Question For Bob. Canadian Veterans

[Dave Hounddriver]

I was going to ask I Am Bob a private question about Canadian Veterans but perhaps others will also be interested so perhaps he, or another Canadian Forces serviceman, will have an answer:

 

What does Veteran Affairs consider a Veteran for the purpose of benefits to a surviving spouse?  It seems to have changed over the years.

 

After 20 years in the RCAF/CAF the closest my father got to a war zone was Germany during the 'Cold War'.  When he was alive he tried to claim for hearing loss from the sound of small arms fire during exercises and the claim was denied.  Now there seems to be a broader definition?

 

Reason for the request:  He passed on long ago.  (18 years after retiring from the forces)  and my mother is wondering if there are any benefits available to her as the spouse of a 'veteran'

 

I ask here because searches of the Veterans Affairs web site and questions via email have proven to be an exercise in futility.  They go out of their way to be vague and insist that all questions be asked in person by my mother who is 78 and easily confused.

 

What say you Bob?

[i am bob]

Good morning Dave!

 

The best thing your mom could do is approach her local Canadian Legion.  Yes, it is more of a social club for many but their mandate is to help former members of the Canadian Armed Forces.  They can direct her to every possible source of assistance.  The people who will be helping her are usually familiar with working with older people such as your mother and will do their best to ensure that she understands - hopefully even making repeat trips to see her.

 

Just out of curiousity - did you father pay into the SDB (Supplementary Death Benefits) and, if so, did your mother claim upon your father's passing?  This is a low-cost term insurance that pays twice his annual salary and then decreases the payout after the age of 60.  For the cost (If I remember correctly, it's something like $1 for every $10,000 salary).

 

If your father carried over his PSHCP (the Health Insurance plan formerly called GSMIP), your mother would be entitled to have kept this as well as the dental plan available.

 

Also if you father set your mother up for Survivor's Benefits before he retired, his pension would have been reduced a little bit over the years and then, once he passed, your mother would be entitled to a pension - this would be smaller than what your father's was but still it is better than nothing.

 

Note that all the above cost your father $ to be a member of except for the Survivor's Benefit which was just deferring part of his pension to your mother after his passing.  The others could be determined if he had obtained them or not by simply looking at any of his (retirement) pay statements if one is available.  I can't remember if they are reflected on the T4 or not.  Possibly a call to the Canadian Armed Forces Pension Office will be able to give you that information or direct you to where you can.  I have spoken with people there several times and they really do try to help as best they can - and sometimes will be able to give you information that you will have trouble finding anywhere else.  Plus they would know the administrative answer to what your mother is entitled to as well as where she can go to see about getting other benefits that may be available.  If you call, you will need to explain who you are, have your father's retirement ID number (his service number will do usually) and they probably will only be able to give you general information as it is hard to confirm who you are over the phone - this information is considered confidential.  They should help you finda way to get around this.

 

To be honest, we CAF retirees don't really get much in the way of benefits.  Our health and dental insurance is the same one all Federal employees are entitled with a few small modifications to the insurer's benefit.  For some reason, people think we get all these great tax free benefits throughout our careers and retirement.  NOT!  I even have been refused service at one of the CANEX (the Canadian Exchange) while they disregarded the fact that I had a Military (retired) ID in my hand.  All I wanted was laundry soap.  We do not get lower taxes but pay the same as everybody else.  We do not get lower cost housing if we lived on base - the rents are based on the cost of renting a similar (usually in much better shape) residence in the closest city.  And when we start to collect Canada Pension?  That is clawed back off our military pensions.  We end up destroying our bodies in the course of our career yet we are expected to keep on giving after retirement rather than getting a benefit.  You saw this with your father's hearing.  In my case, it was loss of short term memory, no sense of balance, almost no feeling in my legs, a hand that shakes uncontrollably after any stress is put upon it and a bad heart that has tried to kill me twice through heart failure.  Disregarding the bad heart which was unknown at the time of retirement?  I was medically retired (no options) with my pension indexed to the cost of living annually.  Or so they say..  hehe!  Gee...   My pension almost paid me $17,000 this past year before taxes and before taking off my health insurance and SDB.  And because there is a pension involved, don't make the mistake of thinking I will ever get Employment Insurance (though I pay into it) or Welfare (though I pay taxes for it) because I'm not entitled to it.  So if I don't work, I starve.

