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Topic: Agent Orange Gagetown (Read 8048 times)
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Young Ken
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A (very personnel letter) to Mr. Greg Thompson, the Veterans Affairs
Minister, a parent, responsible for the handling of this insulting
compensation package to the victims of the chemical spraying of CFB
Gagetown from 1956 until 1984.
Forgive me my emotions are all over the place today.
I will start with my angry, it's easier for me to deal with.
I am outraged once more this morning after reading your, Mr.
Thompson's comments on this pittance of a offer too the few that have
suffered and died because of this poisoning committed by the Canadian
Government and the US military.
Only a ruthless Government would call this package "Responsible".
When I voted for Steven Harper's New Government, I was lead to
believe they would be the "Accountable" Government Canada has not
seen in a very long time.
I was told the poisoning of Canadians at CFB Gagetown would involve a
fair and open investigation.
Compensation would be offered to ALL that have suffered ill effects
from their exposures.
I expected compassion from this Government to the families that have
experienced the heartwrench of losing a father,a mother,a brother, a
sister - a child.
I am still dealing with the angry here.
They the died, so many Canadians did not make it until Feb. 06, 2006,
Harper's cut off date for death.
So many will be left out of this package because they will be
diagnosed with cancers from this exposure of chemicals after that
magic date of 2006.
This New Conserevative Government has Failed, miserable.
There will be NO ACCOUNTIBLITY.
There will be NO APOLGY offered.
Now I will speak of how my heart hurts.
I simply wanted and expected the truth.
For days now I have looked for the words to express my sorrow of the
passing of Mona Normand.
Born Sept. 24, 1959, Oromocto, NB.
Her suffering was eminence.
First, herself losing a father to lung cancer and then a little
brother to stomach cancer.
She fought brian cancer and won, only to be tormented by it once more.
Mona died, her painfull journey ended Sept. 18, 2007.
Her two children cry.
On Sept. 18, 2007 a mother's arms were left empty, once more.
She says " I was the protector of Mona, her giver of life".
"It isn't supposed to happen this way".
I fail, I can not find the words to offer this women, my Aunt.
Sorry, just is not enough.
I can as a mother only imagine the profound sadness.
Now my feelings of Hopelessness.
On the very same day Sept. 18, 2007 another scence was playing out in
the courts of Newfoundland, (Mr. Harper's Government,all his lawyers
that our money can buy, two of the largest, most powerful chemical
companies, all their lawyers) were putting their little heads
together, rubbing their stained fingers shamefully, looking for a way
to stop the ravaged ill and dying victims of Gagetown.
Sad, this Government could have simply done the right thing.
"The silence and the emptiness is so great - that I look and do not
see - Listen and do not hear'.
Mother Tesera.
Nancy Belfry
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Young Ken
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Published Saturday September 22nd, 2007
Appeared on page B9 Fredericton Daily Gleaner
This is in regard to "It makes me bitter" by Michael Staples, published in The Daily Gleaner on Sept. 14.
An Ottawa based writer, I am Canadian honourary observer with the Pesticide Working Group in Washington. I have been following, with great interest, the struggle for compensation by Canadian veterans and their families stationed at Gagetown.
So the compensation doesn't apply to herbicide exposures between 1956 and 1984, because these herbicides were commercially available. Indeed, Agent Orange consisted of equal quantities of herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4-5-T.
One, 2,4-D, is still available -- i.e. Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) subjectively determined on the basis of industry-tested, selected, withheld and provided rat data that this product "presents no unacceptable risk."
Yet rats have detoxification genes missing in humans.
Back in the seventies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tested both herbicides on humans without their knowledge, in western Oregon. This resulted in very serious health consequences to the people being tested (Dying from Dioxin. ed. Lois Marie Gibbs et al. Montreal, New York, London: Black Rose Books, 1997.)
So the EPA was compelled, at the very least, to ban 2,4,5-T, contaminated by the most toxic dioxin TCDD. However, a whistle-blower at the EPA maintained that 2,4-D was contaminated by dioxin, as well. (This author has pertinent data.) An Ottawa science analyst believes that 2,4-D's own dioxin was the somewhat less toxic DCDD.
At issue here is the random contamination of both 2,4-D and 2,4-5-T by toxic dioxin during their manufacturing in the reactor, under high temperatures. The industry claims that dioxin is no longer a problem.
