Erin O'Toole, Julian Fantino's equally ghastly replacement

[tay]

Yesterday I told you how Erin O'Toole, Julian Fantino's equally ghastly replacement, had gone after Mike Blais and his Veterans group.


http://forums.canadiancontent.net/c...arper-governments-contempt-veterans-year.html




Now it turns out that wasn't an isolated incident, it's part of an all-out offensive.



Because today we found out that the Cons are also going after the distinguished veteran's advocate




A veterans' advocate in Whitney Pier said he's been told by the federal government he can no longer help former military members navigate the bureaucracy of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board.


Keith Neville has successfully advocated for 48 veterans having their cases heard by the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, which provides veterans and other applicants with an independent avenue of appeal for disability decisions made by Veterans Affairs Canada.


In July, the board sent Neville a letter saying he was no longer allowed to represent any veterans in any future cases against the board.


"Forty-eight cases were done and 48 cases were overturned," Neville said Tuesday. "So I've been making them look bad."
The letter from the board stated the requirements for representing a client have changed.


Non-lawyer representatives who do not comply with the expected standards will no longer be able to act on behalf of clients in proceedings before the board, it said.


Neville is not a lawyer.


Peter Stoffer, the veterans affairs critic for the New Democratic Party, was in Cape Breton on Tuesday to support Neville and said the process was nothing more than a manhunt. Stoffer said Neville is just a man who knows the system and how to fill out the paperwork.


"I am absolutely disgusted and I feel so sorry not for only Mr. Neville and his reputation, but the veterans and the family members he is supporting," Stoffer said.



"Let's not forget Mr. Neville doesn't do this for money, he doesn't do it for glory or for medals. He does it because he likes veterans and he wants to help them."


more


Advocate Keith Neville ordered to stop work with veterans' appeals - Nova Scotia - CBC News

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Well done, Mr. Harper!

If people start to believe that they can be represented by knowledgeable, intelligent individual who aren't lawyers, there goes the neighbourhood. And the Mercedeses.

 

[tay]

Reduced staff at Veterans Affairs struggle with caseload






The number of Veterans Affairs Canada case managers fell by almost one-fifth over the past three years as employees warned of cripplingly high caseloads.


Case managers deal individually with veterans who have faced severe physical or psychological trauma. Their numbers had remained stable for several years until 2011.


Between then and 2014, their ranks dropped 18 per cent from 309 staff to 254, said documents newly tabled in Parliament.


Their caseloads are a matter of dispute. The department said the average caseload worker has 35 clients, which is below the target range of 40. But the head of the union that represents workers said that number is “not reality” and the actual caseload is around 50 veterans per worker.


“They’re struggling right now,” said Carl Gannon, president of the Union of Veterans Employees.


“They’re trying to manage an amount of files that is not manageable.”


The federal auditor general tried to look into the issue last year but did not get a solid number on caseloads.


Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole has been making a slew of funding announcements in recent weeks to try to address veteran complaints.


Reached in Ottawa on Tuesday, O’Toole said the department is aware of and looking at the issue of overworking, but that won’t necessarily mean hiring more managers.


“We’re looking at how we can use the resources we have better,” he said.


“In the last few years, we’ve actually seen the overall total population of veterans decrease at a time that we’re actually spending more. But we’re spending more in new ways.”


In particular, O’Toole pointed to occupational stress and injury clinics across the country that can provide services and lighten the load on case managers.


However, Gannon said the clinics help but have not yet resulted in a lighter workload.


What does seem clear is that change is coming. The department is moving away from a system that purely targets case manager-to-veteran ratios.


It is moving toward a caseload points-scale system that takes into account risk, complexity and intensity measures, the department said in response to a parliamentary query from Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.


Exactly what the new system will look like is being ironed out, O’Toole said.


“This is what we’re trying to review. A number is just a number. We have to look behind that to see the individual veteran. Some complex mental health cases certainly require more ongoing work than, say, a veteran with a physical injury.”




Reduced staff at Veterans Affairs struggle with caseload | The Chronicle Herald