A group of more than 4,500 physically and mentally injured veterans suing the government over disability benefits they say were wrongfully clawed back have won their case in Federal Court.
In a decision released Tuesday, Justice Robert Barnes writes the government breached its own policy when it cut back benefits to veterans injured on duty.
The suit was started by Dennis Manuge, a soldier who once served in Bosnia before being medically released by the Canadian Forces.
Manuge, a former mechanic, injured his back while on duty at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in Ontario. Following his injury, he suffered from depression and began receiving a monthly pension for pain and suffering from Veterans Affairs Canada while he was still on duty.
After being medically released in 2003, he was eligible for the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP), a plan for long-term disability benefits giving him 75 per cent of his pay. However, from those benefits the government subtracted the nearly $400 he was receiving monthly for pain and suffering.
The federal court justice wrote that by deducting disability benefits from the SISIP, it “wholly deprives disabled veterans of an important financial award intended to compensate for disabling injuries suffered in the service of Canadians.
“The SISIP offset effectively defeats the Parliamentary intent . . to provide modest financial solace to disabled CF members for their non-financial losses.”
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