Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Afghanistan: 'this is our Vietnam,' says Stogran


Canada's Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran says psychologically and physically disabled Canadian veterans of the Afghanistan war face the same neglected fate that thousands of U.S veterans of the Vietnam War experienced unless Canada radically changes its attitude to care for former soldiers.

"This is our Vietnam," Mr. Stogran, a former infantry officer who is on veterans disability himself, told The Hill Times. "Twenty years from now, if they don't fix this they are going to have a whole bunch of destitute senior citizens."

And, with the controversy over veterans care likely to heat up in the House of Commons as its Veterans Affairs Committee prepares to investigate the issue through a motion from NDP MP Peter Stoffer, another veteran who has clashed with the Veterans Affairs Department revealed to The Hill Times that top aides in the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) were aware as early as last April the department may have violated Privacy Act provisions by wrongly disclosing personal information about his disability.

Source: The Hill Times

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