HALIFAX – A military veteran who was injured in Afghanistan says the Canadian government is failing former soldiers by not providing the care they need.
Shane Jones says he has been assigned more than three Veterans Affairs case workers since June and has had about eight since he was medically released from the Forces in 2008.
The 38-year-old father of three says that has stalled his treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury he sustained when his vehicle rolled over in Afghanistan in 2005.
“I can’t go to the grocery store by myself because maybe it’s going to be okay, or maybe I’m going to start swinging at somebody, or maybe I’m going to try and run somebody off the road,” Jones told Global News
“It’s a day-to-day battle you have to deal with.”
Jones is calling on the federal government to stop planned cutbacks at Veterans Affairs and to beef up services for injured vets.
Peter Stoffer, the federal NDP’s veterans affairs critic, says Ottawa’s plan to cut hundreds of jobs at the department will be sharply felt by veterans.
“Shane and his family have already fought one war, they don’t need to fight another one. We’re publicly asking the government to reverse these cuts to Veterans Affairs,” Stoffer told a media conference in Fall River, N.S. on Monday.
Veterans Affairs Canada said in June that it was cutting almost 300 jobs, with many in Charlottetown, as part of an overhaul that will go on until 2015.
The department could not immediately be reached for comment.
With files from Rebecca Lau
