Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank everyone for coming today.
I would advise our committee to turn to pages 16 and 17 of the report you gave us, and the examples of Alain, Maria, and Terry. I just want to say how disappointed I am to see these three examples--and there are probably thousands out there--of people who have to suffer the way they do because they've been medically released. In Terry's case, he believes he was kicked out of the military. I find it unconscionable that in 2009 we still have these examples, and many, many more.
Have you brought these up to the veterans ombudsman or the DND ombudsman? Does your advisory group work closely with those two ombudsmen in order to assist DVA and DND in mitigating what I heard referred to the other day as “cracks”? These aren't cracks; these are crevasses and major holes.
I want to give you an example from Roddie Ohandley's testimony. He was here the other day. He is a disabled RCMP officer who gets 64% of his salary from his annuity, but because he was entitled to 75%, Great-West Life, that fantastic insurance company, topped it up by 11%. That 11% top-up only goes for two years. After that he's told he should apply for Canada Pension Plan disability, which he does. He's entitled to it and gets a $16,000 lump sum.
The first thing the RCMP's annuity does is take $11,000 of that back, and Great-West Life wants $8,000 back. The total of $11,000 and $8,000 is $19,000. He only got $16,000, so he owes money because of his disability. Then, when he turns 65, bang, he gets hit again--not once, not twice, but three times.
I ask you folks this: in the spirit of fairness to a person who wore the uniform of Canada, is that fair? What can your advisory group advise the government and all of us as to how we can fix this, not two years from now, but right now?
Thank you.