Dozens of injured veterans and their supporters gathered in Burnaby’s Central Park on Sunday to raise money for their ongoing legal battle with the federal government.
The event - Equitas Society’s first-ever Walk for Veterans - aims to defray the cost of the society’s class-action lawsuit, which seeks to reinstate lifetime pensions for veterans injured in the line of duty.
In 2005, the federal government replaced the pension plan for injured soldiers with a lump sum payment worth a maximum of $360,000 - an amount Equitas Society president Mark Burchell says isn’t enough for people who risked their lives for their country.
“It’s substantially lower than what the pension act offered,” Burchell said of the current system. “Prime Minister Trudeau, when he was running for election in 2015, promised to reinstate lifelong pensions and he hasn’t kept that promise, so we’re here to send him a message.”
Aaron Bedard was among those walking on Sunday. He was injured in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2006, during one of Canada’s earliest missions in the country.
He told CTV News he sustained brain and spine injuries during his tour, and has spent the better part of a decade going to medical assessments and filling out government forms in order to obtain compensation.
“Veterans Affairs Canada and Department of National Defence didn’t do a great job of managing my issues and giving me a proper treatment plan,” Bedard said. “I need to see better security - lifelong security in the form of a pension.”
The Trudeau government has said that it will soon introduce a new pension “option” soon. Veterans Affairs didn’t respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
Conservative MP John Brassard, who recently served as his party’s critic for veterans affairs, said the Trudeau government has not kept its promise on pensions.
“They’re now changing their tune,” he said. “They’re talking about an option of a lifelong pension and nobody really knows what that means. The Prime Minister made it very clear he was going to return life long pensions and he hasn’t done that at this point.”
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts
