OTTAWA, ON, August 8, 2000 - The 38-member National Council of Veteran Associations has stated today that it is opposed to a further hunger strike by Canada's Merchant Seamen.

The federal government announced a Compensation Program last February. There have been no accurate estimates of the number, although the Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans Association, which is part of the National Council, has suggested the 5000 survivors and widows could qualify.

"It would appear," Cliff Chadderton, Chairman of NCVA stated, "that Veterans Affairs has created a logistic nightmare by announcing the program, without defining the restrictions. As a result, the department has received nearly 14,000 claims, all of which have to be reviewed a task which sometimes involves researching the records of as many as six ships for one application."

The program provides a grant of $20,000 for Seamen with more than two years in dangerous waters and $10,000 if the service was between six months and two years.

"The big problem," Chadderton stated, " is the $5,000 grant which is available to those with less than six months service. The requirement in such cases is that the Merchant Seamen must have received a war risk bonus. This provision disqualified thousands of those who served on Merchant vessels during time of war within the three mile territorial limits of Canada, in Coastal Trade or in other ships where the risk was not recognized."

Another disqualification is for those with dual service, which is being interpreted to mean that a Merchant Seaman with three or four years in the deep-sea fleets is ineligible if he served even a month in the regular military forces.

Ossie McLean of Saint John, New Brunswick, is threatening to repeat the hunger strikes which he started last October.

Chadderton is urging what he calls a "more professional" approach. He stated that meetings with government officials were underway and "we are giving the government a chance to look at all these problems, but not under pressure tactics."