Why Canada needs to pry open the doors of the legion’s headquarters

Wow, that read was an eye opener!  Seriously we are in bad shape from toe to head in all departments!

We should not support the legion anymore and people should demand the books opened up, where is W5 when you need them.  I am sure if they look into the legion at the top there will be criminal charges.

Well after reading that one the Scummy meter has jumped to 30!!! If they use the "the member gets a pin" when they pay their $10 just screams money scam!

And they wonder why veterans don't join the Legion?

Well that's a refreshing article to read...

The Canadian Forces is distancing itself from a Royal Canadian Legion initiative to charge those suffering from post-traumatic stress and other related illnesses a $10 fee to join a support group.

The legion’s new group has the same acronym as the one operated by the Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence, with the support of Veterans Affairs.

But that’s where the similarities stop.

The military’s system, Operational Stress Injury Social Support has an extensive network of support groups across the country. OSISS and the military’s operational stress injury clinics offer a wide range of services. OSISS is free to military personnel, veterans and their families.

The legion’s new Operational Stress Injury Special Section, also known as OSISS, offers to direct veterans and their families to existing services, such as the Canadian Forces network. But veterans suffering from mental issues and post-traumatic stress, as well as their family members, each would have to pay a $10 administrative fee to join the section.

Canadian Forces spokeswoman navy Lt. Michèle Tremblay said the legion’s OSISS is not related to the DND and Veterans Affairs system.

“There is no charge for (Canadian Forces) members or veterans to be part of (our) OSISS,” she said.

Glynne Hines, interim president of the legion’s OSISS, did not respond to requests from the Citizen to explain the reasoning behind the fee. He also did not respond to questions about whether the legion’s decision to use the same acronym as the government program would lead to confusion.

Hines would not address the question of whether the fee is to cover the cost of travel, conferences, per diems and hotels for executive members of the section.

Other legion members are questioning the fee, noting the organization has millions of dollars in the bank and already has service officers to help veterans at no cost.

Craig Hood, who is nominated as the interim first vice-president of the legion’s OSISS, has said on social media the initiative is being rolled out this weekend at the legion’s convention in St. John’s. Those who join the section will receive a special pin. But most of the section’s work will be done online.

The Canadian Forces and DND were not consulted on the legion’s initiative, defence officials said. A DND official said the military and department have been trying to get answers about the legion’s OSISS initiative but the legion is not responding.

Dominion President Tom Eagles of the legion has said his organization’s initiative is about “maintaining a close working relationship with the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs.”

According to the legion, its OSISS will “reach out and assist veterans and their families” and promote public awareness of stress injuries.

“The OSI Special Section WILL NOT deliver health services,” it said in its promotional material.

Asked whether the Canadian Forces or DND endorsed the legion’s OSSISS, Tremblay said, “We would not comment on a third party organization’s initiative.”

The unveiling of the legion’s OSSIS this weekend comes as some convention delegates are pushing for more financial accountability.

Some legion members had hoped to use the convention to force Dominion Command, the legion’s administrative organization, to reveal details about executives paid more than $100,000 a year. Members also want to find out about the cost of travel and expenses for executives, spouses and families.

That effort has been shot down. Legion executives say the privacy of executives would be violated by such disclosure.

Lorne Tyson, a member from Winnipeg who has been advocating for increased accountability was told the matter cannot be discussed or even raised in St. John’s.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-legions-10-fee-for-veterans-to-join-ptsd-support-group-raises-concerns

This is the definitive sign that the veterans of the Royal Canadian Legion no longer have any input to Legion procedures.

The veteran is now drowned out by the civilians....what a shame.

I agree teen. It is right up there with that company that would charge people a percentage of any refund, just to fill out a DTC application. If you are in crisis, your not going to want to be told that you have to pay a fee, just to be given a phone number of someone that can actually help. It just goes to show just how out of touch the RCL truly is. In the age of the internet, it is not hard to find out the information on your own. The VAC website it shows a mental health hotline you can call 24/7, or you can walk into any Emergency room in the country, and get the help you need. All without having to worry about spending $10 needlessly.

ya teen I agree . not sure why someone would call this org for that kind of help anyway .

if a vet was having a problem of this type depending on the urgency I'm thinking they would call DVA or a hospital . that SHOULD get them either the help they need now or a direction to services they feel they require .

if by chance they felt more comfortable with this place called and were asked for money they just didn't have at the time would they refuse to help them at all ?????

if someone called you that you don't even know or don't remember called you asking for help such as this would you refuse them the simple assistance of directing them to say DVA or whatever the case may be ???? would you ask them for money before you would help them ???

fracking ridicules

propat

no problem bigrex .

propat

Dannypaj wrote:Your right, you are your own best advocate.
Trust me on this one.
No one is looking out for you, but yourself.
Apply, apply, apply.
The fight is not over, unless "you" feel it is over.

And just to make sure I called the 1 -800 number to see what was happening on my file, apparently parts of it is sitting on my CMO's desk.
COME ON! get real, does that really happen?
My CMO called back and stated she received the message and that it is now being sent in, BUT it is an important part of my reassessment, which should determine if I qualify for the PIA.
I am in limbo and tired of not knowing form one day to the next what is going to happen.
Tired of the BS, just F-ing tired of it.
What do I do next?
I called the ombudsman, that was useless phone call and waste of time!
Now what? Media, or what?
HELP!!!
or what is the number for the VAC ombudsman?

I agree Teen, slimy. What we need is to become organized, get about 40-50 vets to join each legion then elect from only veterans the executive. Then send the elected vets to the national convention and get rid of the corrup crooks there. Then we would have a real and true voice for veterans.

I'm still trying to understand the $10 fee to be paid to the Legion so a vet can be directed to the OSISS !

On the 1 to 10 scummy scale this one is a 20 !

About the recent links by Danny and 6608 from David Pugliese...
You can't make that kinda stuff up. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

My apologies, I thought you were trying to say that they were simply hiding behind their rules to control the message, and that it wasn't necessarily to hide possible corruption. I'm not sure how they would hide behind corruption.

hold the phone their bigrex I did not in ANY way shape or form say their is no corruption nor can i see that I implied that in ANY way. I fully agree its there . what I said is they are not hiding behind the corruption . their own corruption is in fact WHAT they are hiding .

propat

Propat, just because they are hiding behind the rules, doesn't mean there is no corruption. After all, they are the ones who created the rules to avoid having any accountability. There is no real reason that members of the RCL should be traveling the globe, attending conferences. They do not make policy for Veterans, and as far as anyone can tell, have not taken anything away from these conferences, that directly benefited Veterans. And would it not be considered a corrupt act, that the children of one of these senior staff, received half of the bursaries offered by their local legion, even though he is making well over $100000/yr to manage a handful of people? That is either an abuse of power, or a outright theft. Most organizations and companies, make family of staff ineligible to win any prize, to avoid any conflict of interest or perception of wrong doing.