Veterans advocates hope for change from O’Regan at Veterans Affairs
Veterans-rights advocates hope the appointment last week of Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, N.L.) as Veterans Affairs minister will breathe new life into a department accused of insensitivity toward its clients, and fulfill a Liberal campaign promise of bringing back lifelong disability pensions for veterans hurt in action. “The senior staff at […]
Atlantic boost on front bench noteworthy in shuffle aimed at getting action, say strategists
The creation of a new portfolio and the splitting of Indigenous and Northern Affairs were the big surprises out of the recent Liberal cabinet shuffle, but also of note was Atlantic Canada’s increased representation on the front bench, says Greg MacEachern, a senior vice-president at Environics Communications. “The Liberal Party in the last election, in […]
How Seamus O’Regan can do the right thing
OTTAWA—Removing Minister Kent Hehr from Veterans Affairs Canada was the right thing to do. The new minister, Seamus O’Regan, must do better. Just six days prior, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commemorated the calamitous losses Canadians suffered on the beaches of Dieppe 75 years ago. In the midst of a downpour, the prime minister folded his […]
Politics This Morning: NAFTA renegotiations launch in Washington
Good Wednesday morning, After months of tough talk, aggressive posturing, and nervous murmurs, renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement begin today in Washington, D.C., with representatives from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico all set to participate. This first round of negotiations, spurred by aggressive criticisms of the existing pact by the Trump administration, […]
Less pretty words, more substantial action needed for military families
OTTAWA—They have been called our “best kept secret.” Will the current government’s defence policy review and decades of tight-fisted budgets continue to relegate the centres that serve our nation’s military and veteran families to social and fiscal obscurity? It has been more than 30 years since the current 32 Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) began […]
Peer support for veterans does work, says Alberta letter writer
Re: “Cycle of veteran crisis: allowing patients to manage system, what could go wrong,” (The Hill Times, March 13). First, I realize that I’m responding to an opinion piece and the author of the article is certainly entitled to his point of view. But I’m one of the veterans who relies on the OSIS groups which he maligns, […]
Liberals say right things about helping veterans, but devils are in the details
OTTAWA—With widespread tensions simmering just beneath a deceptively calm public profile, injured veterans and their families are running out of patience. The 2017 Liberal budget was no doubt intended to turn down the heat, but emerging details of the programs will likely chafe the veteran community, leaving them, at best, curious, cautious, and, intently concerned. […]
Veterans ombudsman calls for overhaul of transition process
The following are abridged remarks made to the Senate Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs on March 29: Wholesale change is needed to make the transition process from military to civilian life meet the needs of our veterans and their families. The time for tweaking is over; it’s time for re-engineering. Today, there are over 10,000 releases […]
Cycle of veteran crisis: allowing patients to manage system, what could go wrong?
OTTAWA—You arrive at the hospital. You have pain in your abdomen, you’re restless, and have an acute headache. You sit in the waiting room—waiting because there is no one at admissions. Eventually, another person on the other side of the waiting room gets up and approaches you. They give you a fist bump. You start talking. […]
Will budget 2017 help veterans?
OTTAWA—A year ago in The Hill Times, I challenged the status quo to “go beyond today’s ideas and shape tomorrow by clearly defining Veterans’ outcomes—the end results that we want to achieve—and figure out the steps needed to attain optimal results for Veterans and their families.” A year later, with the 2017 budget on the horizon, […]
