Yesterday, National Executive Vice-President Eddie Kennedy joined more than 150 protesters in Sydney, Nova Scotia, where the government wants to close a Veterans Affairs district office.
District offices are sprinkled around the country to help veterans who have questions about their benefits. The Sydney office is one of three district offices set to close in the Atlantic region.
Veterans in Sydney will now have to go to one of five Service Canada offices on the island. But the level of service there will be completely different.
“They’ll be directed to a computer or a toll-free number. They won’t have the same front-line support that they have at the Veterans Affairs office,” said Kennedy, who lives in Cape Breton.
If they require the kind of support that only a district office can offer, veterans will have no choice but to go to Halifax.
“And that’s a five-hour drive, one way,” added Kennedy.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been grappling with cuts since 2011, when their budget was cut by $226 million. The department also plans to reduce its workforce by 500 over five years; over 1000 affected noticed have already been given out to VAC employees.
There are 145 veterans on Cape Breton Island.
The other district offices slated to close include Charlottetown, P.E.I; Corner Brook, N.L.; Windsor, Ont.; Thunder Bay, Ont.; Kelowna, B.C.; Saskatoon, Sask.; Brandon, Manitoba.