Veterans Affairs committee  I haven't, but I've seen this case before—

Veterans Affairs committee  The desired outcome is just that the benefits packages offered to soldiers be equal. And really, for the severely disabled under Bill C-55 and so on, a lot of ground has been missed. The biggest problem I see coming right now are these partially disabled soldiers who were reservists, who are now out on civvy street trying to find jobs.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, we've written a 72-page document compares it to workmen's compensation. For instance, I'll give you my son's case. He would get—I'm just doing this by memory right now—10% of his income for a lost spleen, 15% for a lost kidney. The pancreas would have to be reassessed on its own.

Veterans Affairs committee  You're 100% on and I've talked to the Veterans Ombudsman and he wanted to start at the top and work down, so his report is on the severely disabled. When you get past the severely disabled to the moderately disabled, who are 40% disabled let's say, and to the partially disabled, who are 15-20% disabled, that's really where you're finding your big issues with the new Veterans Charter.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a very good question because I think the trigger to be severely disabled is 78%, so 80% would make this person disabled and they would get their lump sum and then monthly support payments. Our position on this is very simple: you're so bloody close to having a real pension if you just didn't reduce it at age 65, because at 65, you go to what you call a 2% pension.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would have to take a look at it. What's causing your spike? Is it the fact that you have more claims because you've been at war for 10 years? I just don't know. I think this is one of the issues on which, as we get farther down into the legal matters, we will be subpoenaing these documents and having analysts take a look at them.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll comment, and then maybe Don Sorochan can comment. I think one of the issues in this particular action by Equitas is that people see it as a slight to the government for soldiers to ask the courts to define their rights and benefits. As we send our soldiers overseas, we always say it's because we want to install democracy in countries like Afghanistan.

Veterans Affairs committee  We're not looking at the funding model for this. That will be your job. We're looking at the effect model. What effect is it having? For instance, my son's compensation, with $41,500 for his injuries, is disproportionately low. How that funding created this situation, I don't know.

Veterans Affairs committee  Does that mean you're spending more on the basis of a comparison between the charter and the act? Or does it mean you're spending more because there are more people going through the system? I just don't know.

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have those numbers. I would have to take a look at them. One of the things is that with the lump-sum payments you're basically prepaying the first 10 years of their benefits. That's where the tipping point comes as far as where you start to save. Normally under a pension scheme you amortize your costs over 60 years, so let's say that you had a 25-year old person, you would have payments over 60 years.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a very good question and normally there's a grandfathering clause for most contracts when you make a fundamental change—and that's reflected in the report that we've submitted to you. In this particular case, you have people enrolling and signing to one set of circumstances and then having that set of circumstances change in the mid-contract period with no grandfathering provisions.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sorry, when you say “duty,” which duty are you referring to?

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much. I would like to reiterate that we really appreciate this opportunity to appear before your committee, first as the parents of a veteran, and second, in my case, as the president of the Equitas Disabled Soldiers Funding Society, which is a non-partisan, volunteer, and now national organization.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Peter Ladies and gentlemen, we're very honoured to be here to be able to address this important issue. I'll introduce those who have come with us: Glen Kirkland, who does not know that I used to commute to work with his dad and used to see him when he was just a young kid, days back in Delta that he doesn't remember; Aaron Bedard from Vancouver, one of the representative plaintiffs in a pending class action lawsuit run by the law firm Miller Thomson; Kevin Berry, a war veteran, who is also a representative plaintiff; and me, the father of a veteran who was looking into why there were issues with the new Veterans Charter; and Don Sorochan, the lead counsel for Miller Thomson, representing the plaintiffs through the legal process.