It's an assault on freedom of speech.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has vowed that his government will co-operate with Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart in her investigation of the Bruyea affair. That should be a given.

Bruyea says he wants the system to be "profoundly repaired." Thompson, who still sits as an MP, has some explaining to do. Blackburn should find out exactly what was going on in his department in 2006 and whether it's still going on now. He must identify and punish those responsible and prove to Canadians that this can never happen again. If he can't do that, he should resign himself.

For a government that considers a long-form census too intrusive, anything less would be hypocrisy of the highest order.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen


Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Abuse+information/3565825/story.html#ixzz10n2TxjyS

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Privacy breach unacceptable: PM

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 23/09/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 4

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OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says it's unacceptable that the personal information of an outspoken veterans critic ended up in the briefing notes of a federal cabinet minister.

He pledged during question period that the Conservative government would co-operate with a privacy commissioner's investigation into how quotes from a psychiatrist's letter on Sean Bruyea ended up in briefing notes for former veterans affairs minister Greg Thompson.

Harper said it appears Bruyea's information was widely circulated in the veterans' bureaucracy before the Tories came to power in January 2006, effectively casting the blame on the former Liberal government.

But NDP Leader Jack Layton called on Harper to launch an independent investigation into the privacy breach.

"What action will the government take to punish those responsible?" Layton said Wednesday.

He demanded to know how such a breach could have happened and whether other veterans who've criticized the government have reason to fear their files are being passed around.

"We know this is a government that doesn't like those who complain about its behaviour," Layton said. "They get demoted, they get fired... But to have such a thing happen to someone who has served our country is totally unacceptable."

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said his department takes privacy seriously, but did not commit to taking any further action.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 23, 2010 A11

Veteran's privacy breach 'unacceptable': Layton
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | 1:54 PM ET Comments54Recommend69
The Canadian Press

NDP Leader Jack Layton says heads should roll in the veterans' bureaucracy after the personal information of an outspoken critic ended up in the briefing notes of a federal cabinet minister.

Layton called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to launch an investigation and punish those responsible for the privacy breach involving Sean Bruyea, who for years was a fierce critic of veterans policy.

"To have such a thing happen to someone who served our country is totally unacceptable," Layton told reporters on Wednesday outside his party's caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "This is the most serious breach imaginable."

Medical and financial information about Bruyea was included in a 13-page briefing note prepared by bureaucrats in March 2006 for then-minister Greg Thompson, under the Conservatives.

The note, which Bruyea gave to The Canadian Press, described his medical and psychological condition in detail.

Thompson was briefed on Bruyea because of his opposition to the vets charter, which fundamentally overhauled the way benefits are delivered to ex-soldiers.

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn refused to comment but suggested he might have something to say later on.

The Liberals have also demanded an investigation, but MP Dan McTeague, a longtime advocate for veterans, says Parliament or some other outside agency should conduct the probe, not Veterans Affairs.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/09/22/veterans-privacy-breach-bruyea.html#ixzz10n1uSG9y