OTTAWA, ON, April 6, 2000 - A news story distributed by Summit News Services sets out a complaint from Ossie MacLean, the ringleader of the Merchant Navy hunger strikes, stating that the government had held back $4,000 of his compensation package.

The government decided to pay 60% of the grant pending the number of applicants. The government had approved a maximum of $50 million and wanted to stay within that limit.

The National Council of Veteran Associations, representing 37 veterans organizations, took the stand that the full amount would eventually be paid, in that the government had inflated the figures. They estimated there were 7,351 Merchant Navy veterans and survivors; our estimates were approximately 4,500. Initial reports from Veterans Affairs Canada indicate that only $5 million of the $50 million available has been applied for to date. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that Ossie MacLean and the rest of his valiant Merchant Navy comrades will receive the maximum payments; that is, $20,000 for two years on the high seas, $10,000 for less than two years and $5,000 for shorter periods spent in dangerous waters.

Another news story circulating is that six Merchant Navy PoWs are being denied a $4,000 bonus because they were prisoners of the Japanese and received a $24,000 grant paid under the provisions of the Geneva Convention. Holding back the additional $4,000 appears to be an error on the part of the bureaucrats. The so-called Hong Kong payment was for slave labour while the Merchant Navy compensation was for denial of rehabilitation benefits.