War widows deserve equal pension treatment

Betty Vezina hopes the federal government will do the right thing for all widows of Canadian war veterans.

Vezina, of North Bay, shown in photo above, right, is one of those widows, and almost two years ago she was cut off from the Veterans Independence Program benefits her husband Rene had been receiving prior to his death Jan. 27, 2001.

She lost the $240 per month stipend because at the time the program only allowed widows to collect VIP benefits for one year after their husband’s death.

The federal government amended the VIP in June to extend the benefits for life, but only to those widows whose husbands had died within a year of the amendment, leaving Vezina out in the cold again.

“And there are a lot of widows like me, some in their 80s and 90s, who have lost that money too,” Vezina said.

“Many of these women married their husbands before the war and didn’t go to work so they could raise their children, and now they don’t have any income of their own. “

VIP really helpful
Vezina said she has a small civil service pension plus Old Age and CPP, “but it pays me just enough so I can buy my groceries and pay my rent.”

Although $240 per month may not seem like much, it made a difference to Vezina, 76, allowing her to hire a person to clean her apartment.

“I have very bad arthritis and I find it very difficult to clean the apartment,” Vezina said, “so the VIP really was helpful that way because I could pay for someone to help me out.”

"It's just wrong"
Katharine Simms, also of North Bay, pictured above to the left of Vezina, agrees. She will now receive VIP benefits for life because her husband Elmer died within the proper time period of the amendment.

“It’s just wrong for the government to be separating widows that way and I’m very much in favour of extending the VIP to all widows,” she said.
“I wouldn’t be able to pay for the help I get around the house to shovel snow and mow the lawn without it.”

Nipissing MP Bob Wood said a motion he made to have the VIP extended to all widows was unanimously passed by the veterans affairs subcommittee he chairs.

But it still has to be approved by the federal government before anything can happen, Wood added.

“It would only add up to about $23 million per year, which is a fraction of what the federal government spends annually, and I believe the Prime Minister has the will to see this happen.”

Reality of fiscal resources
Veterans Affairs Minister Rey Pagtakhan could not be reached for comment, but he addressed the issue in the House of Commons, in response to a question by Bloc Quebecois MP Claude Bachand.

“Of course the remaining challenge is how can we address the needs of those whose benefits have lapsed before that and what can we do,” Pagtakhan told Bachand.

“At that time we have the reality of fiscal resources. So we will continue to be engaged on the issue. I assure the member that the sensitivity of the government to veterans issues remains very high.”


Vezina said the government could expand the VIP if it had the political will.

“They think nothing about giving themselves an increase in pay, it doesn’t bother them a bit, and they just do that,” said, whose husband served with RCAF Alouette squadron, in England.

“But to give some poor widow $200 or $240 a month nearly drives them nutty, and besides that we’re not going to be living that much longer.”