“It’s an insult,” says Gerry Pumphrey of the RCMP Veterans Association in Nova Scotia, who’s worked on the issue for more than five years. “I’m disgusted. It’s always ‘next spring, next fall.’ And the thing is, there are people dying who need this help.”

There are approximately 6,000 RCMP members and RCMP veterans receiving disability pensions, but not all of those would want or qualify for VIP, says Murray Brown, chairman of the RCMP serving members’ occupational health and safety committee.

Roughly 225 RCMP veterans die each year, and “if only 10 per cent were eligible,” says Pumphrey, “you have about 25 dying without access to VIP, and without VIP they have to struggle.”

“All I’m able to tell you at this point is that the RCMP is actively pursuing services for RCMP disabled veterans,” said spokeswoman Corporal Patricia Flood, in response to a Legion Magazine request for an interview with a senior RCMP official. When asked if VIP benefits were among the services being pursued, the response was “the RCMP is not in a position to give any further details on what services are being pursued, as discussions are ongoing.”

It is a common misconception that RCMP members receive the same benefits as those in the Canadian Forces, says Brown. “We’ve been chasing VIP and chronic care in a committed fashion for more than four years,” years during which CF serving members and war veterans have had VIP benefits.

They know they’re caught in a game of political football. “As a vet, I’m told it’s the RCMP’s problem; the RCMP say it’s Veterans Affairs; Veterans Affairs says go to the politicians, who say it’s an RCMP problem,” says Pumphrey.

Letters provided to the Legion written by cabinet ministers, politicians and senior RCMP officials assure RCMP members and RCMP veterans that government and the RCMP are working to secure VIP benefits:

• “I also understand that the time this is taking can be frustrating,” states a Jan. 28, 2008, letter from Kevin Mole, assistant RCMP commissioner, who stresses “we are working diligently in collaboration with representatives from VAC and others to obtain the necessary authority that will ensure our members are extended these benefits similar to those of our Canadian Forces counterparts.”
• A 2006 letter from Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day, states “the RCMP has made obtaining access to these benefits a high priority.”
• A 2004 letter from Roxane Marois, the acting director, National Health Services Directorate of the RCMP’s Human Resources Sector says required legislative changes are anticipated “in the not-too-distant future.”

“We’ve been told it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming,” says Gerald Mills, 75, who retired from the RCMP in 1990 with disability pensions totalling 90 per cent and who suffers post traumatic stress disorder. He wakes up in the middle of the night to the remembered smell of burning flesh and can’t shake the image of picking the body of a child out of transport truck wheels. He’s lost sight in one eye, has hearing loss, knee problems from a duty-related injury and heart problems. His wife has health problems, too, including recent spinal surgery. They pay about $40 a week for housecleaning, he says.

VIP “would certainly be a benefit financially,” he says, but it would also give him peace of mind because “after I’m gone, a portion would carry over to my wife.”

He’s able to contrast his plight with a brother-in-law, a veteran of the Korean War also injured in the line of duty. “With all due respect, (it) would appear discriminatory.” And shouldn’t be, he says.

VIP benefits could make a big difference to officers who suffered duty-related injuries now worsening by the effects of aging. Bill Kelly, who retired in 1979 after 25 years’ service, often wrestled large, angry men when settling drunken brawls. Once, several strikers jumped off a flatbed truck onto his back. He receives a pension for duty-related back injuries and hearing loss. He can no longer handle a shovel or a rake, can’t clean windows and has to pay for snow removal.

Several RCMP members and RCMP veterans interviewed said inaction indicates a lack of respect and recognition. They compare their risks and sacrifices to those of the CF. “They get shot when they go overseas,” says Pumphrey. “We get shot at home, by our own neighbours. Our guys go to work every day in combat gear. We get killed and injured in our own country. I’m not saying our deaths are any more painful than those of the forces.” But, he asks, if they work for the same government and share risks to life and limb, shouldn’t they get the same benefits?

“I’ve led one hell of a dismal life” since leaving the RCMP with duty-related brain damage from carbon monoxide exposure, says one RCMP veteran who does not want to be named. “Basically I was dismissed from every job I had afterwards. I couldn’t remember what was said to me or what I was supposed to do.”

He fought for and was granted a pension for a 10-per-cent disability in the late 1980s. Gradually over the years it’s been bumped up to a 100-per-cent disability. “Nobody realized the long-term effects on my brain.”

The family has relied on his wife’s income, which has had to stretch to pay for chores the veteran cannot himself do. “I definitely could use the VIP. I can’t mow the lawn, can’t paint, can’t do work around the house.”

RCMP members and veterans appreciate the continuing support of The Royal Canadian Legion, says Brown. For years the Legion has advocated for extension of VIP to RCMP members and veterans. Resolutions from dominion convention in 2004, 2006 and 2008 called for VIP to be made available to members of the RCMP on the same basis as for members of the CF, and funded by the solicitor general.

Email the writer at: writer@legionmagazine.com

Email a letter to the editor at: letters@legionmagazine.com

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