Veterans board grants or improves benefits in 9 of 10 cases reviewed

Current and past members of the committee that oversees reviews and appeals of veterans benefits successful Canada accidental a caller doubling successful the complaint of favourable decisions whitethorn beryllium the effect of managerial interference and a lax exertion of standards.

Nearly 9 successful 10 decisions by the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB) successful the past twelvemonth person awarded oregon accrued benefits for a information linked to subject service, pursuing a inclination seen implicit the past decade. Benefits tin beryllium worthy much than $450,000 successful immoderate cases.

The quasi-judicial assemblage operates astatine arm's-length of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) and reviews its decisions. 

Laurie Blakeman, a VRAB subordinate who retired successful February, said managerial tactics that sometimes alluded to the minister's bureau near her and immoderate colleagues feeling little independent.

"Was determination unit to bash thing antithetic based connected what the curate had supposedly said? Yes, of course. That's precisely what was going on," Blakeman said.

Other sources who spoke with Radio-Canada pointed to a dense and expanding workload for committee members, templates that marque it easier to constitute approvals than denials, and comments some nonstop and indirect from enactment arsenic factors that promote favourable decisions.

Another erstwhile committee subordinate said the astir 90 per cent support complaint raises questions astir stewardship of payer funds.

"There's lone 2 conclusions that you tin make: The archetypal 1 is that VAC is making a tremendous magnitude of mistakes successful its decision-making, oregon that the committee is granting a disproportionate fig of favourable decisions," said the erstwhile committee subordinate who CBC is not identifying owed to their concerns astir aboriginal employment.

"I would telephone into question whether those decisions are correct, and if we're awarding benefits erstwhile nary benefits should beryllium paid," they said.

A existent subordinate of the committee told Radio-Canada VRAB's seat and vice-chair person repeated the constituent that the committee exists to render favourable decisions for veterans.

"Managers presented the load of impervious arsenic an obstacle betwixt veterans and their benefits when … it's a mode of ensuring fairness," said the committee member, who's acrophobic immoderate appellants person been awarded "extras" arsenic a effect of going to the board.

CBC is not naming the existent committee subordinate owed to their fearfulness of reprisal.

'Give oregon springiness more'

In February 2018, Veterans Affairs Canada changed its guidelines truthful recipients of partial entitlements would person the next-highest level of compensation beneath a afloat award.

Following their assignment successful July 2018, seat Christopher McNeil and vice-chair Jacques Bouchard told members they wanted the committee to usage that line successful committee decisions. 

Blakeman and different erstwhile committee members besides said they callback McNeil and Bouchard referring to conversations with the minister.

The caller line gave committee members no leeway to measure lesser connections betwixt subject work and claimed injuries, limiting the discretion of members, Blakeman said. 

"It was fundamentally springiness oregon springiness more," she said. "There was unit to assistance and precise small mentation astir wherefore you wouldn't grant."

It was astir that clip that the complaint of favourable decisions statesman to increase. 

A spokesperson for VAC said the line alteration was meant to velocity up decision-making and trim the fig of appeals seeking much compensation. However, the argumentation has been cited successful applications to the VRAB and to warrant larger payouts. 

Several favourable decisions published connected the Canadian Legal Information Institute website note: "It is not indispensable to prosecute successful an esoteric ineligible treatment connected whether specified a alteration constitutes an mistake oregon instrumentality oregon if it constitutes caller evidence."

Valerie Moore, who retired from the committee a twelvemonth ago, disagreed with utilizing the caller VAC argumentation to warrant reopening cases, and wrote dissents to that effect. 

Moore said different committee members besides argued that the "new argumentation is not evidence," and truthful not grounds for appeal.

Blakeman said she's acrophobic that those decisions whitethorn beryllium connected shaky ineligible ground, fixed determination was nary regulatory alteration from the minister's office, nor immoderate legislative change.

"There was thing ineligible that underpinned those changes. Nothing," Blakeman said.

'Surrender of independence'

Former committee subordinate Terry Prowse filed a ailment with the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner successful September 2019, alleging McNeil and Bouchard "undermine the independency and impartiality of Members of the Board connected an ongoing basis."

Prowse, a 35-year seasoned of the Canadian Armed Forces, said successful October 2018 that McNeil and Bouchard presented arguments successful favour of utilizing the Veterans Affairs line successful committee decisions.

"Both stated, and person connected respective occasions since, that they met the Minister and/or Deputy Minister and this was the attack helium preferred we take," the ailment said. According to Prowse, committee members who didn't enactment that presumption wouldn't beryllium connected the aforesaid panel.

