OTTAWA, ON, October 30, 2003 - "Yesterday, the House of Commons gave unanimous approval to a Motion that the Regulation governing payment of the Veterans Independence Program to widows be restored," said Cliff Chadderton, Chairman of the 47-member National Council of Veteran Associations.

"It was always our intention that this would not provide for retroactive payments," Chadderton continued.

"We were asking only that the widow's right to apply for VIP, if it had been in payment when her husband died, be restored," Chadderton explained.

"We were surprised when the Veterans Affairs Minister appeared to indicate to the House in Question Period today that his Department was encountering difficulty in raising the funds, giving the impression that payments missed in the past would have to be forthcoming to the widow from the Government. This was entirely wrong in that we asked only that the one-year extension, which now appears in the Regulation, be removed so that those widows whose entitlements had run out could again begin receiving the monthly VIP payment," Chadderton concluded.