OTTAWA, ON, December 21, 1999 - Your article concerning a proposed plan for indemnification of Merchant Seamen was based on figures provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and it may be misleading. The article concerned a report from veterans organizations (including Merchant Seamen), whose leaders had met at the request of Veterans Affairs Minister George Baker. The object was to hammer out a deal which would resolve the long-standing differences among Armed Forces veterans, the Merchant Seamen and Veterans Affairs officials.

Our Communiqué, delivered to the Minister on December 16th, called for a sliding scale of payments from $20,000 for the top 980 Merchant Seamen who served two years or more in dangerous waters to $5,000 for those with less than six months, who were paid a "war risk" bonus. The total beneficiaries, including widows, was estimated in the report at 7,200 with a cost of $64 million.

As noted earlier, this plan was based on data provided by officials of Veterans Affairs. We feel their figures are much too large.

This seems evident in the Department's own published records. The Veterans Affairs Committee of the House of Commons was told last February by DVA that they had files of only 2,300 Merchant Navy personnel or widows. Nine months later, at our meetings this December, the DVA figure had risen to 28,000! The Veterans/Merchant Navy organizations reduced the figure to 7,200 by striking out seemingly ineligible groups such as those who had no service in war zones.

We are of the view that the number who will be eligible for this "one-time" payment will be approximately 4,000 - not the 7,200 to which reference was made in the report to the Minister. Therefore, the cost would be reduced by some $20 million from $64 million to about $45 million.

The proposed payment to Merchant Navy Veterans/widows is in the form of compensation for rehabilitation benefits denied to these sailors, in that in 1945 the government wanted them to man the post-war merchant fleet which never materialized.

Back in 1945, the government estimated the number of Merchant Navy veterans at 12,000. If Canada had made full veterans benefits available to this group, the cost would have been between $12 and $15 million in 1945 dollars. Accordingly, the Canadian taxpayer has already saved millions, by the failure of the government immediately after World War II to recognize Merchant Seamen as veterans.

Hopefully, the Liberal Cabinet will not be negatively influenced by the inflated figure furnished by Veterans Affairs staff.

Sincerely,

Cliff Chadderton, CC, O.Ont., OStJ, CAE, DCL, LLD
Chair, National Council of Veteran Associations