44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2023 11:00AM
- Apr/17/23 3:40:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise in this place to present a petition from a number of my constituents concerned about the establishment of the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act. Many veterans have suffered significant injuries over service and are not adequately compensated.
The petitioners call upon the Minister of Veterans Affairs to remove any statutory limits on back pay eligibility on the disability allowances they are entitled to and work with individual veterans to ensure just and due compensation for disability allowance, and in a timely manner.
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- Apr/17/23 4:45:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her enjoyable speech. We see that she is very passionate about the Canadian Armed Forces and their importance. I share her desire to support our veterans, especially the members of the armed forces who protect and serve us every day.
There were some things missing from the last budget. The omissions were rather striking. We are currently experiencing a housing crisis. There is a crisis going on across Canada and Quebec, affecting a number of regions, including my own, the Lower St. Lawrence. It is undeniable. There is also another crisis, the labour shortage. My colleague briefly touched on it when she was talking about the need for the Canadian Armed Forces to attract and retain service members. There is nothing in the budget, no key measures. The Bloc Québécois has proposed several, including tax incentives to allow experienced workers to work a few hours or days a week. There are other measures that could give some breathing room to people who want to join the workforce to help our business owners.
I would like my colleague to share her point of view on the complete absence of measures to deal with—
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- Apr/17/23 7:29:24 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am here today because I asked a question in March and I feel the question was not answered. I want members of my riding of North Island—Powell River to know that today I am standing up for the over 2,300 RCMP women who, between 1974 and 2019, faced terrible sexual assault, abuse and harassment in the RCMP. These brave women came forward and told their stories. The Merlo Davidson suit came into play, and we now have a decision that allows these women to be compensated for the terrible, violent abuse they survived.
What is sad about this is that Veterans Affairs has seen fit to claw back some of their disability pensions. I am reminded of some time I spent at the veterans committee today, where we are studying, for the first time ever in this place, women veterans. One of the women who testified today talked about having a survivor focus, which is moving forward in a way that focuses on the survivors' realities and making sure that everything is built around supporting them so they can do better. I thought that was such an important value, which we need to look at, not only in the military and the RCMP, but also in all of Canada. When a victim comes forward, they need to be supported.
In this ruling, through the Merlo Davidson suit, we see six levels of compensation. I really encourage Canadians to look at the six levels because they show just how vile the abuse was. Every time one reads a different section, they can read just what these women lived through. They have this terrible situation. Some of them from 1974 did not feel they would be listened to and did not come forward until much later. They can finally be acknowledged, and what they see happening is their disability pensions being withdrawn from them again. This is abuse.
We know that it was incredibly brave for these women to come forward to share their experiences. Doing so will hopefully make the pathway safer for women RCMP in the future. The justice who gave the report described the women as having to endure shocking levels of violence. These women experienced extreme brutality while protecting our country, and now we are seeing that same government deny them what they are rightfully owed. VAC is literally making these women who served this country suffer all over again. The minister needs to make it right.
I have heard commitments that a letter would be sent and the claw backs would stop. I am going to come back to what I said in the beginning. If this were survivor focused, this would not have happened in the first place. If we had that culture in these organizations, including this one, this would not have happened. These woman would have been supported and given what they needed, and we would not have seen VAC abuse them again.
Today, I want to know when the government will return the clawed-back dollars? We cannot just stop the claw back. We also need to get the monies that were taken wrongfully from them and return them as appropriate. Women in this country served our country through the RCMP and suffered while they were serving, and that has nothing to do with their disability claims.
Will the government make it right?
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- Apr/17/23 7:33:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, signing up to serve with the Canadian flag on one's shoulder comes with risks, but being at risk of sexual misconduct should not be one of them. There is simply no excuse or justification for that, either in the armed forces, in the RCMP or in any workplace. Our government is fully committed to eliminating the workplace violence, harassment and discrimination in any form. We recognize the enormous courage it takes for someone to disclose this kind of abuse and fight for justice and accountability.
We are aware of the letter published by the Office of the Veterans Ombud on February 23 asking that Veterans Affairs review the Merlo Davidson case to determine if pension reductions had been properly applied, and if not, to issue a corrective payment. For privacy reasons, we cannot comment on individual files.
What I can say is that the department has contacted all of the impacted veterans by telephone and via letter to offer them an opportunity to submit additional information regarding their payment so that the payments can be recalculated and corrected as appropriate. We want to be as generous as possible under the legislation.
We are also aware of the recommendations made by the OVO. Each impacted veteran has been provided with contact information at VAC and the OVO for support in providing the information needed. We are committed to continuing to work closely with the ombud on this file and any other file.
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- Apr/17/23 7:35:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I said before, the women who came forward and disclosed their experiences in Merlo-Davidson did so with incredible courage. Our government is committed to ensuring all veterans and members get access to the benefits they are entitled to. In the case of the Merlo-Davidson settlement, the minister has told staff to review the OVO's recommendation to ensure that all pension adjustments have been properly applied and that we are being as generous as possible under the legislation. Veterans who had their disability pensions reduced in the Merlo-Davidson settlement have been contacted and given the opportunity to submit additional information.
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