Veterans Affairs minister responds to pension change critics 'I won’t go back to the Pension Act of 1919,' says federal minister Seamus O'Regan

Liberals post 3.2 billion surplus in the first 2 months of 2018... but, Prime Minister Trudeau says Veterans are asking more than we can afford right now!!!  

Money for everyone; illegal refugees, various world aid programs, people who are a real threat to our country, etc. but, nothing for our Veterans, who sacrificed, fought and were injured for democracy and freedom outside of Canada.

Our Canadian Veterans deserve better Mr. Trudeau but you have forgotten and abandoned them.

Canadians need to keep this in mind when we vote in the next Federal election.

ya skidsteer there is no way MP,s are giving this up even though they forces us out . although they tried to force the RCMP out as well on a couple of occasions they had representation and told them to go frack their hats .

I believe if the military had representation this would never have happened .

my opinion on the military having representation before and after 2006 went from absolutely not needed to mandatory an absolutely must have .

propat

ya bigrex they do love their talking points . but they work with the ill informed . they just keep repeating them and eventually a lot will believe what they wanted them to .this is a tried and true tactic that works very well . if we could only get all or most of our top advocates on the same page this could work for us . hell ill even wright the page . $4000.00 vs $1200.00 and so on you know the drill .

this one thing from one guy and something different from another isn't as nearly as effective . all or most saying the same things is far better .

no one here likes politics I'm sure we fought our fights on a different field but we learned how to fight through practice and experience .

this fight is unfortunately in the political field so we must learn how to fight this type of fight . I hope someday that the top advocates start to understand this .

when it comes to the system these new types of benefits and services are the types of fixes for the PA vets have been fighting for long before the NVC unfortunately PA guys are the only ones that got the fixes without costing them more than what they were receiving NVC guys just got fracked . of course the VRAB fix has still not come yet mind you .

all they really need to do to fix it is to give the PA pension as an option . no studies needed no new forms or application changes not many staff changes , I mean the system is still in place and actively being used .

heck they don't even need to wright the legislation required they have it already . I sent it to them .

fast easy and fair.

propat

If our system after 2006 is so great why are the RCMP and MP's not wanting to have this wonderful pension for themselves. We should be insisting they have this wonderful gift as well.

I agree propat, by continually repeating the Pension Act of 1919, instead of saying the PA from pre-2006, he makes it sound like the PA was ancient and completely obsolete, which it wasn't. Yes, it had its issues, but those could have easily been addressed by the NVC augmenting benefits, not completely rewriting them. If they had kept the PA style pension to compensate for Pain and suffering, added ELB for everyone, to compensate for lost wages (for as long as it is medically needed), and the PIA to compensate for non economic losses, (based on your actual disability rating, not just their accepted liability), I don't think there would have been as much push back from the Veterans community.

Someone should ask if its good for MPS and RCMP then why not us!

WOW! It's an upside down world.

of the 3 groups that could access the PA monthly pension MPs , RCMP and military . the only group left that can no longer apply for it is the group it was intended for . the military . funny old world aint it .

propat

RCMP get old pension act benefits so if they are awarded 50% they get a monthly tax free benefit 1300-1400 if no dependents FOR life!  They are also get everything else minus the Disability award. Just like veterans prior to 2006 would receive.

Does anyone know if the RCMP receive a pension or do they get a lump sum as well?

lol I love that statement pension act of 1919 . not the first time he has said this .forget about the inaccuracy of this statement ,all this is is political speak nothing more . just trying to put some nuggets into his target audiences brains . for vets the" I will not go back to " to convince them equality aint goona happen so give up. for civvies try and convince them the old system is outdated but this is what some vets are still fighting for .

although slightly inaccurate a well crafted talking point he and his cronies will continue to use .

lets look at the real facts mr O'Regan .

