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Departments of the Government of Canada |
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| Veterans Affairs | |
| Anciens Combattants | |
| Minister | Steven Blaney |
| Responsibilities | Veterans |
| Employees | N/A |
| Department Website | |
The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), also referred to as Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for pensions/benefits and services for war veterans, retired personnel of the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, their families, as well as some civilians.
A war veteran's eligibility for certain benefits may depend on his/her "overseas" status, defined by Veterans' Affairs as having served at least two miles offshore from Canada. In the Second World War (1939-45) Canada did not yet include Newfoundland, which became a Canadian province only in 1949. Thus WWI or WWII veterans who served in Newfoundland (with Royal Newfoundland Regiment and Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve) are considered by Veterans Affairs to be "overseas veterans" (and be referred to the British Service Personnel and Veterans Agency).
An important division of Veterans Affairs is called "Canada Remembers". This is responsible for all war commemoration activities, such as Remembrance Day, and coordinates and funds various "pilgrimages" for Canadian war veterans to foreign battlefields and international ceremonies (e.g. the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands in early 1995, the 60th anniversary of D Day on June 6, 2004, etc.)
The year 2005 was declared Year of the Veteran in Canada, to teach, remember, thank, honour and celebrate. The image of a poppy overlapping a gold maple leaf became a special symbol during the campaign, on posters, pamphlets, bookmarks and documents. In 2007, the Veterans' Bill of Rights stated that Veterans Affairs Canada must show veterans respect.[1]
The Minister of Veterans Affairs is Steven Blaney.
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On November 9, 2008, the Honourable Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs, attended a Service of Remembrance at the Canada Memorial in Green Park, London, England. Canada recently assumed responsibility for the Memorial, which pays tribute to the nearly one million Canadian men and women who served in the United Kingdom during the First and Second World Wars.
In October 2010, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart uncovered evidence that widespread privacy abuses had been occurring at Veterans Affairs Canada. Among the cases where privacy issues were investigated is that in which highly personal information of an outspoken critic of Veterans Affairs, including confidential medical and financial information , was included in briefing notes prepared for then-minister Greg Thompson.[2] [3] [4]
Darragh Mogan, an executive director at Veterans Affairs wrote an e-mail to his colleagues in 2006 claiming that the same Gulf War veteran was spreading misinformation to the public and wrote: "Folks, it’s time to take the gloves off here”[5]