ELB Class Action Law Suit

Very good news.

A little something to share whit you from Canadian Veterans advocacy!

CVA Situation Report - Earning Loss Replacement/ War Pensioner Allowance Retro-activity Class Action Suit

Sit rep. Over the past year, the CVA has been steadfast in seeking equitable resolution on the issue of retroactivity for those who are covered by the War Pensioners Allowance or Bill C-55’s Earning Loss Benefits programs.

To the government’s credit, the Manuge case principles of non inclusion of VAC Pain and Suffering awards were applied to the ELB and, earlier this year, legislated into effect for those who are supported finically through the War Pensioners Act provisions.

The government has ceased deducting these awards in ELB/WPA financial determinations yet has yet to honour the retro-activity protocols accorded to the thousands of veterans affected by the Manuge - SISIP case Retro-activity.

This is, of course, not acceptable and is in direct of the One Veteran, One Standard principles the Canadian Veterans Advocacy has been created to foster. Accordingly, we have engaged with a prominent legal practice to seek resolution through the courts if necessary and are requesting all veterans affected by the unjust policy to contact the Canadian Veterans Advocacy with all due haste.

Your testimony is vital to our success. We merely need your name, contact information and a brief synopsis of how long you have been affected by the respective program clawback and in general figures, if you wish, how much you think you are owed.

The time for action is now, the decision on the ELB/WPA has taken far to long to be delivered, we must prepare for the fact that this prolonged and unnecessary delay signifies denial may very well be the option the government has taken.

Adapt, overcome, prevail.

The CVA will not Pass the Fault. The Sacred Obligation will be restored!

To all veterans, young and old.

Please give this missive maximum dissemination, particularly to those who are, by definitions, older and surviving on the War Pensioners Act provisions. ELB retro-activity will only be few years when the program was implemented, those who are on WPA may very well be entitled to a substantial sum if the date back on retro-activity matches the SISIP decision. Please print off a copy for those not on internet.

Step up, do your part in ensuring this message reaches out to those effected through your social networks and personal friendships. There may be a mêlée looming, we are in the Prepare for Battle zone.

Pro Patria Semper Fidelis

Michael L Blais CD
President/Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
http://www.canadianveteransadvocacy.com/index.html

meteck I agree now if the legion worked as it should we would have that voice and id be a very active member as were my father and grandfather but now the vets watchdog is now a GOC lapdog. so although this is sad im hopeful this will lead to us finding a stronger less political organization to pick up the torch from its failing hands and carry it forward for all of us. the old system vets, the new system vets and the vets yet to come.

always question authority

propat

People in this country of ours veterans have a unique place at the table of change. together we could be a strong voice for justice for vets but its a fragmented piece meal type approach that keeps the gvmnt from acting quicker on veterans matters.. we all know we are right on the retro thing but are at the mercy of elected officials as to when or even if this will happen. my hope is that one day in the not to distant future vets can be heard in one loud booming voice..we shall see..merry Christmas all..keep happy thoughts

I hope this does get settled soon. What they've done is just as wrong as what was done with Sisip.

I will be pushing up daisies before this thing is settled.

I used to love the Labatts 50 stubbies

wonder if our leaders will ever give us a straight up yes or no on the clawback question. Korean war vets arnt getting any younger and our plight seems less when compared to those who are really frickin old! I hope we get an answer soon and I still believe the longer they don't say squat the better our chances are. still no word on my hearing with va ref: using more of the new total for elb for continuing education ie university..be nice to have a crack at a career and not a job at walmart. keep happy thoughts and cross your fingers.cheers to all who served..drunk or not lol!!50 cent beer what yah gonna do right!!!cheers

trooper honestly I don't know where my vote will end up but right now its the NDP as they came out and stated what they will do to fix the problems with the NVC and liked what they said. its a long time to the next election but at the rate the tories are using the DOJ to fight vets in court I don't see them doing a complete about face on the issues so they are likely out.as for the liberals well I have heard nothing on their thoughts on the issue nothing at all.so ill just have to wait and see if they have anything to say on the matter.

propat

Rex, I totally agree what you have stated about how the voting can be influenced by Family and friends that  surrounds  a single Veteran, which can certainly raise the numbers as far as the % of votes, with respect to the Veterans percentage.

propat, I am with you, I am on the old system, and I like it, however the only problem I have, is that I have no clue where to steer my vote.
Liberal is out of the question, that's and absolute, that leaves PC / or NDP, I guess I will have to wait and see what transpires between now, and election time.

Although I do believe that there is some good in the NVC, eliminating the full pension was in my view a vary bad thing for Veterans moving forward, this bad thing far outweighs, any good that is in the NVC. I do realize that this government plans to keep the exempt of the pension in the NVC going forward, but in my view the fact remains, that Veterans are getting a raw deal. Maybe the courts will end up defending us once again.

Brasidas, there are several issues that affect Veterans of all ages, that have been caused by, or at least aggravated by the current government. These include the closing of VAC offices, ignoring a motion that democratically passed in the House of Commons to end the CPP clawback, the refusal to eradicate or overhaul VRAB, the Equitas lawsuit, the RCMP LTD lawsuit, the lump sum payout, the refusal to expand VIP to widows and priority beds to any post-Korean Veterans. Plus there are still alot of Veterans who are still angry over the Tories handling of the SISIP lawsuit as well. So just because there are not a ton of Veterans who are subject to the new lump sum payout, does not mean everything else is acceptable, because it's not.

im on the old program and am happy with what I get. and this government will not get my vote because of the issues with the new program NVC. funny thing about military both serving
(they are very aware of the ELB retro and buyout issue) and retired. they mostly have a strong sense of loyalty and camaraderie.

just my opinion

propat

I agree the numbers are skewed because I was assuming that at least 50% of veterans would be in a position care to vote against Harper. However, of all the veterans I have as friends only 1 other is affected by this issue. All the others are on pension and completely content with the way things are. I've seen reports on here that it's either 4500 or 6500 veterans that are affected by this issue. Which is considerably less than a 1% of the vote. Even garnering 50 to 100 extra votes per person it still would only actually present around 1 or 2% of the population. Your right my numbers where probably too high if anything.

Brasidas, you may be right about the number of Veterans alone not being a number high enough to garner political interest. But the number is a little skewed, because Veterans issues do not only affect just the Veterans themselves. They have spouses, children of voting age, brothers and sisters, parents, friends and neighbors, and VAC staff themselves, whose votes could sway an election. Not to mention the Service Canada staff who were already overworked before transferring VAC duties to them as well. So the poor treatment of Veterans has been seen by quite a large portion of Canadians. Honestly, right now I do not think Harper himself, hand delivering me a cheque for the ELB retro, and a signed declaration to fix every identified issue, would sway many of my family and friends to vote Conservative in the next election.

Thanks for that. I always smile when an election and vote sway are brought up. Veterans in Canada don't account for enough to make a difference. From what I gather it would only be about 2% off the population assuming every veteran voted a particular way. Assuming there are around 800000 veterans in this country of over 35 million. It's brought up all the time here and no one seems to notice the government has very little concern for that 2% possibility. They know that the vote will be broken between 3 or 4 parties and at best could get 50% of the total veteran vote, or 1% of the population. It's just not enough to concern themselves with in any electoral district. The ethnic vote in 2011 was just over 19% that is significant and a vote worth going after. Waiting for people asking me to verify the numbers so they don't have to.