However, they refuse to provide test results pertaining to "inerts" or formulants, which may constitute up to 90 per cent of the ready to use herbicide. The "inerts" are considered possible, probable or actual carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer reporting to the World Health Organization.
Dioxins are bioaccumulative, i.e. passed to the next generation.
They are linked to cancers, diabetes, neurological diseases, infertility, birth defects and impaired child development.
K. Jean Cottam
Nepean, Ont.
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Young Ken
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September 23, 2007 Ottawa Sun Gagetown vets get shorted By GREG WESTON One day in June, 74-year-old Anthony Ferguson found a heart-stopping surprise in the mailbox of his Edmonton home: a cheque from the federal government for $38,000. Inside the brown envelope, there was no explanation, not even a covering letter. Nothing but the totally unexpected windfall of public cash. Turns out, the money was to compensate the former Canadian soldier for exposure to the poisonous Agent Orange herbicide in Vietnam where he was part of an international observation force more than 30 years ago. Like thousands of Vietnam vets, Ferguson now suffers from diabetes and other debilitating ailments commonly associated with exposure to toxic Agent Orange, used by U.S. forces to defoliate huge swaths of jungle during the war. In addition to the $38,000 lump-sum payment, the Canadian military has awarded Ferguson a disability pension of about $150 a month, plus a range of benefits to cover drugs and other medical services. Grateful for the assistance, Ferguson is nonetheless angry that potentially thousands of other Canadian veterans like him may be getting shafted. He is probably right. During the late 1960s, the U.S. military spray-bombed the Canadian infantry base at Gagetown, N.B., to test Agent Orange for use in Vietnam. Last week, the Conservative government announced $20,000 in compensation would be paid to everyone who lived on or near the Gagetown base during the spraying, and who is now suffering from any of the long list of cancers and other illnesses associated with Agent Orange poisoning. By comparison, the same government has given Ferguson almost twice that much, plus a monthly disability pension and other benefits. The only difference is he got poisoned in Vietnam; the Gagetown victims were on Canadian soil. "That just doesn't seem right," Ferguson says. "I'm concerned all those other people aren't being treated fairly." He has a point. Years ago, in an act of compassionate politics, American legislators wisely concluded that ailing Vietnam vets could never conclusively prove a causal link between Agent Orange and an illnesses appearing decades later. Instead, compensation was paid to more than 10,000 U.S. vets on the assumption that anyone who served in Vietnam was exposed to Agent Orange, and anyone suffering from diseases associated with the chemical had indeed been poisoned by it. Different story Here in Canada, it has been a whole different story. For almost 40 years, successive governments treated sick and dying victims of the Gage-town spraying with a mix of contempt and deceit. Two years ago, we broke the story about the Canadian military finally awarding a $600 monthly disability pension to Gordon Sellar, then a retired and dying general who had commanded an infantry unit at Gagetown during the Agent Orange spraying. Almost immediately, then Liberal defence minister Bill Graham promised compensation for all Gagetown victims, and publicly urged ailing vets to file immediate claims for disability benefits. Two years later, Veterans Affairs says that as of last month, a total of 1,652 Canadian vets had filed disability claims. So far, only 41 have been approved, and 32 of those were Canadians who, like Ferguson, served in Vietnam. For all the political bluster, the feds have approved only nine pension claims from Gagetown grads. That's Gen. Sellar and eight others among all the thousands of soldiers and their families posted to the Gagetown base while the U.S. was bombing the place with poison. Instead, the Conservative government is now giving everyone a flat $20,000 for being sick and having lived at the base. No one seems to know where that figure came from, or why it is so much less than what the same government is giving a handful of vets for suffering the same horrible illnesses from the same Agent Orange as everyone else. And don't even ask why it only applies to vets who lived long enough to see Stephen Harper become prime minister. If the $20,000 is compensation for being poisoned on the job at Gagetown, why not give our veterans proper disability pensions and other medical benefits? If it is not compensation for Agent Orange, what is it? One way or another, as Anthony Ferguson would say, it just doesn't seem right. http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Weston_Greg/2007/09/23/pf-4518671.html |
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Young Ken
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Published Monday September 24th, 2007
Appeared on page C7 Fredericton Daily Gleaner
Nothing but a slap
On a snowy night in January of 2004, a wonderful man succumbed to the cancer that ravaged his body. That man was my grandfather and his cancer was caused by Agent Orange.
