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CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO RECOGNIZE VETS OF
U.S. ATOMIC
BOMB TESTING FALLOUT -- Canadian veterans exposed
to
radiation in the Nevada desert 50 years ago
during atomic weapons
tests will soon receive recognition and possibly
compensation.
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Story here...
http://www.canada.com/topics/ne
ws/politics/story.html?id=6be082e4-b370-49c
1-ba56-31c3b63519ea&k=98693
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Government to recognize veterans of U.S. atomic
bomb testing fallout
Mike Blanchfield
CanWest News Service
OTTAWA - Canadian veterans exposed to radiation in the Nevada desert 50
years ago during atomic weapons tests will soon receive recognition and
possibly compensation, Defence Minister Peter MacKay suggested Thursday.
"I hope to have an announcement very soon that will provide what I think
is the necessary recognition for the extraordinary service of those atomic
veterans, those members of the Canadian Forces who did exceptional duty
for our country," said MacKay, emerging from a meeting of the Commons
defence committee.
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Asked whether financial compensation would be
part of his announcement, MacKay replied: "I promise you it's coming very
soon. I'm sensitive to the fact that they have waited a long time. So out
of respect for them I want to tell them first."
Veterans had threatened to launch a class action lawsuit against the
federal government after reports emerged that MacKay's predecessor in the
defence portfolio, Gordon O'Connor, was planning a $24,000 lump sum
payment for each veteran.
Surviving soldiers have complained in the past that that degree of
compensation was inadequate and that MacKay's office was giving them the
brush-off.
MacKay lauded the sacrifice of the veterans and stressed that he has taken
a "hands on" approach in recent days to resolve the matter. He said he met
Wednesday with Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson to discuss the
plight of the veterans.
MacKay said the Conservatives would respond in a way that was in keeping
with their record on responding to various crises and concerns surrounding
the needs of veterans since taking office, including the $96.5-million
Agent Orange compensation package for veterans exposed to the toxic
defoliant at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
That package will give the 4,500 affected veterans a one-time payment of
$20,000 each, an amount criticized as inadequate by the group representing
the group.
As far as the Canada's atomic veterans are concerned, they want to see
compensation in the range of $75,000 per person, the amount the U.S.
government paid out in the 1980s to military personnel affected by the
nuclear tests.
After complaining that they were ignored by the government for decades, a
January 2007 report produced for O'Connor concluded that the level of
protection the men received was questionable, and that some personnel were
"exposed to radioactive contamination on the testing grounds where they
had to live, sometimes for months at a time."
It appears that the case may have been delayed by the August cabinet
shuffle that saw MacKay replace O'Connor at Defence.
Since then, MacKay said he has moved fast to try to resolve the matter.
"I've taken a very hands-on approach," said MacKay. "This is one that I've
personally committed to with those who are affected and I want to see it
through very quickly. So we're working double-time to make it happen."
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