Oversight is essential to the success and accountability of every organization that delivers public services.1
The Legion and other veterans’ organizations failed to intervene when the governing Party attempted to gain the veterans’ vote on the eve of the 2006 federal election by passing the New Veterans Charter (NVC). The NVC came into effect without meaningful consultation or the legal oversight of the government’s legislative process. Instantly gone were veterans’ life-long disability benefits, and financial support for their spouses and children. Veterans Watch believes that none of Canada’s current veterans’ organizations provide oversight in relation to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).
In 1926 the Legion was formed by senior military officers to unify the voice of veterans. By 1928 Legion leaders had compromised the organization’s autonomy by accepting government contracts for soldiers’ reestablishment in civilian society.2 Fast forward to 2005, when VAC used department staff and senior military officers to undermine and muzzle the voices of the independent veterans’ advocates who spoke out against the terms of the NVC.
Veterans Watch is a multidisciplinary team of specialists who have extensive expertise in veterans’ legislation, policy and programs. We serve the veterans’ community by monitoring and reporting on the larger policy issues that influence the care and treatment of veterans and their families, including the needs of non-disabled veterans and families re-adjusting to civilian life.
- Canadian Audit & Accountability Foundation: Practice Guide to Auditing Oversight
https://www.caaf-fcar.ca/en/oversight - Appropriations Act No. 3, 1928. Chapter 54, pg 49.
