OTTAWA, ON, November 26, 1998 - The following statement will be read by Cliff Chadderton, Chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations when the Merchant Seamen appear before the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs meets to consider Merchant Seamen benefits at 9:00 a.m. Thursday, November 26, 1998.

Statement:

The Committee should be advised of the Government policy regarding Merchant Seamen, issued in a publication over the signature of the Honourable Lionel Chevrier, Minister of Transport in 1954.

It will be noted that the statement contains a reference to an Order in Council of May 19, 1941, indicating that the Merchant Marine is "virtually an arm of our fighting services."

Further, the statement indicates that veterans' benefits were withheld from Merchant Seamen at the end of the War to encourage them to continue the service to assist in the Government's plan to build a strong post war Merchant Navy.

The excerpts from the Chevrier document, to be read to the committee, follow:

Canada's Merchant Seamen by the Honourable Lionel Chevrier, Minister of Transport No body of men has contributed more to the prosecution of the war effort than those gallant seamen who man the ships of the Allied Merchant Navies, and to which Canada's contribution in ships and men has grown from small beginnings to now play a substantial role.

Nevertheless, all of us know that those Seamen whose voyages and duties bring them in contact with the enemy, undergo desperate risks and hazards. The dangers they encounter are comparable with those experienced by the average man in uniform. 

On May 19, 1941, Order in Council PC 14/3550 was passed and read in part:

That the Merchant Marine, on which our seaborne commerce depends, is,under present conditions, virtually an arm of our fighting services, and the provision of Merchant Seamen, their training, care and protection is essential to the proper conduct of the war, and vitally necessary, to the keeping open of the sea lanes on which the successful outcome of the present conflict so largely depends

It is deemed advisable and equitable, in consideration of the essential services rendered by them, involving hardships and risks in many respect comparable to those met with by members of the Forces, to offer certain additional benefits to those who have served in dangerous waters and are prepared to serve for the duration of the war if required. Such benefits should not be of a nature which would encourage Seamen to leave the industry at the end of the war to seek employment in other fields as the services of many skilled Seamen will be required if Canada is to maintain a Merchant Marine after the war.