Westman Area Council Rally

As you may be aware that the Veterans office in Brandon as well as 8 other offices in Canada were closed over a year ago. The veterans are feeling the effect of the closure.This has meant that veterans in Brandon, Corner Brook, Charlottetown, Sydney, Thunder Bay, Windsor, Saskatoon, Kelowna and Prince George have lost access to crucial in-person services.

Since the offices were closed in January 2014, veterans say they now must drive for hours to see someone in person or wait on hold on the phone. Despite the best efforts of Veterans Affairs Canada workers, the new system is virtually impossible for them to manage. Employees at Service Canada do their best, but are not given the specialized training and access to the veterans’ files that are needed to help veterans with complicated pension and benefit claims.

And while the government assured veterans that there would be case managers available in every city where an office was closed, these workers can barely keep up with the demand. The number of files on their desks continue to grow and this only frustrates veterans more.

One in five Canadian veterans suffering from a mental illness and injury is being forced to wait more than eight months before their requests for help are answered.

In Brandon we are home to many veterans who need this service. They need the personal contact, they need the Veterans office to re-open.

On February 16, 2015 at 2:00 PM the PSAC Prairie Region Westman Area Council will be holding a rally at the Boissevain border crossing. This rally will not interrupt the Customs processing as we will be meeting off to the right where Travel Manitoba used to be.

We are extending you an invite to attend the rally to support the Veterans in our area.

Jennifer Grant

WMAC President