Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Via Rail's freebie travel for Canadian Forces triggers backlash
1 day ago
OTTAWA — Via Rail's offer of free travel for the military throughout July has triggered a backlash, as soldiers serving in Afghanistan that month miss out on the deal but civilians back home enjoy it.
"Why has Via ... chosen to exclude the thousands of Canadian Forces members who will not qualify for this offer?" Susan Killam, whose husband is posted to Afghanistan until September, recently wrote to government officials.
"These members, currently serving in some of the world's most dangerous conflicts, deserve the same opportunity. ... These members are the very individuals which this offer should be honouring."
On March 26, Via Rail announced with great fanfare that Canadian Forces members, veterans and civilians at National Defence can enjoy free rail travel throughout July. Under the deal, up to five family members can join them, at half price. Retired civilians also get free travel.
"We just wanted, simply, to say thank you ... for everything they're doing for us," Via's chairman Donald Wright said at a news conference.
Killam, who lives in Hammonds Plains, N.S., says it's unfair that civilian employees will be able to take advantage of the offer while her husband is stuck in a war zone.
"I feel it devalues the gesture in that the work of those employees in no way equates to the hardships faced by the military members and their families," she wrote to Wright, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and others. "They do not face warfare."
Killam and other families shared correspondence and related material on the issue with The Canadian Press.
Dartmouth, N.S.-based Margaret Crook, whose husband is also in the military, was similarly upset.
"When this first came out, I was literally pained to read that civilians and their families were being thanked for work we (Canadian Forces) do," she said in an e-mail.
Crook also wrote to government officials, including those at Via Rail who responded that National Defence insisted civilians be included in the freebie because "the support of civilian positions plays an integral part in the success of the missions."
"The Via program was to thank those who sacrifice. To include civilians here is mind boggling. It only mocks that sacrifice," Crook wrote to the deputy minister at National Defence.
Some of the dozens of people who posted comments about the offer on a CBC news website were equally skeptical.
"This is a very nice idea but doesn't do much for those spending July in Kandahar," said one.
Another wrote: "Why do National Defence employees get special privileges compared to other civil servants? Aren't all civil servants working for a common goal?"
Several correspondents said the freebie should be considered a taxable benefit, although a spokeswoman for the Canada Revenue Agency said it is not, under the Income Tax Act.
A Canadian Forces pilot, who heads to Afghanistan next April, said he was unable to book a round trip because seats filled rapidly. A Via Rail spokesman says about 30,000 people have booked tickets under the offer, though he could not say how many were civilians and retirees.
"I felt ripped off not being able to get a seat," said the Ottawa-based officer, who requested anonymity.
He managed to book a one-way ticket, but only after struggling with a "stonewalling" Via Rail ticket agent. "They never stated there was limited availability."
Via Rail has no plans to provide rain checks for military members stuck serving overseas in July, said spokesman Malcolm Andrews, and is not putting on any extra trains in July.
"Like any promotion, it has conditions and one of those conditions is the applicable dates," he said in an interview from Montreal headquarters. "Everyone is treated equally."
Andrews also said a "significant" number of civilians have served in Afghanistan, not just soldiers.
The Canadian Press, citing internal documents, reported recently that Via Rail's decision to offer the freebie was partly intended to boost revenues during a slow travel period.
Via's Vancouver-Toronto trains are full for July, and the Halifax-Montreal trains are almost full. Seats are still available in other regions, including the Quebec City-Windsor, Ont., corridor.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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