Canadian soldiers patrol southwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, June 7, 2010.

Canadian soldiers patrol southwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, June 7, 2010.
Photo Credit: Anja Niedringhaus

Military ombudsman slams ‘unnecessarily complex’ medical discharge system

Canada’s military ombudsman is calling on the Liberal government to streamline its Kafkaesque system of medical discharge to stop ill and injured soldiers falling through bureaucratic cracks without any benefits and support.

In a report released today, ombudsman Gary Walbourne says the military should keep those troops in the military until it’s sure that the soldiers have applied and received all the benefits and compensation they are entitled to.

Under the current system ill and injured soldiers have to navigate through an “unnecessarily complex and difficult” process, especially for those who are ill or injured,” said Walbourne’s report, an advance copy of which was obtained by CBC’s defence correspondent Murray Brewster.

“The current process requires members to re-tell their stories to many different people in three distinct organizations – thereby taking away from the energy required for medically releasing members to get well and move forward with their new lives outside of the Canadian Armed Forces,” said the report.

 Canadian Forces ombudsman Gary Walbourne appears at a Senate veterans affairs committee in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 4, 2016.
Canadian Forces ombudsman Gary Walbourne appears at a Senate veterans affairs committee in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. © PC/Sean Kilpatrick

The transition process is based on the needs of bureaucrats in the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada – as opposed to being designed to serve the needs of the members, the report claims.

“It is neither timely nor responsive to their needs,” said the report.

Walbourne says that causes huge stress on people who may already be struggling with physical and mental injuries.

“These issues result in a transition process that is simply too difficult for some members to navigate and they unfortunately ‘fall through the cracks,’” the report said.

With files from Murray Brewster of CBC News

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