Letter to the Editor, Toronto Star:
Re: Tidy paperwork trumps respect for wounded veterans, Opinion March 6
The public service workers who do front-line work with Canada’s veterans at Veterans Affairs want to do all they can to help Canada’s heroes. But wrong-headed policies and staff cuts imposed by the Conservative government make it difficult for them to do so.
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Re: Tidy paperwork trumps respect for wounded veterans, Opinion March 6
The public service workers who do front-line work with Canada’s veterans at Veterans Affairs want to do all they can to help Canada’s heroes. But wrong-headed policies and staff cuts imposed by the Conservative government make it difficult for them to do so.
...
Contrary to Carol Goar’s assertion, the department has lost 25 per cent of its dedicated, mainly front-line staff. The department has not replaced a single employee who has retired or resigned in the last two years. Veterans Affairs offices are now so short-staffed that there is a backlog of six to eight months in providing requested services to veterans.
Since the government shut down nine district offices across Canada in January 2014, veterans say they now must drive for hours to see someone in person or wait on hold on the phone. Client service agents, who are normally the first point of contact for a veteran seeking services from the department, typically have very high caseloads of 750 to 1,200 veterans each.
Placing the blame on public sector workers for the policies imposed by the Conservatives is unfair. We are demanding that the government cease all cuts to Veterans Affairs, reopen the front-line offices across Canada and bring outsourced services back in-house.
This would ensure that no more veterans are forced to prove their war injuries over and over again. The status quo is an insult to all of the brave women and men who served and continue to serve our country.
Carl Gannon, National President, Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, Ottawa
Since the government shut down nine district offices across Canada in January 2014, veterans say they now must drive for hours to see someone in person or wait on hold on the phone. Client service agents, who are normally the first point of contact for a veteran seeking services from the department, typically have very high caseloads of 750 to 1,200 veterans each.
Placing the blame on public sector workers for the policies imposed by the Conservatives is unfair. We are demanding that the government cease all cuts to Veterans Affairs, reopen the front-line offices across Canada and bring outsourced services back in-house.
This would ensure that no more veterans are forced to prove their war injuries over and over again. The status quo is an insult to all of the brave women and men who served and continue to serve our country.
Carl Gannon, National President, Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, Ottawa
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