Canadian Veterans Advocacy Situation Report, Dec 24th, 2011. Seasons greetings from Niagara.

The situation is serious so I will delve right t o the point with the hope that should you be in touch with other veterans over t he holiday season, you might be inclined to discuss the plight of many Canadian disabled veterans and encourage them to support the Advocacy as we fight to have Veterans Affairs Canada's budget excluded from the governments 5-10 percent def icit reduction austerity program. The department is already under resourced and understaffed, that there unacceptable consequences already being inflicted on ou r veterans and that any further cuts will only serve to exacerbate the problem. Ongoing Operations. The CVA continues to focus attention on the government's pro posed 1/2 billion dollar budget cuts to VAC and the consequential impact this wi ll have on the service and standard of care for disabled veterans of all eras. T he primary issue these past two weeks have been revelations by the Union Veteran s Affairs Employees that have certainly justified the CVAs battle for a complete exclusion of Veterans Affairs Canada s operating budget. The quotes provided spe ak for themselves. "Ive had clients pass away before I can get equipment to them, said Vaillancourt, one of 47 people working at the Islands main Veterans Affairs office, located in downtown Victoria. Five staff members work at CFB Esquimalt, helping Canadian Fo rces members transition to civilian life. (Veterans are) falling through the cracks, she said. Vaillancourt has 1,200 files, helping veterans or their widows acquire mobility d evices, disability benefits and pensions, as well as helping them transition to civilian life. Because her workload is so heavy, the Esquimalt resident said she still cant get to paperwork from April. Some colleagues are assisting veterans a s far away as Regina. Surely these revelations are of great concern to Minister Blaney and the leaders hip of Veterans Affairs Canada considering the promises to ensure that the quali ty of care veterans receive will not be affected by the budget cuts? Do they not also question the validity of streamlining the application, claims and service based resources when there is insufficient level of case managers to provide the services they need in a timely and efficient manner that our disabled veterans deserve? The harsh reality of these claims cannot be denied or dismissed, there must be a comprehensive approach to resolving these gross inadequacies and the f ormal acknowledgment on behalf of the minister that resources committed to provi de for veterans health requirements will not be restricted by the governments ind iscriminate slash and burn approach to deficit-reduction or any dishonourable sc heme to pay off the national deficit on the backs of our disabled veterans. St Anne de Bellevue. Last week, the directors of the Canadian Veterans Advocacy traveled to Montral from Southern Ontario to support the UVAE s campaign to ensur e that the standard of care for Ste Anne de Bellevues 400+ residents have been ac corded by Veterans Affairs Canada for nearly a century will be maintained after the facility is transferred to provincial control and converted into a long term care facility open to the general public. Mr. Clark, CVA Client Services and I visited St. Anne s after the last VAC Stakeholders Committee meeting in October and as reported during the last sit-rep, we were provided with a comprehensive b riefing by Madame Gravel on the facilities current status. Mr Lalonde, OSISS, al so provided a presentation about the national program and role Ste Annes currentl y provided. The presentations were followed by tours of the wards dedicated to o ur WW2 and Korean War era veterans. No questions were avoided, information was o ffered willingly, with great sincerity and with that in mind I would inform you that I was amazed at the standard of care, the compassion... Veteran s hospital, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC

Our government has a sacred obligation to these 400+ veterans call St. Ann s the ir home. Many are suffering not only from service related disabilities but the n atural physical and cognitive issues of growing older. A majority of these veter ans are between the age of 80 and 95, they have become accustomed to the dedicat ed efforts VAC has provided and their relationship with staff is far much more c omplex than that of a orderly/patient relationship. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you like some stranger come into your room at three o clock in the mornin g to change your diaper or someone you trust, know, and feel comfortable with af ter years of care and treatment? This is a issue directly concerning the QUALITY OF LIFE of our World War II and Korean era veterans deserve, the standard of ex cellence which Veterans Affairs Canada has attained at this facility and the nee d for binding safeguards, incorporated by the Harper Government, to ensure that the staff and the existing infrastructure responsible for the standard of excell ence remains dedicated to veterans once the hospital is transferred.The budget c uts and the issue at Ste. Anne de Bellevue are interconnected, one cannot be sep arated from the other! CTV NEWS Ste Anne Hospital 15 Dec 2011 Minister Blaneys response to our pro-active presence at Ste Annes on the 15th does not address the standard of care issue nor the safeguards we are seeking to hav e implemented on behalf of the residents. The government would deflect attention from the primary issues by prioritizing priority care and services offered in F rench and English, issues that have never been in question. Minister Blaney did not address the issue of credible safeguards to ensure these veterans live out t heir lives in the dignified standard they have been provided. Is it acceptable to you that Canadian veterans are dying before they are being p rovided the equipment that would have improved the quality of their lives prior to their deaths? Is it acceptable to you that one caseworker would have 1200 fil es of her desk and is backlogged on some for up to eight months? Is this the sta ndard of care that you would expect for those who have been wounded or injured i n the service of their nation? is it any wonder that so many veterans feel that they have been abandoned by this government? How can we ignore the plight of vet erans of all eras, of those we have served with, who are suffering from mental o r physical trauma and are NOT being provided the services they are entitled to b y Veterans Affairs Canada because, even before the HALF BILLION DOLLAR cuts, the department has neither the staff or resources to fulfill its mandate?

