Mr. Speaker, I rise as a consequence of the response from the Minister of National Defence regarding the treatment of soldiers injured during the line of duty as members of joint task force 2, Canada's anti-terrorism unit. It is important to have the federal government go on the record to officially recognize that a problem does exist.
The Minister of National Defence's initial assertion to the House on February 2 that there was no problem other than some silly paperwork that may or may not be getting done is clearly unacceptable to Canadians. I was shocked, and I know many serving members of the Canadian military were, to find out that there was a problem with pensions for veterans and to hear the minister dismiss those concerns as a silly little political football to be kicked around by the government when accountability is called for.
Let me assure all currently serving members and veterans of Canada's armed forces that as long as one individual is denied benefits to which he or she is legally entitled, there is a problem and it must be fixed. I take the concerns of all veterans seriously. I would hope the Minister of National Defence would do the same.
Injured soldiers should not have to beg for their pensions. It is an absolute disgrace that a soldier who is disabled in the line of duty would be denied a pension, yet this has been the case for soldiers who are members of joint task force 2. As a result of the cloak of secrecy that the Prime Minister has placed on all activities of JTF2, its commanders are afraid to report injuries because they fear they are being charged under the Official Secrets Act.
While the government will not admit that recruitment efforts to the military have consistently fallen short, I am not surprised that potential recruits would be unwilling to serve if they thought they would not receive due consideration if injured in the line of duty with a special unit like JTF2 or in a special operation.
The effective date of entitlement for a military pension is usually the date of application. There is an agreement between the Department of National Defence and the Department of Veterans Affairs to share medical information once a privacy release has been signed by the soldier. In the absence of any paperwork confirming that a soldier was in service at the time of injury, there is no documentation to confirm the injury even occurred.
When I asked my question in the House, there were JTF2 veterans who were being denied a disability pension for injuries received while being members of the Canadian armed forces. This problem has been going on for years and will only get worse, which reflects the element of danger associated with the war against terrorism.
A part of the solution may be the suggestion to designate all JTF2 activity as special deployment operations. This designation would allow for an injury to be reported without the need to provide details of the operation in which the injury occurred. By establishing a date of injury, the injured soldier would be able to establish a disability claim.
I find the government's insensitivity to the plight of the disabled veterans shocking. It is a problem that has been going on for years. This problem affects other soldiers than JTF2. Any soldier on a special deployment operation that the government refuses to acknowledge will find themselves in a similar situation.
During World War II soldiers who were used for chemical warfare testing were denied disability pensions. The government refused to admit to the Canadian public it was involved in that type of activity. In the absence of any documentation and a seal being placed on evidence by labelling it an official secret, most of those individuals died never receiving any compensation for being used as guinea pigs to test chemical weapons. It is shameful that more than 60 years would pass before some attempt would be made to remedy the wrongs done to Canadian soldiers by their own government.