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.