OTTAWA, ON, May 19, 1999 - While the Parliamentary Committee on Veterans is hearing more evidence and deciding whether to recommend benefits for Canada's Merchant Seamen, Veterans Affairs officials have gone on the offensive through the Internet, giving The War Amps an opportunity to launch a counter-offensive using its own Web site.

Since last December, VAC has loaded its Web site with four lengthy documents which attempt to justify the government's refusal to compensate Merchant Seamen for the failure to provide the same rehabilitation benefits as those available to members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

The War Amps, which has taken up the cause on behalf of Merchant Navy Veterans, made a submission to the Parliamentary Committee on April 29th of this year, rebutting what Cliff Chadderton, their CEO, calls the VAC "spin doctor" efforts to oppose the Merchant Seamen's claims. This rebuttal, which Chadderton states is an attempt to remove the "Black Mark" against Canada's otherwise exemplary program for veterans rehabilitation, has now been made available to the public through The War Amps own Web site.

Chadderton claims that when Veterans Affairs went to the Internet to support the negative response of Veterans Affairs Minister Fred Mifflin to the compensation demands of Merchant Seamen, "they provided us with an excellent window of opportunity to challenge their statements, using our own Web site."

Chadderton states that some of the information on the VAC Web site is preposterous. For example, the statement is made that the maximum pension at married rates is $24,000. Their so-called "fact sheet" fails to note that only three out of the remaining 2,000 surviving Merchant Seamen have qualified for this 100% pension rate.

In an attempt to downplay any comparisons with veterans, the VAC Web page states that only 5% of Armed Forces veterans received assistance for land settlement. The DVA annual report for 1949-50 confirms, however, that the number was nearly 90,000 (or 9%) of the total veteran population. The War Amps rebuttal to the Veterans Affairs claims can be found on its Web site at www.waramps.ca.