Canada’s veterans to receive expanded benefits

Defence Minister Peter MacKay unveiled plans yesterday to spend an additional $2-billion on injured soldiers over the next 25 years.

Last month outgoing Veterans Affairs Ombudsman Pat Stogran held a press conference to take the government to task over its treatment of injured soldiers. The Conservatives appear to have responded, and announced yesterday that Canada’s most severely injured veterans will receive an additional $1,000 a month for the rest of their lives. Veterans currently receive a lump sum equaling 75 per cent of their salary and a monthly allowance of between $536 and $1,609. About 4,000 soldiers are expected to benefit from the changes. Reacting to the announcement, Stogran said yesterday that the new plan is a good start but that the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy still needs to be more responsive to soldiers’ needs.