OTTAWA, ON, March 13, 2002 - Cliff Chadderton, Chairman of the 40-member National Council of Veteran Associations (NCVA), stated today that his organization had "mixed feelings" about the judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal upholding a decision of the Lower Court that the Government of Canada was liable for payment of interest on accounts held in trust for incompetent veterans while in Departmental institutions.

"We are pleased that the court has recognized that the Government does have some responsibility, based presumably on improper record-keeping and its misinterpretation of the law," Chadderton said.

The statement of the Chairman of NCVA made it clear that he had no firm view as to whether the Government should launch a further appeal, although the Crown presumably still has access to the Supreme Court of Canada. In this regard, he felt that any further delay, by reason of court decisions, would be unfair to those who might qualify.

The judgment would leave the way open to payment of interest going back to 1970, which was the first date that the Department began studying the matter.

Chadderton felt a strong possibility existed that in view of the potential liability against the taxpayer of as high as $3.5 billion, the Government would probably launch a further appeal. "This could tie up the case for another two years. We feel that the Minister of Veterans Affairs should proceed without waiting for any further court decisions. The Department can set up a review procedure to look after deserving cases on an immediate basis," he said.

In commenting further, Chadderton made reference to a letter he had written to Veterans Affairs Minister Ron Duhamel last April 20, 2001, in which he suggested that, regardless of the outcome of the appeal before the Ontario courts, the Government should establish what he termed a "review procedure" which would assure that legitimate claims could be the subject of review.

He stated that his veterans group was in favour of eliminating the existing January 1, 1990 deadline on the payment of interest. This would leave open an adjudicative process under which claims could be paid retroactively to veterans who were alive, to their widows, and to what he termed a "principal beneficiary."

He said that, on the other hand, the class action appeal, which apparently would require payments of interest going back to the end of World War I, was far too broad in its scope. In this regard, he explained: "The Pension Act is intended to provide compensation for members of the military forces, their spouses and, in some instances, their children. We fail to find, however, any responsibility in the legislation for distant cousins, although the class action lawyers stated, from the commencement of this trial several years ago, that cousins and other degrees of relationship would be considered."

Excerpts from the letter to The Honourable Ron J. Duhamel from H. Clifford Chadderton, dated April 20, 2001 follow:

"In describing the position of NCVA, I have stated, from the outset, that the Government should establish a review procedure which would ensure that, regardless of the outcome of the court case, claims could be the subject of appeal." 

"In this regard, it is suggested that, without waiting for any Court decision, the Department should make it possible for claimants to file application for an immediate review...." 

"The purpose of this letter is to ask that you consider the adoption of this proposal. It will be obvious that these matters are of sufficient urgency to warrant a decision by you at an early date."