Canadians must "defend the rights" of disabled soldiers, says a former military intelligence officer on a day when veterans across the country were protesting to demand changes to the way that they are compensated.
Thousands of veterans gathered outside their local MPs' constituency offices and at other sites on Saturday morning for the Canadian Veterans National Day of Protest. They were calling on the federal government to scrap the new veterans charter, which they say short-changes them by replacing life-time pensions with a combination of lump-sum payments and income support.
Sean Bruyea, an outspoken advocate for veterans, said Canadians must defend the rights of veterans, many of whom are disabled and cannot advocate for themselves.
"We're asking for the disabled veterans, the ones least able to defend themselves, to actually advocate," Bruyea told CTV News Channel on Saturday afternoon. "We really need Canadians to step up to the plate and defend the rights of veterans now that the soldiers out of uniform can't defend Canadians anymore."
In Halifax, about 50 people gathered at the war memorial in the Grand Parade, where veterans laid wreaths at the cenotaph and speakers called for improved benefits for veterans.
Signs throughout the crowd told the story of the veterans' anger. "Billions for Jets, Pennies for Vets. Shame!" read one poster. "Dump the lump sum. Give us back the pension," read another.
In Ottawa, Bruyea joined retired colonel and former veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran at a quiet, peaceful protest of about 150 on Parliament Hill.
Bruyea said demanding lifetime payments over a lump sum "isn't about getting rich" because military pensions are modest.
"But even these modest payments are substantially, when taken over the lifetime of a veteran, substantially larger than the lump sum," he said. "On top of that is that when that veteran passed away, there was always a survivor's pension for whether there were orphans left behind and definitely for spouses. That doesn't exist under the lump sum."
A handful of veterans who gathered in Toronto were joined by NDP Leader Jack Layton and Kirsty Duncan, the Liberal veterans affairs critic, both of whom called for changes to the system.
"There are people who are waiting two years to get a decision on pension. How do they live in that time?" Duncan asked. "There needs to be changes to the lump sum payments; 31 per cent of veterans say the lump sum payment is not working for them."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has been under fire for months over its handling of veterans' issues, including the lump-sum payment.
Stogran led the campaign to improve benefits for veterans. It was discovered that bureaucrats used his and Bruyea's confidential medical records to try to discredit them.
The government opted to not renew Stogran's contract, and on Friday announced that retired chief warrant Guy Parent will be the new veterans ombudsman. Parent's term begins on Remembrance Day.
The new charter was introduced by Paul Martin's Liberal government in the spring of 2005 as a cost-saving move. Back then, it passed with all-party support, but the changes did not come into effect until the following April when it was enacted by the Conservative government.
An independent study commissioned by the ombudsman's office found that severely disabled soldiers in the lower ranks are most affected under the new system. The total amount of a lump-sum payment -- $276,000 -- won't make up for the loss of a life-time pension, the study found.
Stung by criticism from Stogran and other Canadian Forces veterans, the government announced in September a new five-year plan to help veterans that included an additional $200 million over the next five years for veterans unable to work because of their injuries.
Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn issued a statement in response to the protests, saying that the government had brought in changes that are "targeting our most severely injured and vulnerable veterans and their families."
Blackburn said the most severely injured veterans will receive up to $58,000 each year, and added that the government has recently allowed veterans suffering from ALS to be eligible for benefits.
Many wounded veterans have complained their benefits are being held up by bureaucrats in Veterans Affairs and worry that any extra cash will get lost in the department's red tape.
"Putting money in the top end of this does not necessarily mean that it's going to filter out to actually help troops on the bottom," Stogran warned at the time.
Gary Zwicker, organizer of the Halifax protest and a navy veteran, said the benefits system needs to be overhauled to be less adversarial to veterans.
"It's a broken system that is falling apart in many different areas," Zwicker said. "It's run by bureaucrats that don't care and the adjudicators for pension disputes have no experience with veterans."
With files from The Canadian Press
