February 27, 2008
Four hurdles keep veterans' widows from the benefits they were promised
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OTTAWA - "Today's federal budget confirms that Conservative promises to veterans were tall tales, while veterans' widows have been short-changed" Liberal Veterans Affairs Critic Albina Guarnieri observed yesterday.
Last year, the Prime Minister himself reaffirmed the commitment he made in writing to veterans' widows before the 2006 election. It was a commitment to extend the Veterans Independence Program (VIP) to all widows of Second World War veterans.
Instead, the Conservative Budget has imposed sufficient conditions to exclude 90% of widows. Specifically, only widows of veterans who were disabled or had very low incomes can apply. Within this smaller group of widows, most widows of a disabled veteran would already be receiving VIP.
More restrictions further reduce the number of potential applicants. Widows must be eligible for a Disability Tax Credit or be receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement. Additionally, the widow must demonstrate a "health need", and have exhausted options under provincial health care systems or private insurance. A Government Official admitted last night that the restrictions aim to limit the program to 12,000 survivors.
The Prime Minister promised benefits to "all widows". He didn't say "low-income widows of low-income veterans who have a health need and nowhere else to turn".
Examples of widows who would be excluded:
  | A widow married to a veteran who died under the age of 65 and was working at the time of his death |
| A widow married to a veteran who died while still receiving sufficient pension to make him ineligible for GIS (similar threshold to WVA) |
| A widow who is receiving pension income that makes her ineligible for GIS |
| A widow who is still mobile and lacks a defined "health need" |
"Minister Thompson has crafted rules to exclude all but 12,000 of Canada's war widows. The Prime Minister gave his word to widows, while Thompson erased the majority of widows in the fine print."
Background In an October 2005 letter to a veteran's widow, then Opposition Leader Stephen Harper promised that "a Conservative government would immediately extend the Veterans Independence Program to all widows of Second World War and Korean War veterans regardless of when the veteran had died."
For Further information contact:
Robert Cline
(905) 566-0009
guarna@parl.gc.ca