Pascal Lacoste was a young man when he joined the Royal 22e Regiment of the Canadian Forces.
After tours as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia and East Timor, Lacoste’s future in the military seemed bright. He was young and energetic, a competitive runner with his heart set on joining Canada’s special operations forces. Then something went wrong.
While on active duty, Lacoste fell ill and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The illness spelled the end of his military career.
As wretched as it sounds, Lacoste’s real troubles began when he encountered the veterans’ health system.
According to Lacoste, administrators at Veterans Affairs Canada denied his benefits and told him there were too few resources available to support him. He says officials told him if he wanted treatment, he would have to go through the civilian system like everyone else.
It is difficult to accept that an advanced industrial society such as Canada would deny critical care to its injured soldiers. But this is the situation too many young veterans are facing.
The veterans’ health system in Canada is not only inefficient, it is negligent. A raft of crippling administrative problems have left a multitude of veterans unable to access the treatment and benefits they have been promised.
The situation is reaching crisis proportions and requires urgent attention from VAC and more funding from the government.
By the end of the mission more than 30,000 troops will have served in Afghanistan. According to Brigadier-General Hilary Jaeger, surgeon-general of the Canadian Forces, as many as 27 per cent of these troops will encounter “difficulties” with mental health alone.
In 2007, the now ex-veterans ombudsman, Pat Stogran, complained to Parliament that a lack of leadership and effective administration was leaving veterans–particularly those with mental health problems–out in the cold.
Stogran commented that VAC was being run like an insurance company and actively undercutting veterans’ benefits.
He received countless complaints from veterans who felt the department was ignoring their issues and putting them through bureaucratic hoops.
Stogran quickly became the face of jilted veterans who blamed the government for ignoring their mental and physical trauma and mismanaging their benefits.
In general, the Canadian public has been appreciative of the sacrifices of its veterans.
The families who gather along the ‘Highway of Heroes’ to salute the caskets of fallen soldiers exemplify this appreciation.
Beyond displays of support such as this, Canadians have entrusted veterans’ care to the government.
While it has tried to respond, results have been mixed.
In 2007, the Harper government announced it had passed a new Veterans Bill of Rights.
The government also created a new Veterans Charter, which offered extended health benefits for veterans and their families.
But from the beginning, the programs were dogged by controversy.
For one thing, the Veterans Charter replaced a system of managed disability payouts with a lump sum that forced veterans, many suffering from serious psychological problems, to take on major financial responsibility.
The issue of lump sums is still being debated in Parliament but there is an even more serious issue the government would do well to address.
The problem with the veterans’ health system in Canada is not only political or administrative it is generational.
Today’s veterans are losing out to veterans from the past.
Historically, the government has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to provide for its veterans.
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation was created in 1946 to find homes for veterans from the Second World War. Untold numbers received housing benefits paid for by the federal government.
Veterans were given educational opportunities and skills training through trade schools and colleges, including Carleton University, which was opened for their benefit.
Veterans today are far less lucky and in some cases even the most critical life saving services are difficult to access.
At the largest government-run veterans hospital, veterans from the Second World War and Korea occupy almost every bed.
According to VAC’s own statistics, the average age at St. Anne’s Hospital is 87.6 years old. Of the 404 residents at the hospital, 379 are from the Second World War.
In order to resolve the current situation, the system must be overhauled with the current generation in mind.
Beyond the ethical and moral problems there are also economic reasons to reform the system.
In cities around the country, social service agencies funded by municipal taxpayers struggle to deal with the burgeoning issue of homelessness among veterans.
Before leaving office, Stogran said the situation was dire and needed a national strategy.
To its credit, VAC has done a number of things to address homelessness among veterans.
The department put $227,000 into a program called “Leave the Streets Behind,” in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.
The program offers rehabilitation, counseling and financial support services that are delivered by a range of homeless shelters, food banks and anti-poverty groups across the country.
These are steps in the right direction, but the government needs to do more research and collect statistics before it can deal with the full extent of the problem.
For soldiers like Lacoste the government needs to do more .
He volunteered to serve his country, put his life on the line and felt shunned when he returned.
Canadians should be appalled at this situation, and demand an overhaul at VAC, lest they forget the next generation of veterans.