The Recorder
SUDBURY—The president of the Manitoulin-North Shore War Pensioners of Canada (WPC) is appalled that the Ontario government is rejecting emergency grant programs for veterans of recent conflicts while returning most of its budget unspent every year to the government.
“The federal government pulled this same type of stunt in 2014,” said Colin Pick, on Monday. “If you remember back then, there was something like $1.1 billion that should have gone to veterans that was instead returned to the federal treasury. Now we find out the Ontario government is doing likewise,” he explained.
“The only thing I can figure is that this is more of the Doug Ford government’s cuts, being made without any compassion or concern as to who gets hurt,” said Mr. Pick.
Global News reported on March 26 that the Ontario Soldiers’ Aid Commission (SAC), the province’s emergency grant program for veterans, turns away veterans of recent conflicts while returning most of its budget unspent every year to the government.
The provincial law it works under was last updated in 1970 and doesn’t let it provide money to veterans of any conflict that is more recent than the Korean War, it was reported. This means that while veterans of more recent wars can ask the volunteer board for help, none can be given grants.
The SAC, Canada’s only provincial veterans program, can grant veterans up to $2,000 to deal with emergencies such as rent payments, home repairs or moving costs. For veterans who qualify, it has filled a gap, since Veterans Affairs Canada until recently didn’t provide one-off payments to meet specific needs, reported Global News. However, it was explained over 60 percent of the commission’s $253,000 budget goes unspent for lack of qualified applicants, heavily censored documents released to Global News under access-to-information laws show.
The SAC was founded in 1915 to help returning soldiers find their feet in civilian life and get jobs.
“The bottom line is it seems the only first-class citizens in this country are some of the politicians and the big business owners, and it’s like the working class don’t matter any more,” said Mr. Pick. “It is a real head scratcher. This is supposed to be money that is to be disbursed to help veterans and their families be happy. Why is it being denied?”
