This just on todays news;
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/veteran-tired-of-government-making-him-prove-he-lost-his-legs-1.2227180
At the top of the headline, the eye grabbing headline - "Veteran tired of Government making him prove he lost his legs"
Again, no the Government is NOT making him prove he lost his legs! He says, and I quote "every year there are assessments that are done through Manulife which is the insurance and uh, the insurance agency that we use and uhh then through Veterans Affairs that you actually have to prove uhh your condition and uhh unfortunately for me, I have to prove I still have no legs every year."
Rewind for a moment.... his own words clearly identify that every year there are assessments that are done through Manulife. Manulife, as I mentioned in an earlier post is the insurance company DND has hired to handle Long Term Disability benefits. BLUE CROSS is the insurance company VAC deals with. DND & VAC, Manulife and Blue Cross - four completely separate entities. Where he ends up stumbling immediately after saying assessments are done through Manulife, somehow, he attaches Veterans Affairs to his statement. VAC has no place in that statement. Veterans Affairs has JACK SQUAT to do with Manulife Financial!!! No, they are NOT asking a soldier to prove his legs are still gone! They are sending out an ANNUAL ASSESSMENT that they send to EACH and EVERY client they handle for LTD benefits to check to see if they are still eligible for continued coverage. Amputees from civilian industrial accidents, truckers who may have lost limbs in an accident on the highway, soldiers who lost a limb overseas. His legs are gone, and his annual assessment he completes every year will most likely indicate "no change from last year" and his benefits will continue uninterrupted. Period.
I am a huge advocate for Veterans getting their due, but not at the expense of integrity. Parlour tricks, smoke and mirrors to muddy the waters and hope to paint VAC as some sort of Department whose sole mission is to deny Veterans deserved benefits is not the way to do it. As Mr. Monkhouse pointed out earlier, we lose the media, we lose the Canadian peoples support. Who remembers wearing a uniform in 1995? The CF couldn't dig a deep enough hole to hide in so large was the target on their back and the Canadian public in general didn't give a damn about the Military, cut more from Defence spending was the popular mantra of the decade.
I have to question the professionalism of CTV News. They just throw up a story that will generate viewership without screening the story for facts. I agree with Mr. Franklins assessment of the NVC, always have. The NVC is junk and it does no service to Veterans compared to the Pension Act. The Rehab Program is the only really useful thing in the NVC. They could have (should have) simply incorporated the Rehab Program into the Pension Act, but instead, modern and future Veterans are getting screwed with their cheap buy-off lump sums. I sincerely hope Mr. O'Toole and the Harper Government get their act together and make the appropriate changes.
A reporter who decides to really do some actual investigative journalism into the full story here could come up with too many facts that will make Mr. Franklins good arguments he does make end up seeming hollow, which would be very unfortunate given he appears to have a soapbox that is garnering attention.
My last observation to that interview, and again, I may get dogpiled for pointing it out - The Directorate of Honours & Recognition (DH&R) gives some very clear cut direction on the wearing of medals. The effigy of The Queen of Canada is supposed to be visible on mounted medals. The Sacrifice Medal, South-West Asia Service Medal and Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal are all mounted with the reverse, rather the proper obverse clearly showing. In my opinion, that in itself shows a disrespect to orders and regulations. Come to think of it.... orders and regulations are what Manulife Financial is following by having ALL their benefit recipients file that paperwork each year.
