Refusal to admit war veteran upsets member of Norwegian parliamentary committee

A senior member of the Norwegian foreign affairs parliamentary committee says Ottawa’s refusal to admit a 94-year-old to a veteran’s hospital in Halifax is disrespectful to the sailors who fought for the allies in the Second World War.

Christian Tybring-Gjedde, the defence spokesman for the Progress Party, says he plans to bring the case of Petter Blindheim forward to government ministers in the coalition government formed by the ruling Conservatives and his political party.

READ MORE: Liberal MP Bill Casey urges Ottawa to give veteran a bed

Tybring-Gjedde says the media and political attention devoted to the Blindheim case has been light so far in Norway, but he expects that may change if the decorated veteran of Norway’s navy and merchant marine doesn’t receive a spot at the hospital.

Blindheim was initially rejected for placement at the Camp Hill Veterans Memorial hospital on the basis that Norway had “surrendered” and members of the Royal Norwegian Navy who continued to fight weren’t considered allied veterans.

Ottawa recanted that position, but then rejected Blindheim – who has been falling and has a broken arm – because it said he could be sent to a provincial facility where Ottawa will still pay his daily costs.

READ MORE: Family of decorated Norwegian war hero fighting to get him into veterans facility

A spokeswoman for the federal minister of Veterans Affairs says that while Ottawa fully funds the care needs of any veteran, including Norwegians, it isn’t always possible to do so in the facility of the veteran’s choosing.