I was heartened by the recent compensation package put forth by Minister of Veteran's Affairs Greg Thompson. Though severely limited in its scope, as I went through the list, I found that my grandfather fit the criteria.
He was posted at CFB Gagetown in 1966 and 1967 and had one of the recognized diseases. So, you can imagine my disgust when I read that he had to have passed away on or after Feb. 6, 2006.
What happened to the "full and fair" compensation promised by Stephen Harper before the last election?
My grandmother stood by her husband's side for 47 years, taking care of him right up until the end, and what thanks does she get?
Agent Orange killed her life partner and, because he died two years too early (according to the government), she gets nothing but a slap in the face.
How is that fair? How is it fair to any of the women who watched their husbands die of a host of horrible diseases, all caused by the dioxin and hexachlorobenzene-laced defoliants the government rained down on their heads?
The Conservative government should be ashamed of itself.
This "compensation package" is an insult to the memory of all those who have died, as well as to those who are fighting to stay alive.
Levene Wright
Ross River, YT
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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Thank you for your letter, and i hope the Gov realizes , now, just how terrible this tragedy is....and this is only one of tens of thousands affected the same way...and ,yes, where is there any fairness, or justice?? Where?? Can anyone point it out??? ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Young Ken
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For Immediate Release
September 12, 2007
Agent Orange Compensation a Broken Promise to Canada's Veterans
MISSISSAUGA, ON – Today's announcement of compensation for victims of
Agent Orange spraying at CFB Gagetown does not come close to
fulfilling the government's promise to Canada's veterans, Liberal MP
Albina Guarnieri said today.
"They are making modest payments to a very limited group of people,"
Ms. Guarnieri noted. "This contrasts sharply with the promise made by
Stephen Harper in the last election of full and fair compensation for
persons exposed to defoliant spraying from 1956-1984. After making a
promise to 150 thousand veterans worth $3 billion, 97 per cent of at-
risk veterans have been left out."
Ms. Guarnieri pointed out that it was the current Veterans Affairs
Minister, Greg Thompson, who led the Conservative grandstanding on
this issue while in Opposition.
"Mr. Thompson initially said he didn't believe in studies, and they
would provide blanket compensation to everyone," said Ms.
Guarnieri. "Today's announcement merely shows they used rhetoric to
garner votes. They have not delivered what they promised or what they
led so many veterans to believe they had promised."
Ms. Guarnieri also questioned why the Conservatives have chosen to
limit compensation to those who were still alive on the day that the
Conservative government was sworn into office.
"February 6, 2006, is a date chosen for crass political purposes. If
nothing else, the Conservatives should do the right thing and abandon
this arbitrary and inappropriate cut-off date," she said.
-30-
Contact:
Robert Cline
Executive Assistant
Office of Hon. Albina Guarnieri, P.C., M.P.
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Young Ken
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Wasn't sure where to post this. Peace group wants yellow ribbows removed Afghanistan role | Campaign doesn't sit well with soldier By MICHAEL STAPLES staples.michael@dailygleaner.com Published Thursday September 27th, 2007 Appeared on page A1 Fredericton Daily Gleaner The Fredericton Peace Coalition plans to launch a campaign to get businesses to remove yellow ribbons from windows and doors. The coalition, a collection of 11 member groups, wants to see fewer ribbons, which urge people to "support our troops.'' Organizer Tracy Glynn said next month's effort will attempt to raise awareness about the Afghanistan issue. "We just see it as part of selling the war," Glynn said with regard to the ribbons. "We hope to put together a package to bring to local businesses, churches asking that they reconsider and take down their yellow ribbons." Glynn said the package will also state the organization's position and will provide people with information from other sources. "We see it as (being) all connected to a mission in Afghanistan that we oppose," Glynn said. "We support the troops, but we want them brought home. The army in its current state right now, we don't support that. "We have a hard time saying that we support the troops, too, because we don't support what they are doing." There are approximately 2,500 Canadian troops in the country as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Russell Moquin, 27, a corporal with The Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, recently returned from Afghanistan after completing six months of duty in the war-torn country. He said people don't understand the role the Canadian military is playing there. "It's not so much a slap in the face," Moquin said when informed of the upcoming campaign. "I find people who have the opinion that we don't belong there, a lot of them think that we're fighting (U.S. President George) Bush's war. It's hard but you have to separate the politics from what we're doing." Politics are involved, he said, because troops are being sent overseas by politicians, but once soldiers are on the ground and see what they are achieving, politics doesn't matter any more. Moquin said Canadian troops should stay until at least 2012. At that time, he said, Afghanistan will be strong enough that only a small support contingent will be required. With regard to the ribbons, Moquin said he's inspired by them. "It puts a sense of pride in me when I go around and see all of those people -- especially outside of Oromocto," he said. "I don't believe it is standing behind the government's belief. "It's standing behind the individual soldiers who are over there doing the job they need to do." Cathy DeLong, who has handed out more than 400 ribbons throughout Fredericton, said she was disappointed to hear of the campaign. "These people don't know what they're talking about," DeLong said Wednesday. "We're supporting the troops and their families. Money raised helps families, not the war." Glynn said she feels insulted when she sees the ribbons in the window or on a door of a business. "I do feel offended," Glynn said. "I think that we need to be supporting democratic agents in Afghanistan and do a lot more for the people of Afghanistan and for the young people that we are sending over there." Glynn, who has family members who have been to Afghanistan, said she knows people who are involved in the peace movement who have spouses working at Gagetown. "We need to sit back and think about tying on a yellow ribbon or wearing a red shirt on Friday. I read about Afghanistan almost every day and I still don't feel like I know what is going on over there. " I don't think that many Canadians know that." She said too much government money is spent on public relations to promote what's happening overseas at the expense of funding that could be used for health issues and public safety. |
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Young Ken
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In response to the article, “The Fredericton Peace Coalition plans to launch a campaign to get businesses to remove yellow ribbons from windows and doors.” By Michael Staples and Published Thursday September 27th, 2007 and Appeared on page A1 Fredericton Daily Gleaner. Dear editor / Michael, Tracy Glynn and the coalition of 11 member groups are as many Canadians blaming the war and the monies that Ottawa is spending to promote a war, military recruiting and equipment which most Canadians do not want, on the soldiers. But blaming the tail for wagging the dog or as in another Oromocto story blaming the CFB Gagetown Chemical Victims for the Bases bad name really misses the point and demeans the message they wish to portray. You do not withhold your support for our sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, mothers and fathers or worse yet remove what little support they may now enjoy. You take the bull by the horns and very loudly remove your support from the government who are sending and/or keeping our Military where many Canadians do not wish them to be. You punish the people who are spending your Tax dollars in what you believe to be an appropriate way. Tracy Glynn, herself complains that too much government money is spent on public relations to promote what's happening overseas at the expense of funding that could be used for health issues and public safety, the key word being “GOVERNMENT”. It isn’t the soldier which I am giving my support to who is spending this money and believe me they do not get any benefit except to their moral and could better use the monies you are talking about on better equipment, not for health issues and public safety as you express but to keep themselves alive and with all of the parts intact. We have the same bull dropping way of thinking when it comes to CFB Gagetown as the people in the area continue to blame the Victims of Chemical Defoliants for the Bases contamination and it continued use problems when it is the Government who actually did the spraying for 28 years and who sprayed over 3 .3 million pounds and liters of deadly chemicals. If you do not like the spending practices of Ottawa and the War which Ottawa has sent our soldiers to, change the government not a ribbon program which may give our men and women in uniform the very few good feelings they ever get in a war zone. Besides, no matter how many ribbons you get people to take down, doesn’t mean that Ottawa will spend even one more cent in the areas you wish, in fact it most likely will mean that Ottawa will increase their spending for public relations to promote what's happening overseas to compensate for your efforts. And let’s be honest here, the Yellow ribbon is not increasing or prolonging the war any more then the pink ribbon is increasing or prolonging breast cancer and in many cases may be the only indication these young people have that Canada still loves them. Cpl. Kenneth H. Young CD (Ret'd). 3205 Telescope Terrace Nanaimo, BC V9T-3V4 Tel - 250-758-8837 kentar@telus.net The CFB Gagetown Agent Orange petition is located at www.petitiononline.com/aoalert More Information on Gagetown Chemicals. www.agentorangealert.com |
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