CUTS RUN DEEPER THAN YOU KNOW

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With the instability of the markets, the decline of the job market, and the looming recession, Canadian politicians were sent home in an attempt to thwart an overthrow of the Conservative government. The Coalition of the Liberal, NDP, and the Bloc were certain that our country was being lead in the wrong direction.

The Coalition fear is also my fear: Canadians are happy to have tax cuts, but what they don't see is where these cuts are being made.

On the 23rd of January 2006, the Conservative party took over the reigns of our country with a minority government and by 01 April 2006, had begun to cut taxes and institute the promises of the new Prime Minister, Stephan Harper.

Also on that date, the Canadian Forces ordered it's Medical Doctors to stop giving information to the Department of Veterans Affairs, with the exception of the medical file. This would leave the soldier with a slim chance of proving their injuries to the DVA.

The Department of Veteran Affairs also took the opportunity to change the way they see injuries. Prior to the first of April, most injuries were set at a percentage and with time and increased loss of mobility, the percentage could be raised. But on 01 April, most injuries were down scaled and given a very low percentage based on the new tables designed to reduce costs and support tax cuts. Once again, a soldier was given a slim chance of being able to support themselves on the meager handout of a now, penny-pinching government.

Add to this an unwritten policy of "Deny Claims", which forced soldiers and veterans to fight through the severely bloated Bureau of Pension Advocates, and you quickly see why the other Political Party's were pushed to the brink of forming a Coalition Government.

This artical only deals with our soldiers and veterans. Why didn't the government cut short the Afghanistan mission if they didn't want to pay for the injuries to our soldiers instead of forcing an extention? I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know where some of the funding is being found, right in the pockets of injuried soldiers.

I don't blame the Coalition for what they tried to do. But it was good to know they had guts enough to stand up for Canadians.

Ministerial Inquiry into Veterans Affairs Reply to Access to Information Request

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The Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P.

I am writing in response to your letter dated 04 November 2008 (attached as DVALtr3 and DVALtr4) inwhich you once again explain the Department of Veterans Affairs policy regarding adjudication of compensation claims. You had previously explained the process and this prompted me to ask for the notes and medical specialists notes for my Hypertension and Stroke claims under the Access to Information.

The Access to Information letter that I received is attached as DVALtr1 and DVALtr2 and as you can see, no notes were kept and no medical specialists were consulted. I find it difficult to believe that a medical person (nurse or dietician) can give an accurate adjudication on something as complex as a Stroke and Hypertension that even the most educated of medical specialists are baffled as to the full cause and complications that are involved with diagnosing the conditions that may have caused this.

You letter states that "adjudicators rely on the expert advice of a group of medical professionals employed by the Department to help them in their decision making, regardless of the nature of an applicant's disability." This is obviously being ignored and I therefore request that a Ministerial Inquiry into the failure of certain Adjudicators in the Department of Veterans Affairs be ordered immediately in light of this evidence that I have submitted in order to ensure our veterans and injured serving members are being treated fairly and without prejudice. It appears by the answer to my own questions that there are adjudicators at the Department who may be causing veterans to lose faith in your wonderful Department.

I thank you for your time and look forward to a positive response to my request.


Robin Brentnall

UPDATE ON CLAIM

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I had told you earlier that I had to see the Doctor to get a review for a claim. I finally got the appointment on 31 October 2008 and should find out what the claim outcome will be in 15 weeks.

When you consider that I put in the claim in October 2007, atleast 16 months will have passed before I would get compensation for my claim, if any. And this is just a very small claim!

I am still waiting to see what will happen with my claim for the Stroke that I suffered. My military doctor, against Department of National Defense policy, sent a letter to the Bureau of Pension Advocates (lawyer assigned to fight DVA) detailing what happened to cause my Stroke. The lawyer ordered an immediate Departmental Review under Section 82 of the Pension Act. I take this to mean that the lawyer (and anyone else with a clue) believes that DVA did not do thier job when they denied my claim, not once but three times!

I'll keep you posted on the result.

SOLDIERS BEING DOUBLE DAMNED

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Our soldiers are being double damned in this country. They have trouble getting compensation for their injuries and when the do receive something, it is clawed back by SISIP (Long Term Disability through Manulife).

I realize that Canada's medical system is fairly efficient. The Prime Minister thinks it is also. However, our civilian population should try to get an appointment to see the Veterans Affairs Doctor. It's not as easy.I applied for compensation in October 2007. After being denied by DVA, I appealed. I had my Review Hearing on 23 July 2008. They told me that the injury was fully due to my Military service (why didn't they find that in the first place?). But compensation would be dependent on a medical review by the DVA Doctor.

I was told on 07 October 2008 that there was a lineup waiting to see the Doctor and the assistant couldn't even give me an approximate date of when I would be able to see him. Now let's see how long it will take for a veteran to get compensation (if any) for this injury. It is now 12 months and counting.Today is 08 October 2008. It is six days before the election and there has not been a single question put to our government from the other parties with regards to this shameful lack of support to our soldiers for their injuries. Even the media has been quiet. The only party that has even shown minor interest is the New Democrats (primarily Peter Stoffer).

When will our soldiers get the support from our Government and Veterans Affairs that they deserve?

FROM A CONSTITUIENT

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----- Original Message -----

From: DB

To: Robin Brentnall

Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 1:57 PM

Subject: RE: Compensation Claim

I'm ashamed of our government...I personally think that you should call the media about this...What a better time...during an election campaign.....what do you have to lose

AN E-MAIL TO VETERANS AFFAIRS AND THE MEDIA

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TO THE MEDIA:

Who wants to ask the Minister about this one?

It's time the media got to the bottom of this scam, this in reality is even worst than the sponsorship scandal. This is taking away from our soldiers, your son's and daughter's who have volunteered to protect this country.

BE HEARD. YOU ARE NOT ON THE FRONT LINES BUT YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. FOR OUR SOLDIERS SAKE.

Robin Brentnall

----- Original Message -----
From: Thompson, Greg - M.P.
To: Robin Brentnall
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 1:13 PM
Subject: RE: Compensation Claiml
Dear Mr. Brentnall
Thank you for your e-mail. I will bring it to Mr. Thompson’s attention and have forwarded it to our Ministerial Staff at VAC they will look into it for you.

Frances Smith, Exec. Assis. Hon. Greg Thompson, PC, MP Minister of Veterans Affairs House of Commons Room 175 East Block Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A6 PH 613-995-5550 FX 613-995-5226


From: Robin Brentnall [mailto:robin.brentnall@nf.sympatico.ca]
Sent: September 25, 2008 9:59 AM

To: DVA Office; BPA-BSJP-St-Johns BPA-BSJP-St-JohnsCc: Black, Dawn - M.P.; David Rose; Capt Lowery; Bill Cashin; Thompson, Greg - M.P.; Layton, Jack - M.P.; Larry Young; Liberal Party; Legion; Mr. Allard; Nancy Kao; NDP Party; Prime Minister's Office; MacKay, Peter - M.P.; Stoffer, Peter - M.P.; Simms, Scott - M.P.; Dion, Stéphane - M.P.; Fred Cuff

Subject: Compensation Claim

I just spoke with DVA. Even though everything was approved and the hearing was favourable for full compensation I am still having to wait for more "foot dragging" Red Tape in order to receive compensation for my injury.

Now the DVA office is saying that I am going to have to wait and go through another set of trials and medical inspections that will undoubtedly waste another 8-10 months so that they can, presumably, deny any compensation for the 8 years of pain and suffering that I have been through, two surgeries I have had to have, and the pain I still have from the scare tissue of the surgery, not to mention the non-guarantee that it will not return again.

What kind of system are we (soldiers) being forced to conform to? There was a time when DVA was there for our soldiers and our government was as well.

You can be guaranteed that I will be voting to replace the existing government with the one that treated me properly when I dealt with DVA in the early 2000's.

This is the biggest scam that has happened since the Conservative government allowed the military to order their doctors to stop assisting our soldiers with their claims to DVA on 01 April 2006. Since that time, the organization (DVA) that was there for our soldiers has turned it's back on us and taken the same attitude as Workman's Compensation and other Insurance Companies.

14 October can't come fast enough.


Robin Brentnall

IT'S BEEN A LONG TRIP

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Sorry for not reporting anything since this summer but I moved to Gander and finally have a minute to say things are going good.

I'll be writing more in the next couple of days.

A SOLDIERS MASK PUBLISHED

The long awaited book A Soldiers Mask is now available for purchase.

You can get a copy of the book by going to www.trafford.com and when looking up the Bookstore put in the title and/or my name and follow the instructions.

Thanks for your support. Hope you enjoy the book.

Rob

DND DOWNPLAYS RESPONSIBILITY IN SAILORS INJURIES

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It is amazing how the Department of National Defence has to be shamed into helping it's military personnel get proper compensation for their injuries, then does everything it can to shirk it's responsibility by down playing the damage caused to those sailors.

An investigation into what toxins sailors of the HMCS Chicoutimi were exposed to was initiated due to sailors being denied compensation for their injuries by Veterans Affairs. Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs, ordered an investigation into the affair only after it was published in the media that those brave sailors who were exposed to the chemicals and toxins while trapped inside a metal "second hand" tube were being denied compensation.

Without media attention, those sailors would still be left without any hope of being able to get medication, health care assistance, and psychological help for the injuries they received. But DND, just has they tried to do with soldiers who had been exposed to Agent Orange in Gagetown, NB, said that the exposure was probably not enough to cause problems and it would have become apparent within 6 months.

DND began a policy of not representing soldiers, sailors, and air personnel on 01 April 2006. Since then, countless numbers of soldiers have been denied compensation for injuries, as were the crew of HMCS Chicoutimi.

The Minister of National Defence has been presented with a Ministerial Inquiry into the effects the policy has had on military personnel since 01 April 2006. But it appears that the truth may never be known. The sailors of the Chicoutimi have not spoken to the media, presumably due to being told not to, or they were so upset with the findings that they were too upset at what many soldiers have learnt over time, our government it not going to help them.

When will the military start taking care of it's soldiers? When will military doctors be utilized to help it's military patients get satisfactory compensation for injuries suffered during the course of their duties? Do soldiers have to hope and pray that they are injured on national television to have some hope of assistance and compensation? Will our government stop down playing the truth in order to save money by denying our soldiers compensation?

Things have to change.

OMBUDSMAN ASSISTANCE REQUESTED

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CF Ombudsman,

I had requested, through my Member of Parliament, a Ministerial Inquiry into the CF Health Services Group policy of not allowing CF Doctors to take the time to represent soldiers who are putting in a claim to DVA or help them with the Review Hearing.

It has been 5 weeks and I have sent 3 hasteners already to get some information on the case. I fear that my request has been put aside.

I request assistance from your office to see where this is and what initial action has been taken (I had requested the policy be suspended until an investigation was conducted).

Today in the news I noted that the crew members of the HMCS Chicoutimi are being assisted by DND with DVA and was wondering if there were other cases that would eventually come up. The crew of the HMCS Chicoutimi had been experiencing problems with DVA in the past and now it seems like DND has taken the lead in fixing this mess.

I await your findings.

Thank you in advance.

LIES THIS RECRUITER TOLD YOU

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It is time to come clean.

It is time I apologized to all those wonderful young (and not so young) Canadians who had asked me the question "'What about Harassment"? "What if I'm injured"?

It is time I apologized to all those parents whom I looked straight in the eye and said "Don't Worry, We Take Care Of Them, I Promise".

I was a Canadian Forces Recruiter for 4 years from 2000-2004 in Northern Alberta. My mandate was Post-Secondary Instituitions, Secondary Schools, and at times, Aboriginal and Minority Recruiter. During my tenure, I had been asked about Harassment and what happens if a person is injured nearly every day, most days on several occasions.

Having been harassed myself and sexually assaulted, I covered up my embarrassing episode and told applicants that it does not happen anymore and if it does, it is dealt with severely. Having also been injured, I told them that everything would be fixed or compensated for.

After leaving the Recruiting Centre, I was posted back to the "real military world" and within six months was being harassed, along with one of my soldiers. I complained on several occasions and it was taken care of: I was moved to another unit and replaced with a person who was on the brink of being charged with harassment and shortly after arriving in my position, was once again harassing the staff of my former office.

In 2006, I became ill. I could not believe that the military that I loved would let this happen again. The stress of what had happened pushed me over the limit and I suffered a stroke.

While trying to recover from the effects of the stroke, I asked to work at the Recruiting Centre due to not being able to do much except talk and I was excited about the opportunity to do my part again. But when the same questions of harassment came up again, this soldier had to lie in order to keep applicants from walking out the door.

