Letter to the Minister - A Review Committee Established by the Government to Consider the Circumstances of Veterans Given a Dishonourable Discharge Indicates a Strong Miscarriage of Justice
Letter to the Minister
Dear Minister:
RE: Veterans deemed "never to have served"
The National Council of Veteran Associations (52 organizations) has passed a resolution recommending that, if warranted, compensation be paid to deserving members of the Armed Forces who were deemed "never to have served" in accordance with the recommendation of a Government Review Committee.
As you are no doubt aware, the War Service Grants Act was first established under date of January 1, 1945. The War Service Grants Order of October 4, 1949 concerned the Review Committee, charged with the responsibility of giving consideration to veterans who had not been honourably discharged.
In particular regard to the proposal in this letter, both the War Service Grants Act and the War Service Grants Order provided that activities of a Committee, established to review applications where an honourable discharge had not been granted, shall be reported to the Minister of Veterans Affairs.
Accordingly, if there were any problems in respect of the administration of the Review Committee, such should have been reported to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and remedial action taken, if necessary.
It is apparent, from information given in the House of Commons debate under date of October 7, 2005, some 14,000 World War II veterans were apparently released without consideration being taken by the Review Committee in respect of any corrective action that might have been warranted, given the circumstances under which a dishonourable discharge may have been originally given to the former member of the Armed Forces. A copy of the Sun Media story, printed in the Toronto Sun of October 7, 2005, is attached.
Enclosed is a backgrounder which provides information from my files in regard to this matter.
In accordance with statements made by you in the House of Commons, the Government will undertake a study of the situation and, if some action is warranted, the Government may act upon a satisfactory solution.
In this regard, the National Council of Veteran Associations (NCVA) recommends that, should further study be given to the individual cases, compensation could be paid to the war veteran or his dependants.
It is proposed that such should be based on a scale commensurate with his periods of service in Canada and overseas. For consideration, we suggest that the schedule of payments for the Merchant Seamen would be a satisfactory guide; that is, $20,000, $10,000 or $5,000, depending on length and nature of service.
We are aware, of course, that it would not be possible at this late date to establish a payment which might be considered as equitable. It would seem, therefore, that the best solution would be to at least provide an honourable discharge and make an ex gratia payment to compensate for the loss of Reestablishment Credits, War Service Gratuity, and other benefits under the Veterans Charter.
It would be appreciated if we might have an answer to this at your convenience. In any event, we would hope to have your reply not later than the date of our next Annual General meeting, which is scheduled for October 27, 2005.
Yours sincerely,
H. Clifford Chadderton, CC, O.Ont., OStJ, CLJ, CAE, DCL, LLD
Chairman