Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the previous Conservative government of “nickel and diming” Canada’s veterans and vowed to deliver “respect, support and a real shot at a bright future” for those who have served.
But unanswered calls for a tax break on service dogs for people with post-traumatic stress disorder has raised accusations of discrimination.
Veterans that rely on service dogs to cope with PTSD are not afforded the same write-offs as service dog owners with chronic conditions like epilepsy or autism because PTSD is not on the government’s list of eligible conditions.
Retired Capt. Medric Cousineau is working to convince the government that needs to change. He’s frustrated by the lack of attention to what he says amounts to a human rights issue.
“This is representative of the distain that has been shown to the veteran’s community,” he told CTV’s Power Play on Friday. “All we want is equality, no more, no less.”
Cousineau, who was awarded the Star of Courage for his service with the Royal Canadian Air Force, is the founder of Paws Fur Thought, a volunteer group that works to pair service dogs with veterans in need. He says the number of former service members requesting tax assistance for their service dogs is small, but that does not excuse the dismissive response.
“I opened the dialogue on the tenth of February and the first response I got back was from Minister Morneau’s office in the middle of July. He didn’t answer the questions,” he said.
A statement from Annie Donolo, a spokesperson for Finance Minister Bill Morneau said the Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a pilot study to evaluate the use of service dogs as a treatment for PTSD as well as form national standards for psychiatric service dog training.
“The inconvenient truth of the matter is the study that they are talking about involves 26 dogs. I placed 10 of those dogs in the study,” said Cousineau. “If we are lucky, it will hit the budget in 2018, (and be) implemented in 2019.”
That wait could cost lives. A report from the top medical officer in the Canadian Forces examining the 18 service members who died of suicide in 2015 found five of those individuals had a trauma or stress-related disorder. The 2013 Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey found more than 11 per cent of regular forces personnel met the criteria for PTSD at some point in their life.
Service dogs like Cousineau’s yellow Labrador “Thai” are specially trained to sense his partner’s triggers, prevent anxiety attacks, stop night terrors, and encourage positive coping mechanisms. He believes broader access to tax benefits for service dog owners could be life-changing for low-income veterans who would not otherwise be able to afford one.
Those who support the proposed change to the federal tax legislation have been using the Twitter hashtag #DiscriminationIsUnCanadian to raise the issue with Trudeau and Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr.
“They see this as a service dog issue when in fact this is categorically a human rights one. We’re not being treated the same as other disabled Canadians,” said Cousineau. “We are being discriminated against.”
