Ex-vets board member says former soldiers being driven over the edge by system
October 22, 2012 - 5:47 PM
OTTAWA - A former member of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board has unleashed a stinging critique of the agency, saying a pervasive, condescending attitude by a handful of panellists has driven some ex-soldiers to the edge.
Harold Leduc sat on the 21-member panel for seven years, but was not reappointed this fall by the Harper government after a very public fight over violations of his privacy and claims that the agency went out its way to deny appeals.
Leduc told a House of Commons committee investigating the board that some ex-soldiers have been disrespected to the point where they've become violent and some have even taken their lives.
Veteran Affairs Minister Steven Blaney acknowledged in the Commons that Leduc, a veterans advocate before joining the board, has had not been reappointed.
He said positions on government bodies are not appointments for life.
Senior veterans officials took the unusual step of announcing on Sunday that they had appointed four new members to the oft-maligned agency, people with extensive military background and a former nurse specializing in addictions.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012