I removed myself from that situation. I pass on my sincere apologies to anyone who heard my enthusiastic speeches, listened to my tales of excitement about the Canadian Forces, and joined only to be harassed since then or injured and had to fight for compensation, just as I am still doing, after being denied time and again.

My career is over, ripped apart by the stupidity of a few soldiers and bureaucrats who do not share the same respect for people as most soldiers do. I hope you never fall prey to those few and I pray that you have an exciting and rewarding career serving this great country, just as I promised you.

E-MAIL TO REX MURPHY

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Mr. Rex Murphy,

The Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence are letting it's soldiers down. The only soldier who is able to stop this is General Rick Hillier, but he seems to be so upset with the bureaucracy that our politicians have placed on our soldiers that even he has decided to leave to military, all of this at a time when the Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence went selling a Recruiting campaign by telling Canadians of the money being spent on new toys and the need for more soldiers.

Yet, our soldiers are being neglected medically by our very own Canadian Forces Health Services Group. As confirmed in a letter from the Minister of Veterans Affairs dated 23 May 2008 which states "on April 1, 2006, the Department of National Defence made the decision not to provide Veterans Affairs Canada with additional medical reports and opinions in support of the disability benefits program." This is basically saying that if a soldier becomes injured, the CF Health Services Group will not help the soldier with their compensation claim. However, they do go through a great deal of paperwork to provide SISIP Disability Insurance (operated through Manulife) and Canada Pension Plan applications for those soldiers so medically unfit to work. Why can't they do this for Veterans Affairs as well?

This is only the tip of the iceburg. On 3 June 2008, I went to the Mental Health Services to see if my appointment with the psychiatrist could be moved up. I had been waiting for 5 weeks already, even though my Doctor, my Psychologist, and a Social Worker were very concerned with the tendancies that I had started to show that included shouting and swearing on the staff at Veterans Affairs and firing my first doctor for refusing to help me when I had pains in my chest and with my compensation claim with DVA. I had been having "out of body" experiences and was finding it very difficult to control my anger. I had been dreaming very vivid dreams that all seemed to involve hurting people and it was starting to consume me. Couple this with having to wait more than a month to get my release paperwork signed and now having to wait another month to get an appointment just to start planning my retirement move, I lost it. It should be noted that the office where that happened was the same office that I was sexually assaulted two times and had complained of harassment, nothing of which was done about it except to promote the harasser/sexual assaulter.

I immediately went to Mental Health services. While asking the secretary for an earlier appointment to see my psychiatrist, I was informed that there was an opening on 4 June but I couldn't have it because it was only one hour long and I needed to have a 2.5 hour appointment. I told the secretary that I was having a lot of touble and was very angry with our administrative staff for their uncaring attitude and inability to get me an appointment or find my paperwork, which they had lost 3 times already.

I blew up. Watching myself rant and rave at the secretary, I had to force myself to leave which was very difficult. The next thing I remember was sitting at Tim Horton's drinking a coffee. I don't know how I got there.

Is this the reason or conditions that may have caused that man in Calgary to murdered his family because of a lack of judgement on the staff members at his psychiatrist office?

It took three weeks to even set up an appointment with my psychiatrist, even after being considered a "Rush" by my doctor. Then the appointment that was booked was for 4 weeks down the road. It's a good thing that it was a "rush".

Our soldiers need help. I need your help.

AN E-MAIL TO THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE

Mr. Prime Minister,

On 13 May 2008, Liberal MP Scott Simms, sent a letter on my behalf asking for a Ministerial Inquiry into the policy inacted on 01 April 2006 which the Department of National Defence made a decision not to provide information (except a medical file) to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I asked in that letter to have the policy suspended until a decision on it's continuation was reached.

Has the policy been suspended and if not, why?


Sergeant Robin Brentnall, CD

ARE YOU WITH US?

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I've been trying to get a Lawyer who has the guts to fight Ottawa for us. Not even the ex-JAG lawyer will take the case unless I pay out thousands of dollars in advance!!! There are too many legal loopholes in the system to make it worth while to fight.

I guess only the rich will get satisfaction. Typical of our government.

But I will keep fighting.