NO ONE and I mean no one wants to go back to the system of 1919 NO ONE !!!

heck I'm sure they are out their even though ive never met any almost no one even wants to go back to the PA of 2005 !!!

this has ALWAYS been about the COMPLEAT package both benefits and services one without the other does not work . as a matter of fact the continued growing outrage amongst the vets community since 2006 for the most part HAS been about the money specifically the discrepancy between the pain and suffering benefits for PA vets vs NVC vets . the issue being aside from the pain and suffering benefit both classes of vets receive almost exactly the same benefits for service related disabilities . but the glaring difference being the pain and suffering compensation.

for a guy with a wife and two kids for example ;

PA guy can receive just over $4000.00 a month .

NVC guy can receive just under $1200.00 a month .

the PA of 2006 never met the needs of vets that is true however the needs of PA vets today for the most part are being met when it comes to benefits and services available . being able to access them however STILL remains a huge issue . unfortunately the needs of NVC vets for the most part ARE NOT being met for many NOT EVEN CLOSE !!!

this government has proved itself extremely dishonorable .

time to go .

propat

Veterans Affairs minister responds to pension change critics
'I won’t go back to the Pension Act of 1919,' says federal minister Seamus O'Regan

CBC News
January 9, 2018

VVi 10 Jan 2018 db


Minister of Veterans Affairs Seamus O'Regan announces changes to veterans pensions during a news conference. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Veteran Affairs Minister Seamus O`Regan is in British Columbia this week to talk about the pension plan changes for veterans announced last month.

The federal government promised in the 2015 election to reinstate lifetime pensions for injured veterans.

Those were abolished in 2006 and replaced by lump-sum payments.

Under changes announced last month, former soldiers can still choose to receive a lump sum of up to $360,000 or they can choose to receive a lifetime pension instead of up to $1,150 a month.

The most severely disabled veterans can also get an additional monthly allowance of up to $1,500.

In an interview with On the Island guest host Khalil Akhtar, O'Regan responded to criticism of the new plan.

What's your response to the National Council of Veterans Associations' criticism the monthly pension for veterans remain lower than in 2006?

The maximum monthly payment will indeed be slightly increased for those people with a 100 per cent disability.

We'd heard from veterans organizations that said, and that still say to me as I go around talking to people about this new pension-for-life proposal, that it was never really about the money, it was about the services.

"Now, we have all these services in place. The lump sum, though, was a real thorn in a lot of people's sides. Because it felt like they were being written off, written off the ledger, you know, here's your money, now go away.

What we're offering here is the ability to take that by the month at an increased and far more generous rate."

The NCVA says veterans with the same injuries receive different compensation levels if one fought before 2006 and one was injured after 2006: Up to $2,733 a month under the old pensions, compared to a maximum of $2,600 under the new plan. What do you make of that point?

It's an argument that was had in 2006, over the New Veterans Charter. We are building on an agreement that was made by all parties and many veterans groups back in 2006.

There is a short window there where you did have an overlap, where you had men and women who were fighting side-by-side in Afghanistan, some who would fall under the Pension Act of 1919 and some who would fall under the New Veterans Charter. That is absolutely true.

With the increased benefits that we're allowing right now, we're going back to those people who received those lump sum payments, 2006 and after, and we are going to calculate how much they would have received if they had those new benefits when they accepted that amount.

Then we subtract the lump sum that we've given them and give them the rest over monthly payments. I mean, for some people, this could be a substantial amount of money.

The new program won't come into effect until April 1, 2019. Why is it taking so long? Why not this year?

Partially related to another subject, and that's Phoenix (the federal government's troubled pay system). Laying out very specialized financial compensation to thousands of people we, you know, now know can be very complicated work.

There's also a legislative agenda. We're already under the gun, I can tell you, to make sure this legislation gets drafted.

Some veterans who voted for the Liberals did so thinking the disparity between the old system and the new one would be adressed. What do you say to veterans who feel let down by your new plan?

I won't go back to the Pension Act of 1919. It did not meet the needs of our veterans. That's what we heard in 2006.

That's why every political party in Parliament agreed to this. We focus on rehabilitative services. We focus on the ability of people getting back to meaningful work because I know first hand, in my own experience, that there is nothing better than meaningful work.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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