If you thought that the Trudeau government could fix the truly horrendous relationship Canadian leaders across all parties have had with our men and women in uniform, think again.
According to a new proposed class action suit filed in federal court Friday the 25th, "the federal government knowingly short-changed hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans and RCMP members about $165 million in benefits."
Editor's note: The case has not been certified as a class action lawsuit yet.
The unproven claim seeks $600 million in damages and accuses the government of negligence and breach of contract.
It also wants the court to order the government to pay the owed benefits with interest.
"Canada's calculation error has resulted in loss to vulnerable eligible members who rely on benefits to survive," the suit alleges. "Canada has known about the calculation error for years but it has not taken appropriate steps to rectify its conduct."
How did the Canadian government shortchange disabled veterans $165 million?
The lawsuit follows a calculation error the Liberal Jean Chrétien government made in 2002.
As a result of this mistake, 270,000 veterans and others receiving a disability pension or benefits were shortchanged until 2010, when the mistake was discovered.
The government has admitted to making that mistake.
However, according to the statement of claim, Ottawa allegedly hid the error until this past November, and only disclosed it after ombudsman Guy Parent said his team had stumbled upon the problem while looking at another issue.
"In 2010, the defendant discovered the calculation error (but) failed to announce this error," the claim asserts. "The defendant chose not to disclose or rectify the error."
The governments of Chrétien, Paul Martin all took part in the mistake unknowingly, while Harper and Trudeau potentially continued it knowingly and without proper correction until called out.
Interestingly, it seems the Trudeau government decided to play coy and comment that they only recently found out about this.
"When the ombudsman brought this to our attention in 2018, we did a detailed review and worked to secure up to $165 million for those retroactive payments," Wilson-Raybould said Friday. She said she could not comment further given the legal action.
If true, that would mean the Trudeau government three years on the job still has no clue what the details of their respective portfolios entail. While possible, I find it highly hard to believe given the scale of the problem.
As many as 120,000 people affected may have died without receiving any of the owed money. Thankfully, the government has said their estates would be entitled to the back pay.
In November, the government said it would only begin the repayments in 2020, meaning that disabled veterans may finally receive their cheques ... 18-years after they were originally supposed to.
But hey, what do you expect when our nation allows at least 2,250 veterans to be homeless each year.
What do you think about this worrying report? Join the conversation by commenting below!
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