I could use any help you can provide, whether it is just support or sending a letter to your own Member of Parliament or requesting a Ministerial Inquiry as I have done (previous month article). The rich run and hide when the poor come in a large group. The government caves in to pressure when it is relentless and organized.

Let's show them how many of us there are!!!

NEWS ARTICLE REQUESTED

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The new Veterans Charter states that soldiers have a right to be treated with respect, dignity, fairness and courtesy.

To date, a Canadian Forces Sergeant has been battling Ottawa over the policies and procedures that have caused much disillusionment in the way our veterans and soldiers are treated when they apply to get compensation for their injuries.

A Ministerial Inquiry into the policy of not allowing doctors to represent soldiers to Veterans Affairs, has been requested and forwarded to the Minister of National Defence on 13 May 2008 requesting an investigation into the effects of the policy and asking that the policy be suspended until a recommendation into it's continuation or permanent suspension is received. The Minister of Veterans Affairs was also provided with an information copy of the letter.

The Canadian Forces Health Services Group has ordered military and civilian doctors working for National Defence not to discuss or provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with any information except the medical file of the soldier. When a soldier asks their doctor for a letter or any other assistance dealing with Veterans Affairs, they are told they are not permitted to assist the soldier due to the policy.

When this policy was questioned at Canadian Forces Health Services Group, it was revealed that by allowing military and civilian doctors to assist soldiers with their claims process at Veterans Affairs, it would create a Conflict of Interest and an Ethical Issue. Helping our soldiers should never be considered a conflict of interest or an ethical issue.

The continued fight to get fairness and transparency in the Adjudication process at Veterans Affairs is into it's 16th month and to date the Sergeant is yet to receive the Review Hearing that is supposed to be afforded to soldiers and veterans.

However, the Sergeant has been informed that his medical condition has caused the Canadian Forces to determine that he is "unfit work in any Military environment" and will be released from the service for his medical conditions, even though the Department of Veterans Affairs refuses to compensate him for the injuries and has repeatedly denied his claims due to "insufficient medical information".

Truth is there is insufficient medical expertise at Veterans Affairs. Adjudicators are not medical specialists, which explains the apparent inability to provide a respectful, dignified, fair, and courteous compensation award to our injured soldiers.

So I ask: What does the Veterans Charter mean when it states: Respect, Dignity, Fairness, and Courtesy?

SOLDIERS FIGHTING UP HILL BATTLE FOR INJURY COMPENSATION - UPDATE

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The following article, which was published in the Edmonton Journal on 13 April 2008, has caused the DND/CF Ombudsman's office to decide to investigate the reasoning for Canadian Forces Health Services Group to forbid it's doctors to provide our soldiers with the extra, crucial information required to expedite and increase the amount of claims for injuries to Veterans Affairs:

It has been uncovered that Canadian soldiers are forced to use a poor, archaic system developed to adjudicate compensation claims for soldiers who have been injured on duty at home and abroad.

Soldiers face an uphill battle putting in a claim with Veterans Affairs and are forced to fight a convoluted quagmire of bureaucracy when seeking compensation.

Military doctors are ordered not to share additional verbal or written information with DVA when a claim requires their input to clarify and augment the information on the medical file. This causes problems with the claim process and in a great number of cases, the claim is denied and the soldier is forced to seek help from the Legion or the Bureau of Pensions Advocates.

Veterans Affairs has been handcuffed with this "soldier stressful" policy and will either deny the claim or pay out the minimum that is required, 5% to 20% in most cases.

This has put much stress and strain on the injured soldier. Many simply accept the decision and carry on, believing the betrayal is standard practice and is unbeatable.

After launching numerous complaints to the Ombudsman for DND and DVA, it has become necessary to seek assistance from my Member of Parliament and other government officials. Each believes there is a grave injustice in this process and supports my quest to get it fixed.

Military doctors are too busy to provide any additional information. But a doctor's first concern should be the soldier and the emotional stress this policy inflects on them, and by taking a few minutes to answer questions from DVA, it would help both mentally and physically in the soldier's recovery. Instead, soldiers are symbolically left to patch their own wounds, find their own cures, and dig their own graves when trying to prove their claims.

If doctors were ordered to provide information, it would save time, money, and stress on soldiers who have already given everything for their country. DVA currently suggests that soldiers seek outside medical advice from civilian doctors, but those doctors have no medical records or history on the soldier's injuries.

