Harper government refuses to help veterans in need

For Immediate Release
February 11, 2010

OTTAWA – The recent cases of Canadian veterans being shut out of Ste. Anne’s veterans hospital is just the latest example of how the Harper government is abandoning our veterans in need, Liberal Veterans Affairs Critic Rob Oliphant said today. 

“Veterans groups signed on to the 2006 New Veterans Charter with the understanding that the government would use it to meet the needs of veterans as they arose,” said Mr. Oliphant.

“The Charter gives Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn the discretion to step in and ensure things like this don’t happen. And yet he won’t even respond to inquiries made to him by family members who are fighting to get their loved ones the health care they deserve.”

In the last week, two Canadian veterans have come forward to protest being shut out of Ste. Anne’s hospital, located in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec. Funded and operated by Veterans Affairs Canada, it is the country’s last remaining federally-controlled veterans’ facility that serves as a national centre for the care of Canada’s heroes. 

Mr. Oliphant, who recently toured the facility, was shocked to learn that there is currently an entire floor left vacant, while clients who should be eligible wait for a bed.  According to media reports, the hospital is negotiating to lease the space, which contains 30 long-term care beds, to another hospital. (Montreal Gazette, Feb. 9, 2010)

“Ste. Anne’s Hospital is in place to ensure our veterans have priority access to care,” Mr. Oliphant said. “No veteran should have to endure waiting while beds sit empty. If ever there was an instance where the government should step in and use the New Veterans Charter to resolve a matter, this is it.”

“If nothing else, the government should intervene because it recently made a $150-million investment to modernize and expand the facility,” Mr. Oliphant added. “After Veterans Affairs Canada made such a significant investment, it is only fair that veterans are able to take advantage of some improvements.” 

“This government loves to bill itself as the great defender of our men and women in uniform, but when their actions don’t match their words, it’s just empty rhetoric. I call on the Minister to make it immediately clear that as long as there are beds lying empty, no veteran in Canada will be kept out,” Mr. Oliphant concluded.
-30-

Contact:    

Office of Rob Oliphant, MP: 613-992-2855