Senate Sub-committee: New Vets Charter working for most

[The Bread Guy]

From the executive summary of the full report (50 page PDF):

.... Overall, we found that VAC and the NVC serve the majority of CF personnel and veterans well. However, we found that there are four issues that impact a nd affect the implementation of the NVC.

First is the absence of a clear, universally agreed ‘social contract’ between the people of Canada, represented by their government, on one hand, and CF members and veterans on the other. We feel that the existing Veterans Bill of Rights does not fully achieve this end. In the absence of such a social contract, or even any substantive debate, disagreements and misunderstandings abound.

Second, the NVC should embody the vision of a meaningful relationship between the people of Canada and CF members and veterans, along with their families.

Third, veteran transition to civilian life would benefit from a better understanding of whole
- of - government obligations to the care and compensation of CF personnel and veterans injured in the course of their service to Canada.

Fourth, there should be clear and effective communication between VAC and serving CF members.
While there may be some difficulty with the quality of VAC outreach initiatives, there is at least an equal onus that must fall on the CF chain of command at all levels, to become more engaged in ensuring serving personnel are fully aware of VAC programs and how to access them ....

A bit more summarized in the attached news release.

 

[Teager]

I have to disagree with the article. I myself testified to this committee a few years back. The french guys I was with were to intimidated to bring there issues to light and simply said everything is great no complaints. Also if this article is correct then why is there such a large number of soldiers currently sueing the government over the benefits of the NVC? Doesn't seem to add up. Just my 2 cents.

 

[stokerwes]

Yes the NVC works for most, most politicians that is. Agreed some things have gotten better. But for the most part the only big change is the payout vice a lifetime pension. This only benefits the government, any veteran I know would gladly receive a pension.
How can VAC give a soldier in there 20's that was injured , either physically or mentally, a cheque for $150000.00 (just an arbitrary number) and think that will compensate them for a lifetime of suffering? They will have no pension or very little if they do not meet UOS and have less than 10 years service. $150000.00 sounds like a lot but spread that out until your 65/70 and it isn't that much, works out to a little over 200/month depending on how long you live.
The turnaround times for applications is just smoke and mirrors. For example if I go to my veterans account online it shows that some of my claims are completed, even though they are not.
I haven't spoken with any veteran that has been affected by the NVA that think they are being better served by it. Only time I see good things about it is in press releases or a sound bite on TV of a politician telling the public how well our veterans are looked after.
I know that a lot of people that work for VAC really do care about the veterans but unfortunately these are not the people making decisions. The people that are get bonuses for saving money and streamlining processes (on paper anyway).

 

[Teager]

Stokerwes your bang on. I am one of those young guys so I know first hand. I also think it affects older vets as well that have families. If someone is injured physically or mentaly to the point where there wife or husband has to do more and could end up having to quit there job in order to take care of kids and husband or wife. This puts a huge financial strain on the family. I also know theres a lot of members that have maxed out there lumpsum payment and still have other injuries that are not compensated for simply because they have maxed out with other injuries. So there are still many flaws but since some issues are before the courts maybe things will improve if not were not any worse off than before.