Guy Parent, a retired chief warrant officer in the Canadian Forces, is expected to be named as the new veterans ombudsman by the Conservative government, the Ottawa Citizen has been told.
The announcement could come as early as Friday.
Government sources say Parent will replace Pat Stogran, the high-profile retired colonel who upset the Harper government with his blunt comments about how poorly veterans were being treated.
Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn's office would not comment Thursday night about Parent.
Stogran was informed in August that the government would not be renewing his contract.
Parent is a former chief warrant officer with the Canadian Forces and served as Stogran's director of investigations. He had previously been with the Department of National Defence/Canadian Forces Ombudsman. While at that office, Parent took part in a number of investigations, including an examination of the treatment of military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorders.
Parent served in the military for more than three decades and had been a search-and-rescue technician.
He comes into the ombudsman's job as Veterans Affairs finds itself under fire for how it has been handling benefits for former military personnel.
On Saturday, veterans across the country will be marching outside MPs' constituency offices and on Parliament Hill to complain about how the government has been treating them.
There is also anger over the New Veterans Charter, developed under the Liberals and brought in by the Conservatives, to govern benefits for a new generation of veterans. Veterans have complained the charter shortchanges them on benefits.
Veterans Affairs bureaucrats have also been accused of violating the privacy of veterans by inappropriately sharing their personal information. In other cases, veterans' families have come forward to complain about how insensitive federal bureaucrats have been in handling benefits and providing services.
Stogran had re-applied for the job of ombudsman, but the government did not acknowledge receipt of his resume.
"I deeply regret not having been considered for another term, and am most disappointed that my CV was not even worthy of an acknowledgment of receipt from PCO; neither the hard copy, the fax nor the electronic version," Stogran wrote in an email Wednesday sent to Wayne Wouters, the Clerk of the Privy Council Office.
Stogran made headlines earlier this year when he warned that stingy federal bureaucrats, including those at the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board, were blocking initiatives that could help the country's Afghan war veterans.
He said the motive appeared to be aimed at saving money and Stogran complained that senior federal officials blocking the initiatives were making on average more in one year than a soldier who had his legs blown off in Afghanistan would receive in his lifetime.
Since receiving notice in August that his services were no longer required, Stogran has conducted a high-profile campaign in the news media and before parliamentary committees to raise awareness about the plight of veterans.
The government responded by announcing changes to the charter and promising to provide more funding for injured veterans in the future.
Blackburn said the government is committed to supporting those who have served the country.
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(Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)
The announcement could come as early as Friday.
Government sources say Parent will replace Pat Stogran, the high-profile retired colonel who upset the Harper government with his blunt comments about how poorly veterans were being treated.
Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn's office would not comment Thursday night about Parent.
Stogran was informed in August that the government would not be renewing his contract.
Parent is a former chief warrant officer with the Canadian Forces and served as Stogran's director of investigations. He had previously been with the Department of National Defence/Canadian Forces Ombudsman. While at that office, Parent took part in a number of investigations, including an examination of the treatment of military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorders.
Parent served in the military for more than three decades and had been a search-and-rescue technician.
He comes into the ombudsman's job as Veterans Affairs finds itself under fire for how it has been handling benefits for former military personnel.
On Saturday, veterans across the country will be marching outside MPs' constituency offices and on Parliament Hill to complain about how the government has been treating them.
There is also anger over the New Veterans Charter, developed under the Liberals and brought in by the Conservatives, to govern benefits for a new generation of veterans. Veterans have complained the charter shortchanges them on benefits.
Veterans Affairs bureaucrats have also been accused of violating the privacy of veterans by inappropriately sharing their personal information. In other cases, veterans' families have come forward to complain about how insensitive federal bureaucrats have been in handling benefits and providing services.
Stogran had re-applied for the job of ombudsman, but the government did not acknowledge receipt of his resume.
"I deeply regret not having been considered for another term, and am most disappointed that my CV was not even worthy of an acknowledgment of receipt from PCO; neither the hard copy, the fax nor the electronic version," Stogran wrote in an email Wednesday sent to Wayne Wouters, the Clerk of the Privy Council Office.
Stogran made headlines earlier this year when he warned that stingy federal bureaucrats, including those at the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board, were blocking initiatives that could help the country's Afghan war veterans.
He said the motive appeared to be aimed at saving money and Stogran complained that senior federal officials blocking the initiatives were making on average more in one year than a soldier who had his legs blown off in Afghanistan would receive in his lifetime.
Since receiving notice in August that his services were no longer required, Stogran has conducted a high-profile campaign in the news media and before parliamentary committees to raise awareness about the plight of veterans.
The government responded by announcing changes to the charter and promising to provide more funding for injured veterans in the future.
Blackburn said the government is committed to supporting those who have served the country.
article link
(Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)