The federal government’s upcoming benefits system for veterans has been called into question, as an official pointed out that the new plan could leave some former service members shortchanged.
Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux found that the plan – while it would increase the financial support to most current veterans by 6-24% (based on whether or not they are already receiving benefits) – would pay less to those severely injured veterans who apply for benefits after April 01, when the system is implemented.
The decrease in benefits is due to the federal government ditching a specific benefit designed to compensate veterans who cannot work because of their injury or illness.
“So that’s why the most severely disabled veterans will be the losers for that transition,” Giroux told reporters. “We didn’t get a sense of why or whether it was intentional. What I can say is that the suite of benefits available to veterans is very, very complex. So it may be an oversight, it may be intentional. I have no idea.”
Giroux also confirmed in his analysis that the new plan would pay less than previous benefit regimes.
The officer analyzed the three veteran benefit systems implemented over the years – a lifelong disability pension established after the First World War; a lump-sum payment and suite of benefits that replaced the pension in 2006; and the upcoming benefits plan by the Liberal government.
For all veterans, Giroux found that the pre-2006 pension gave the most benefits. That version of the benefits regime meant that disabled veterans could receive about 1.5 times more than the upcoming plan.
“From the perspective of the veteran, virtually all clients would be better off if they were to receive the benefits of the [pre-2006] Pension Act,” he said in his analysis.
Giroux’s findings struck a chord with many veterans who felt that current benefits plans have not been paying as much as previous schemes.
“This validates and vindicates everything we were trying to do,” retired major Mark Campbell told The Canadian Press.
“It’s nothing more than a cost-saving measure on the part of the government of Canada cleverly disguised behind a bunch of numbers and bafflegab,” added Campbell, who lost both his legs in Afghanistan and had unsuccessfully led a legal dispute to reinstate a previous disability pension for veterans.
