Equitas Society
130 - 1959 152nd Street V4A 0C4 Surrey, BC, Canada

Since 2006, with the advent of the New Veterans Charter what you will read below is but one of the stories that plagues the Canadian veteran community. It's on...ly 1 Excerpt from the VAC website (In 2015-16, VAC received 45,000 applications and processed 42,544. In 2019-20, VAC received 63,100 and processed 57,600. In the coming years, the increase in applications is forecasted to continue.) What they don't tell you, is a DENIAL is considered "processed." Now here's the gut ache and the story you as Canadian citizens need to be outraged about. The story below is from a dear friend of mine. ===================================== "Today I had a Veterans Affairs Canada, (VAC) Veteran Review and Appeal Board hearing, (VRAB) for a claim I had first submitted on 18 February 2010. No you did not read that wrong. I have been fighting for coverage for my feet for over 10 years. This is how VAC operates, it is not an organization that looks after the well being of injured former soldiers, it is an organization which operates like an insurance company, which has the lowest budget of any federal department. It denies the first claim you submit, hoping you will not resubmit, causing a delay in treatment or benefits or both. You submit a review, they deny again, another delay. You submit a second level review, it gets denied, another delay. You then submit an appeal, to which they deny again. Then comes the VRAB. The glacial pace at which VAC operates allows for the extended timeline between submissions, for example, it takes about two years for the first submission claim to decided on. For the VRAB you are assigned a lawyer from the Bureau of Pensions Advocates, a division of VAC, paid by VAC. You have a board hearing the case, they too are paid by VAC, but assure you they are an independent arms length body from VAC, all while fighting VAC for coverage for injuries that have more than enough evidence in my medical file to grant the claim at first application. In 2009 I had an infection in right foot, caused by walking though a flooding aircraft paint booth, turning off frozen split 2 inch water lines that were flooding the booth. After cleaning up the flood, I went to clothing stores and was issued a new pair of boots and socks. I changed out of the toxic sludge drenched boots and socks, without ability to wash my feet off. I also had orthotics, which went into the new boots. The old mark III Military combat boots are well known and notorious for being ill fitting with zero arch support. The boots did not fit me, my foot rubbed the top of the boot, the skin became abraded allowing toxic sludge to get into my system, causing cellulitis. I went into the Base hospital on a Friday, I was sent home with Midol for the pain. By the next morning my foot was too big to fit into my boots,and it hurt. I went into the civilian hospital, where lab work was done and samples were taken to be cultured. By the time the infection was cultured my foot had swollen to the size of a football, and was split, skin sloughing off, and extremely painful. Monday morning back at the Base hospital, I had three Doctors standing at the foot of my bed on a conference call with a fourth Doctor, a Surgeon with whom they were discussing the amputation of my foot. My wife Dee was in the United States on a deployment, as they thought they were going to amputate, and at that time our three children were very young, she was RTU’d, (Returned To Unit) or brought home. The culture had come back, only two antibiotics approved in Canada would work to treat this particular type of infection as an added bonus there was a possibility I was allergic to one of them. Long story short, I still have my foot, but I have some serious issues with stability, and many other foot problems. All of this is in my heath records, all of this went to VAC, none of it mattered. The Government will tell you that they are looking out for veterans, but talk to a wounded or injured veteran and ask them how VAC treats them. I will not be surprised by their answers. This all comes with a very heavy mental health toll, I also have a PTSD diagnosis, dealing with VAC is, at times very challenging on my mental health. Sometimes I do not even want to open correspondence from VAC, I receive an envelope in the mail, my anxiety increases as soon as I see it. We veterans have a term for it, Brown Envelope Anxiety. Sometimes it takes days for me to work up the mental fortitude needed to see what they have denied this time. I have even discussed this and worked on it with my therapist. The end result of the hearing? I will not know for at least six to eight weeks, more waiting. I believe it went well, my lawyer did a very good job, however all of the evidence provided was in my health records, records that they have had for 10 plus years, and denied previously, many times. So call me skeptical. This is what we go through when we ask for help, it is a good thing I have a service dog, a therapist and an approved PTSD claim, if I was trying to get a claim for my PTSD approved, I may not be here today. I am maxed out for financial compensation, so by denying my claim they are denying treatment only. What I am asking VAC for is to pay for a set of orthotics every two years, is that too much to ask for Prime Minister? #VeteransLivesMatter

"There's no coincidence in the way bureaucracies operate," he said. "The spontaneous nature of this, the day after the minister published his article, given that there has been a multitude of excuses and backtracking. They're basically making it up as they go along in what was a vengeful and retaliatory decision." https://www.cbc.ca//veterans-affairs-seamus-oregan-bruyea-

Larrie Forbes of the Vancouver Naval Veterans Band plays The Last Post to honor our Veterans and fallen heroes on Remembrance Day, at the 11th hour on the 11th day, Lest we Forget

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands. To mark this momentous occasion, watch this produced documentary called 75 ...Years Later: The Sounds of Freedom. Interwoven with musical performances from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Dutch Symphony Orchestra and the Seaforth Highlanders, WWII veterans and Dutch survivors share their stories and memories. Viewers are transported through time as a young girl discovers a crate full of war artifacts that belonged to her great-grandfather, including hand written letters to her great-grandmother. His voice from the past recalls important events that led to the Liberation of the Netherlands back in 1945. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYyvyDrdD64&app=desktop

Terry Kelly and the Canadian Walk For Veterans announce Operation A Pittance of Time Learn more by clicking on the image...... https://www.facebook.com/groups/oppapittanceoftime/?ref=share

No words needed... Heroes lost,never to be forgotten.

Today marks the 6th Anniversary of the terror attack in Ottawa that took the life of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. It serves to remind us of the incredible dedication and sacrifices made by all members of our Armed Forces, past and present.

Let all Canadians ensure that the debt paid by veterans and their families during military service is repaid in kind to to them. The "eternal debt of gratitude" so often promised by politicians and bureaucrats must have more substance than political platitudes.