So much money wasted by ignoring a simple, economic, soldier friendly solution to reinforce the SUPPORT OUR TROOPS slogan.

MINISTERIAL INQUIRY REQUESTED

30 April 2008

Mr. Scott Simms
Member of Parliament
Bonavista - Gander - Grand Falls-Windsor
House of CommonsOttawa, OntarioK1A 0A6

Mr. Simms,

It is with my heart on my sleeve and hat in hand that I send this telegram today requesting that you please provide me with assistance in my fight for the brave soldiers of this country. My research over the past year has prompted me to take action against the policies and governmental departments from which the policies were conceived.

We have been in contact several times since October of last year and the assistance I have received from your staff member, Mr. Fred Cuff, was enormous. However, I still find myself fighting an uphill battle with our government, the Canadian Forces, the Departments of National Defence and Veterans Affairs. Although the media of this great country have shown an interest in my plight, the lack of governmental action to investigate this issue has forced them to question the "salability" of the story, thereby limiting the Canadian public's information on the topic to scant shards of information that is soon lost to the file of "yesterdays news".

My fight is one that would see Canada portrayed as an advocate for its soldiers. A recent article in the Sun newspaper identified a shortage of visible minorities, aboriginal peoples, and women in the service. With every article that is exposed to the Canadian public with regards to the plight of veterans in Canada, I believe that this country is very fortunate to have anyone stand up and fight, knowing that for service to their country they run the risk of being injured and not be properly cared for in the later stages of their lives. Without concern for a soldier's disability and family responsibility, our government is taking advantage of their ability to create policies that has forced soldiers to fight for compensation, an uphill battle that has been seen by many soldiers as demeaning, belittling, and embarrassing in their quest to prove their injury was a consequence of their duty.

The Canadian Forces has undertaken an outrageous policy that forbids it’s military and civilian doctors from providing assistance to the soldier for any purpose that is associated with Veterans Affairs, except to provide the Medical File. Veterans Affairs, being short staffed and overcome with the amount of files they are forced to review, leaves the decision making for compensation to an Adjudicator. The Adjudicator is not a medical doctor, nor do they hold any form of medical background. They do not ask for assistance from the medical professionals on staff at Veterans Affairs unless it is obvious that the soldier was injured on duty outside Canada and has a limb missing or "media proof" that the injury was caused by something military related. Only then does the Adjudicator provide immediate compensation, albeit a minimal amount, to keep the soldier happy. Otherwise, the Adjudicator denies the claim and this forces the soldier to take up the fight with the Bureau of Pensions Advocates.

The Bureau of Pensions Advocates, although a blessing to most soldiers, is not a very effective tool to use for compensation. Our government has reduced the ability of these fine lawyers by putting in place the same policy that Veterans Affairs has been subjected to: Do not ask the military doctor to provide assistance to the soldier in order to prove an injury and the effects that have been caused/suffered due to that injury. This is a policy that is against even the rules that Canadians are afforded by our nation: Representation Without Prejudice. By denying the soldier's Advocate the right to gain as much information as is deemed necessary by ordering the testimony of a relevant witness to testify, is equivalent to denying the Courts of Canada the right to allow the court to subpoena a person to provide testimony.

If we, as soldiers, are forced to feel that we are not equal to the ordinary Canadian, due to being forced to accept the legal disillusionment that we have seen in the governments of some of the country's that we have fought (and are still fighting in), then how can we continue to fight for our great country? We all know the reason: Because we love Canada and what it represents in the world. The Canadian government uses this knowledge to it’s benefit.

We have gone to war with countries who have not provided it's people with Human Rights, yet we as a country are currently denying our soldiers with a Right and Freedom to use the medical advice of our doctors to help them gain a favourable decision from the very organization that has been set up to take care of injured soldiers. This is comparable to denying the defence attorney to right to call witnesses at a trial that could prove the innocence of the defendant.

There is a reason for this: The cost to the government would be astronomical. When a country sends it's sons and daughters into harms way, or employs them to "Stand on Guard" for our great nation, then it is only natural and expected that they accept the responsibility for taking care of those who fall or are wounded in their duty. To do anything less is an assurtion that the leadership of the country has only placed a smoke screen in the foreground to hide the true nature of the beast lurking in the background. Our soldiers are being forced to fight (without a real legal ability to win) our own government who has placed barriers and restraints against them, the same kind that the soldiers have witnessed in their deployments to rogue countries accused of harbouring "oppression and an oppressive government".