Will we abandon the veterans residents of St Annes, those who fought at Ortona, J uno Beach, Kapyong, Hills 355 and 187 will we stand passive while our government abandons them to an unknown standard? Will we, veterans and patriots, ignore the plight of the nation s most vulnerable veterans and the responsibility we have to rally to our brothers/sister in arms defense? Will we ignore the fact that ve terans are dying before they are receiving the services they need! Does this ref lect the standards of YOUR Canada? This could be YOU tomorrow! Or your wife, husband, son or daughter; every genera tion of veterans will be affected

Shall we to abandon the Sacred Obligation as has our government, who would now, even though profound existing inadequacies have been exposed, further decimate t he budget responsible for our wounded warriors, RCMP and Police service officers

? Vigil for Veterans, 1st reading, Budget, House of Commons, Parliament Hill. The re is still time for us to unite and to have an impact on the governments decisio n. There is still time to fight to have VAC Budget excluded from any deficit red uction schemes, to encourage the Harper Government to accept its moral obligatio n to our disabled veterans, to honour the Sacred Bond that all Canadian parliame nts are obliged to uphold once they send Canadas Sons and daughters into Harms Way . To ensure the government and, equally important, the Canadian public hears our message, the Canadian Veterans Advocacy is organizing a Vigil for Veterans RALL Y on Parliament Hill to coincide with the first reading of the budget in the Hou se of Commons. We must put a face to the misery the Harper government will inflict upon veteran s of all eras should they follow through with the proposed budget cuts. Our miss ion, which will be conducted with great respect and dignity, will be to focus t he nations attention on the current level of substandard treatment our veterans a re being accorded by questioning the commitment they have to Canadas wounded warr iors and veterans, those who will suffer the profoundly adverse effects any furt her cuts would bear upon an already overburdened department? Let us be realistic, the system is already deeply flawed, under-resourced and ov er-stretched. A further half billion dollars in budget reduction will leave no V AC client unaffected, whether it be through the abandonment of the standard of e xcellence the residents of Ste Anne de Bellevue currently enjoy or the counter-p roductive impact (see Victoria link) on VACs ability to provide services at a sta ndard inclusive of prompt service and the expedient provision of treatment/servi ces/compensation.

The Canadian Veterans Advocacy is encouraging veterans and Canadian patriots, th ose who have not served but support veterans honourable quest to defend our woun ded veterans, to join with us on Parliament Hill during the 1st reading of the 2012 budget in the House of Commons. Strategically, this is a period where the n ational media, on all levels/mediums, traditionally provides live, nationwide co verage. We hope the concurrent presence of as many disabled veterans as we can m uster and their supporters outside the House of Commons on Parliament Hill will provide an opportunity to focus national attention on the TRUTH, that our messag e will be broadcast into the homes of millions of Canadians. God willing, they w ill hear veterans cries, they will feel compassion for the the suffering these u njust policies are/have created and with true patriot love, they will rally to o ur cause to support those who have suffered the consequences of war and peace We cannot, as a veterans community, win this battle alone. We do not have the numbers or the unified presence of the traditional veterans or ganizations, nor is their time to launch a campaign to solicit their help. The t ask falls to us, veterans who believe that the oath of allegiance does not have an expiry date, that the bond we share with our brothers/sisters in arms is as s trong now as it was when we served. We must adapt, recognize that we must attain the general public s support if we are to generate the levels of political pres sure required to convince the government of Canada to embrace is SACRED OBLIGATI ON to our troops, not shun it as they have been doing these past five years. This situation is further compounded by the fact that the budget issue is time s ensitive, ie, BUDGET DAY! The strongest weapon in the Canadian Veterans Advocacys arsenal at this time is t he TRUTH!