 

Sorry if I got a little on the excited side at the end - but gee...  Benefits?  We would probably live better and have much better benefits if we all went to jail.  At least that is the way it seems the government looks at it.

[i am bob]

Sorry all if I sound a little perturbed by the end of my post above.  Nothing makes my blood boil as this subject and how we who destroyed ourselves in the service of our country get so little back in return.  

 

So I am now going to forget that this was even here, take a happy pill (coffee with double cream) and go merrily on my way...  La la lalalala... La la la la la...  La la lalalala...  Hmmmm...  sounds like the old Smurf's song...  hehe!

 

:th_hu:  :shooter:  :bonk:  :th_exactly:  :sign0095:

[Jake]

Sorry all if I sound a little perturbed by the end of my post above.  Nothing makes my blood boil as this subject and how we who destroyed ourselves in the service of our country get so little back in return.  

 

So I am now going to forget that this was even here, take a happy pill (coffee with double cream) and go merrily on my way...  La la lalalala... La la la la la...  La la lalalala...  Hmmmm...  sounds like the old Smurf's song...  hehe!

 

:th_hu:  :shooter:  :bonk:  :th_exactly:  :sign0095:

Don't even get me started on the chump change benefits for the US veterans and active duty.   

Good thing I already took my happy pill (coffee spiked with Kahlua) and I am now tip toeing

through the Tulips.  

 

Don't you know that Smurf was heavily into mushrooms.....he, he. 

[i am bob]

Yes, but Jake, you have access to medical for veterans in the Philippines - in Canada, we go through normal public medical where the majority don't understand the conditions we have gone through or even what could be causing some of the conditions.  Contrary to common belief, we don't get everything in Canadian medical for free - that's why we have to get Medical insurance on top.  And that medical insurance will go up over 4 times what I am paying now just to be covered in the Philippines - without paying for the hospital either.  That I have to pay on top myself.  You don't get your pension clawed back once you start collecting your SS benefits.  And, if you retire outside of your country, you don't get charged 25% Income Tax off the top of an insignificant military pension with no benefits or representation coming back.   Wasn't that what the Boston Tea Party was all about?  No taxation without representation?

[Dave Hounddriver]

Thanks for the reply Bob,

 

I understand your frustration as I have heard my parents talk about similar things.  The original post, though, is about my confusion as to what makes a 'veteran' because my mother could get some house help paid for if Dad was a veteran.  I ask because definitions posted by the Canadian Government suggest that you onlyu had to serve 2 miles off shore during a war and you were a veteran, regardless if you ever fired a shot.  So does serving in Germany during the cold war count?  My instinct is to say no and to be thankful that my father was not killed in some far off war.  But for my mother's sake I am still trying to find a way he would qualify for that particular benefit.

 

Thanks for your info.

[i am bob]

After 20 years in the RCAF/CAF the closest my father got to a war zone was Germany during the 'Cold War'.

 

Hey Dave!  After spending some time to cool down from my answer yesterday, I have a bit more for you today...    A lot of this answer depends on where and when you father served.  You said he was RCAF / CAF so that puts him into a couple different catagories.  There are still benefits out there (I believe) for members of the RCAF but I am not sure what they are.  This is one your Mother's local Legion should (and better) help her with.  As he was also still a serving member after mashing everything together and then his retirement after a full career, I can state that he is a Veteran.  Some of the issues that come up are that the Federal Government looks at War Veteran and a Military Veteran are not always the same thing.  Sometimes there are benefits that we Military Vets are not entitled to as we did not serve in actual War Zones.  And that is also where it gets tricky.  You see, there were benefits for those who were in Korea for example that your father would not qualify for.  Now, for those being injured in the current situations (Afghanistan for example), there are medical benefits they can apply for but even they are being ripped off on those.  And they are now being positioned as the same as everybody else - just a Military Veteran.  

 

Like I said, your best bet is to contact the Legion.  They will look to see if there is anything available for your mother.  They may also recommend that she contact a Veteran's Affairs office to have someone help her with this or they may contact them for her as you say she gets a bit confused on what is available and what isn't (who doesn't?).