NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
Organisation canadienne des vétérans de l’OTAN
A Voice for today’s Veterans ~ Une voix pour les vétérans d’aujourd’hui
President's News
Updated - April 30 2013
NVOC Presidents April 2013 Status Report
April 29, 2013
Greeting Veterans
NOTE
First of all I apologize for an English only Status Report - all my previous 36 Status Reports have been in both Official Languages. Our Quebec Lieutenant Norbert who - along with his wife have done the translation for us - Norbert has had two operations and we all wish him well. In the meantime ,we are looking for a volunteer to help NVOC keep essential documents issued by us in both languages. Anyone out there willing to help please?
This past month has been busy for the NVOC as we continue to represent the cares and concerns of our members to those in positions of authority in our attempts to influence the changes that are so very necessary.
The Veterans Affairs Canada, Assistant Deputy Minister Commemoration and Communications (for the acronym buffs that‚s VAC ADM CC), General Walt Semianiw, recently extended in his secondment to VAC from Defence, met with me for a ‘one-on-one’ meeting on April 19, to discuss matters and to hear directly from us on issues of concern.
Supported by an in-depth paper prepared by Jarrott Holzhaeur, our Vice-President and Director of Policy, the General was make aware of a number of significant issues that NVOC has with the New Veterans Charter. Loud and clear was the message that NVOC is committed to find the best way to convince the Federal Government (including VAC) to modify the New Veterans Charter. Initially, we were informed that the Government was to review the New Veterans Charter, however, as directly informed by the ADM, there is no current intent to change the Charter writ large, but rather through the "review of the Enhanced Veterans Charter" that NVOC will have our day in court. The ADM mentioned that the Veterans Act addresses the situation for WWII and Korea Veterans since there was no universal healthcare in Canada at that time and now the Provinces are responsible for the provision of health care.
The following day, Saturday 20 April, Tud Kaulbach, our Director of Advocacy, and I attended a Royal Canadian Legion conference which included 17 different Veterans’ organizations. The VAC Ombudsman and NVOC gave the kick off presentations on Long Term Care (LTC) and the Veterans Independence Program (VIP). The presentation given by Tud was extremely well received and much appreciation was expressed to me from many of the other Veterans organizations. Well done Tud for the informative and thought provoking piece which will serve to set the stage for future NVOC work in ensuring that the modern day Veteran is treated in the same manner as that of the WWII and Korea Veteran.
It was felt by many of the Veterans organizations that it is unlikely that collectively we will be able to influence any change with respect to improving the LTC program as the government transfers funds to the provinces, on behalf of VAC, for the provision of those health care services directly related to the WWII and Korea Veteran. The modern day veteran is lumped in with the entire civilian population in accessing health care.
NVOC strongly ascertains that the VIP program can and must be enhanced and we will now focus on positive and realistic changes for modern day veterans such as intermediate care/handyman allowance and other similar recommendations already made to VAC by the Gerontology Committee. As we were all trained and appreciate, if there is an obstacle you have to make a plan to get past it to reach the objective. With that in mind, we will place emphasis on the VIP as a vehicle for long term care changes and this will be central in our presentation to the VAC Ombudsman and to the parliamentary committees. I look forward to hearing your concerns in advance of these meetings.
The situation wherein Veterans are treated differently cannot continue and your Executive is working their level best to make sure that the voice of the modern veteran is heard and that our efforts and sacrifices are equally appreciate in all senses of the word. If we were to poll Veterans, they would raise their voices in unity to say that “A Veteran is a Veteran, no matter what”.
Carry on.
Regards
Gordon Jenkins President NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
Email : gordjenkins@sympatico.ca
Last modified
April 30 2013