If we can assemble under one voice, if we focus Canadians attention on the conse quences of the budget cuts to Canada s Sons and Daughters, military, RCMP and Po lice Services veterans... we can prevail. Once the parliamentary budget dates are set, formal announcements will be issued in relationship to the time and duration of the rally. Artist Don Ward has crea ted some posters for the CVA, samples of which I have attached. I repeat! The situation is critical, veterans of all eras, of all wars, peacekee ping and peacemaking missions are directly threatened by the impact these arbitr ary budget cuts will impart to VACs ability to provide expedient and proficient c are to Canadas sons and daughters who have sacrificed so much in Canadas name. Budget day! Think about it. Think about what you can do to make a difference in a disabled veteran and his family s life? The CVA executive will be traveling to Ottawa from Niagara Falls, a very long tr ip (for me-health) but one that is absolutely necessary if we are to lead by exa mple.I would encourage you to follow team Niagaras example, to muster a car or va nload of veterans from your community, share travel expenses to stand beside us on Parliament Hill for the afternoon for what very well could one of the most im portant events in veterans advocacy. Your presence will make a profound differen ce, the effort they YOU made to journey to Ottawa symbolic of the patriotic spir it we share to ensure that all veterans, of all eras, are treated with the digni fied standard of care reflective of a nation that acknowledges the Sacred Obliga tion parliament has for those they send to abroad to wage war, enforce the peace or engage in humanitarian operations in the aftermath the globes most destructiv e natural catastrophes in Canada s name. Pennies for Veterans. Once again I would extend our gratitude to the anonymous donor who deposited a little over $1800 to the Pennies for Veterans national ban k account. Funds generated through this program/account are fully dedicated to s upporting authenticated homeless veterans outreach programs. Since July 10, when the program was inaugurated at the Canadian Veterans National Rendezvous in Nia gara Falls, we have raised close to $5000. To date, we have sent $1000 to Calgar y Constable John Langford s homeless veterans housing project in Calgary and $30 00 to Halifax based Veterans Emergency Transitions Services (VETS) Canada s proa ctive outreach operation in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The CVA is a long-standing sup porter of the VETS Canada and after meeting with president and founder Jim Lowth er at the CVNRV this past summer and discussed the VETS Canada concept at length , recognizes the urgent need for a dedicated organization willing to conduct pro active, ie, go out on the streets, outreach programs that focus on the plight of homeless veterans. Jim and his team have led the way in Halifax and over the pa st year has established an organization capable of effectively seeking out and o ffering assistance to veterans who are living on the streets of Halifax. We shar e in his dream to expand this project to include a home wherein veterans in tran sition have a place to reside with the proper levels of peer/professional suppor t and without the pressures of living on the streets in reference to addictions or any other form of self-destructive behavior. We hope this will be a pilot pro ject, one that will eventually expand throughout Canada, particularly in locatio ns, such as Halifax, wherein there are no dedicated veterans organizations prese nt to address their needs.

I trust we have provided enough things to ponder over the holiday period and as we enjoy the joyous time with loved ones and friends, I would encourage you to s pare a thought about the times when you/we served this nation abroad at this won derful time, of those who shared this profound experience, many who need our hel

p now and those longer present to share in our good fortune. Their spirit lives within our memories, we have only to remember... On behalf of the entire CVA team, I would extend to you a wonderful holiday seas on resplendent with the warmth of loved ones, good health, good friendship, good cheer, prosperity in spirit and happiness in the New Year. Pro Patria Semper Fidelis Michael L Blais CD Founder/President, Canadian Veterans Advocacy 6618 Harper Drive, Niagara Falls, Ont, Cda. L2E 7K6 // 905-357-3306 // Cell 905-359-9247 info@canadianveteransadvocacy.com http://www.canadianveteransadvocacy.com/index.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/CdnVetsAdvocacy/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/150134285064687/