OTTAWA, ON, June 13, 1996 - The War Amps of Canada has requested Veterans Affairs Minister David Collenette to refer a matter of compensation for Canada's Far East prisoners of war to the House Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs.

This proposal had first been made to David Collenette in a letter from Cliff Chadderton, CEO of The War Amps and Patron of the Hong Kong Veterans Association, in a letter of May 7, 1996. Chadderton told the Minister in the new request dated June 13, 1996, that it was an insult to the some 32 veterans' organizations he represents that the Minister had not only neglected to respond to what he called a "comprehensive" letter outlining the problems, but had not even provided an acknowledgment.

In a statement issued today, Chadderton said that David Collenette was the proper Minister to deal with this matter. "We have been rebuffed over the past two years by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and, more recently, the Minister of Justice," he said.

"All seem to be of the opinion that either the claim for compensation arising out of the Geneva Convention was settled by the 1952 Peace Treaty between Canada and Japan or, alternatively, the Canadian Government has not evaded its responsibility in failing to support the claim," he said. Chadderton said that Chair Mary Clancy had stated publicly that the House of Commons Committee would have no objection to hearing the claim.

Chadderton stated that it was now time that the matter be placed before the Veterans Affairs Minister.

"Firstly, we were of the view that the Prime Minister would be interested, particularly inasmuch as the government of another country was involved. Moreover, Mr. George Proud, spokesman for the Liberals during the Mulroney administration, had given a commitment that his government would support the matter. Mr. Chrétien failed to live up to the commitment," Chadderton said.

The matter was then reviewed by Mr. André Ouellet, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said the 1952 Peace Treaty (which resulted in a total payment of $1.50 a day) settled the issue.

"We had raised the legal implications, pointing out that Canadian law required the Canadian government to protect the interests of its citizens. This resulted in what appeared to us to be a legalistic and bureaucratic reply from Allan Rock, the Minister of Justice," Chadderton said.

"This leads us to the conclusion that, as a matter of basic principle, the question now properly belongs on the desk of the Minister of Veterans Affairs," Chadderton said. He added that he hoped that the Government could set a date for a Parliamentary Committee hearing soon after the summer recess, recognizing that the Far East PoWs were losing their membership at an alarming rate.

"Moreover," Chadderton said, "We will be able to boil down about six volumes of somewhat intensive research in our submission so that interested Members of Parliament can, at last, see the justice of the claim."