OTTAWA, ON, April 29, 1999 - The 34-member National Council of Veteran Associations today urged a Parliamentary Committee to recommend removal of the "Black Mark" from an otherwise unblemished record which has given Canada title to the best veterans rehabilitation program in the world.

The government's disregard for death or disability suffered by members of Canada's Merchant Fleet commenced in November of 1939 with an Order in Council which provided for compensation only if the death or disability was incurred in enemy action. Moreover, in order to qualify, a widow or merchant seaman would have to make an application within a period of one year of the event.

In 1946, the government continued its negative attitude towards Merchant Sailors by passing the Merchant Seamen Compensation Act which threw the responsibility for compensation on ship owners or provincial workers compensation boards.

At the conclusion of World War II, the government established a comprehensive program for members of the regular Armed Forces. Transport Minister Lionel Chevrier, who was responsible for Merchant Seamen, denied access for Merchant Seamen to the Veterans Charter which provided rehabilitation, grants and gratuities, education assistance, housing, loans to start a business or professional life and other benefits. His reasoning was that the government would need Merchant Seamen to man a proposed Canadian Merchant Fleet after the war. This proposal failed due to the inability to compete with foreign vessels and in 1949, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent declared all government subsidies for the Mercantile Marine would cease.

Further implication of the government in denying assistance to Merchant Seamen developed when a Canadian visa was granted to former criminal Hal Banks. He headed the American Seafarers International Union which, often by brutal means, destroyed the Canadian Seamen's Union - - the only organization which could have fought for the rights of the country's war-time Merchant Sailors.

The Merchant Fleet was disbanded by 1950, leaving the Merchant Seamen with no jobs and without access to the veterans rehabilitation programs.

War veterans were entitled to a form of income support, called War Veterans Allowance. This was denied to Merchant Seamen until 1962, and even then, they could qualify only if they had six months of service on the high seas.

Members who served in the regular Forces in World War II were covered for death or disability by what is known as the "insurance principle" which provided a widow's allowance or generous disability benefits for any disability incurred during service, regardless of location. The disability pension provisions for Merchant Seamen were available only if the death or accident occurred in direct action with the enemy.

"We have suggested this provision was ludicrous from the outset, in that merchant vessels were totally incapable of engaging enemy surface raiders, submarines or aircraft," Cliff Chadderton, Chair of the National Council of Veteran Associations, told the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs.

In his presentation, he referred to a recent video produced by The War Amps of Canada, titled Sail or Jail.

"We had to use this means of destroying the myth that Merchant Seamen were civilians who were not under any compulsion to sail. Also, we brought out the fact that, while at sea, they were under the strict discipline of the British Admiralty," Chadderton stated.

The submission suggested that the loss to Merchant Seamen for disability pensions compared with veterans would average at $70,000. Those who required income support, but were denied this, would have suffered a loss of at least $45,000. The NCVA brief also detailed some 12 rehabilitation benefits for veterans of the Armed Forces which were denied to the Merchant Seamen.

The NCVA proposed that the Committee recommend a grant to Merchant Seamen in lieu of the shoddy treatment they received from the government during and after the war.

Due to the complexity of the situation, a further suggestion was put forward that the Minister establish a study group composed of personnel of the Veterans Affairs Department, and veterans organizations, including Merchant Seamen, to operate under the authority of the Minister of Veterans Affairs. Their report would have to be on a fast-track and ready for consideration by the government at the commencement of the 1999 Fall session of Parliament.

Chadderton filed a main submission and three supplementary briefs with the Committee, and had provided advance copies of the sixty-minute Sail or Jail video.

He told the Committee: "We make no apologies for the substantial amount of material placed before the Committee. We have been researching this matter on and off for more than 50 years. Additional research has been carried out by representatives of veterans organizations and the Merchant Seamen groups.

The manner in which the government has treated Merchant Seamen could be categorized as neglect and treachery, much of which until recently has been buried in documents held by the government and veterans groups."