"The surrender of independency and judgement that I person seen is unacceptable," Prowse wrote. 

The nationalist assemblage integrity commissioner declined to investigate, saying "the actions complained of would not magnitude to wrongdoing wrong the meaning of the Act," and that the seat was acting "within his wide powers" nether the law. 

Prowse declined Radio-Canada's petition for an interview.

Beyond 'benefit of the doubt'

Moore, a lawyer by training, was besides acrophobic that during her 5 years connected the committee she saw respective applications wherever aesculapian opinions didn't conscionable the modular of the Federal Court.  

Medical opinions are expected to beryllium provided by qualified professionals, sanction the information and nexus it to peculiar activities of subject service, Moore said. 

Section 39 of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act guides members to gully the astir favourable conclusions for the applicant from the grounds and circumstances successful cases of uncertainty, often referred to arsenic the "benefit of the doubt" clause.

"Even applying [the] payment of the uncertainty and each tenable inference, if the grounds fell abbreviated from my perspective, past I felt duty-bound that I could not hold to assistance the payment due to the fact that I was determination to bash a due job," Moore said.

"Medical conditions are proven to beryllium connected to work by aesculapian evidence, not by speculation, somebody's surmise oregon hunch."

Veterans Affairs Canada provides escaped ineligible practice from the Bureau of Pensions Advocates to assistance with applications and gathering aesculapian evidence.

In a November 2023 decision, a seasoned with Type 2 diabetes argued the information was caused by post-traumatic accent upset (PTSD). Moore dissented, explaining that linking the 2 "was not based connected aesculapian grounds and was purely speculative." 

VAC's assessment, the determination and her dissent each judge that PTSD could permanently aggravate the information "to a minimal degree." VAC had granted the lowest level of partial entitlement.

The board's determination successful favour cited the caller Veterans Affairs argumentation and accrued the entitlement.

"When you get a batch of cases wherever that's happening … that's wherever you cognize you're benignant of swimming against the tide," Moore said. 

Tom Jarmyn, McNeil's predecessor arsenic seat of VRAB, said the caller partial entitlement guidelines shouldn't beryllium utilized to reopen cases, nor should they beryllium entered arsenic evidence.

"There's nary notation successful the statute to the adjudicative environment. The work is to use the statute to the facts and the decision," Jarmyn said. 

Jarmyn said helium ne'er received absorption from the minister, and if helium had that would have been "wrong." Jarmyn himself receives a payment for an wounded related to his 18 years of subject service, and said helium understands the value of flexibility successful the look of agelong waits to spot specialists, for example.

"The payment of the uncertainty clause … isn't an invitation to disregard the law," helium said. However, helium added the summation successful favourable decisions by the committee does raise questions.  

"I'm not alert of thing that has changed which would warrant that statistical occurrence."

Board defends decisions

In a connection connected behalf of the committee and its leadership, the VRAB said "significant changes successful VAC argumentation that payment Veterans" are addressed nether the board's authorization to reconsider cases, "and the resulting decisions talk for themselves."

The committee said its favourability complaint includes astir one-third of cases wherever an "already-entitled condition" was eligible for an accrued assessment.

"These decisions are based connected aesculapian grounds presented to the Board," it said.

The VRAB said it has a robust prime assurance programme to guarantee decisions are accordant with its legislated mandate, anterior decisions and Federal Court jurisprudence.

"The Board speaks done its decisions and does not remark connected idiosyncratic cases."

The curate astatine the clip of the line change, Seamus O'Regan, did not respond to Radio-Canada's requests. The bureau of existent Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight declined a petition for an interview, deferring to the department's written response.

Veterans Affairs Canada noted VRAB operates separately from the department, and said it respects the board's decisions "as they are binding and for the betterment of veterans' wellbeing."

The connection besides noted VAC "may besides [choose] to set payment criteria oregon policies that are referenced successful VRAB decisions to amended guidance for decision-makers for aboriginal claims."

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The Royal Canadian Legion described favourable decisions arsenic "good quality for our Veterans. They merit to person what they are entitled to receive."

"In my experience, I person not seen cases of partial entitlement being applied without acceptable evidence," said Carolyn Hughes, the Legion's manager of veterans services, successful a statement. 

Hughes said it's important to reopen files truthful determination aren't 2 classes of veterans based connected erstwhile they applied, and that the strategy indispensable "based connected capable evidence, err connected the broadside of the veteran" to guarantee timely benefits and treatment.