The NDP is calling on the Conservatives to provide adequate long-term care and assistance to Canadian veterans who have served in combat or peacekeeping missions after the Korean War.
“Conservative inaction on providing adequate aid to Canada’s veterans from more recent missions is shameful. Colonel Neil Russell’s case is among them,” said Irene Mathyssen, NDP MP for London—Fanshawe. “He can’t get the long-term care he needs and deserves because Veterans Affairs is refusing to give post-Korean War veterans beds in long-term care facilities.”
Colonel Russell has waited for months for access to a long-term care bed through Veterans Affairs, only to be denied by the Minister and told he would have to pay for his own bed in a provincial facility, despite a vacancy of 37 beds dedicated to veterans at a local hospital.
“Is this how the Conservatives think veterans should be treated? To be turned out on the street with no care?” asked NDP Veterans Affairs critic Peter Stoffer (Sackville—Eastern Shore). “The reality is that veterans from post-Korean War missions are getting older, and they deserve the care and assistance required and paid for by the federal government through Veterans Affairs.”