I have the following request: I would like a Ministerial Inquiry into the policy and the consequential loss of compensation and overall cost to our soldiers and their families experienced since this policy was inforced. Further to this, I would like to forward the motion that this policy be suspended until such time as necessary for an investigation and decision on it's continued implementation or discontinued application is announced by the Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence.

I ask for your assistance in this matter soonest.




//signed electronically//
Sergeant Robin Brentnall, CD
Military Constituent
Bonavista - Gander - Grand Falls-Windsor

A SOLDIERS MASK

This is my first book, based on my 22 year career in the Canadian Forces.

It should be out by mid-July.

DOCTORS REPRESENTING SOLDIER'S CONSIDERED CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND AN ETHICAL ISSUE

Who could have predicted that the Canadian Forces Health Services Group would admit that allowing our medical doctors to assist soldiers in their fight with Veterans Affairs was considered Unethical and a Conflict of Interest?

"The member's own doctor is not involved in the appealed medical assessment review because there are significant conflict of interest and ethical issues surrounding this issue." This is a quote from an e-mail sent to me on 21 April 2008 and they also state that "VAC makes their decision based on the documentation found in the medical record." What they don't know is that an Adjudicator at Veterans Affairs is not a Medical Doctor and does not have a professional Medical background to make even the most basic judgment call on a medical problem.

"When a member's medical record does not support the member's disability application, there is, of course, an appeal process. At this point, VAC advocates can request that an independent medical examiner or specialist who has no vested interest be called upon to review the documentation and to provide an unbiased and independent medical assessment as to whether the disability being claimed could be service related, or not." I am not sure if this is a true statement or not. My Advocate has asked me to find an "independent medical examiner or specialist". But "my" military doctor is the only one who can refer me and has already been denied because it is for Veterans Affairs and they are not allowed to do that.

It is disheartening to know that our own Canadian Forces Health Services Group feels it would be a Conflict of Interest or an Ethical Issue to give our soldiers every ounce of assistance they deserve.

It's amazing how our own people can treat our soldiers so poorly.

INJURED WITHOUT COMPENSATION?

Have you been injured on duty? Have you been turned down for your Veterans Affairs pension? Received a very small compensation payment? Received grief and frustration with the process?

My first reaction was typical: FIGHT. But I have come to the decision that the system we have is going to have to do and if we all work together, we will eventually iron out the kinks.

Contact the Bureau of Pension Advocate to get help, their number is in the last paragraph of your letter from DVA.

I have spent 22 years in the Forces and have been an advocate for our soldiers. Our Recruiting slogan is Fight: Fear, Distress, Chaos.

Although it feels like a bureaucracy, our system and the people in it will work.

We just have to have faith.

MEDIA CATCHING ON TO ABUSE

This is an e-mail I sent to Kathleen Harris ( kathleen.harris@sunmedia.ca ) the Sun Media group in Ottawa on 9 April:

In your article 9 April, it was finally brought up that there is problems with the way soldiers who are injured are perceived by their chain of command.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you could only see the attitude towards those who have been injured in Canada on "normal" duties, it would make you sick to your stomach. I have personally witness harassment, sexual assault, and abuse of authority. As the clerk for SPHL, the sub-unit where most injured soldiers are sent to recover, I was told stories of racism, abuse, false convictions, and being called "sick, lame, and lazy", a term for injured soldiers.

Keep going hard at this Kathleen. Dawn Black, a Member of Parliament, is getting to the system and with every day will uncover the mess that we have been exposed to. If you need quotes or opinions on certain things, I will gladly give them. I too have been "screwed over" by supervisors and middle managers and Commanding Officers who were trying to keep their hands clean in order to move up that ladder of success. I prefer to get my hands dirty and for my candor, have been moved out of their harms way 4 times for sticking up for our soldiers. Two of the people I had to stand up to have been awarded the Member of Military Merit medal and one other supervisor was promoted 10 months after she sexually assaulted me.

Don't forget, 9 April was the date that Canadian Soldiers solidified this country's independence, the battle of Vimy Ridge. If only they could see us now and have a say.