The ''Veterans' Bill of Rights'' () is a

bill of rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

for

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

s of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

and

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

.Melinda Dalton, "Harper unveils vets bill of rights; PM visits region to make policy announcement," ''The Record'', Kitchener, Ontario: April 4, 2007, pg. A.1. It was enacted by the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. It guarantees benefits for veterans from

Veterans Affairs Canada Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC; ) is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for pensions, benefits and services for military veterans, former and current members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Pol ...

and equality of veterans, and refers to them as "special citizens." It also theoretically "entrenches respect and

dignity Dignity is a human's contentment attained by satisfying physiological needs and a need in development. The content of contemporary dignity is derived in the new natural law theory as a distinct human good. As an extension of the Enlightenment- ...

for veterans and their families."Mike Blanchfield, "Little thrown at military front: Spending as promised, new ombudsman office," ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', March 20, 2007, pg. A.5.

History

In the 2006 federal election, the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

campaigned for veterans' rights.CBC News,
Canada's veterans get bill of rights
" April 3, 2007, URL accessed 3 April 2007. The Conservatives said a bill of rights would remedy what they saw as the "shameful way" veterans were handled by the government.CBC News,

" December 28, 2005, URL accessed 3 April 2007. In December 2005, Conservative leader

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

claimed, "We continue to receive complaints that the department is not service-oriented... that is, the

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

treats people as a bureaucracy and a number and that's obviously why we're making the bill of rights, the ombudsman and the structural changes we're talking about to try to shift that focus." The Conservatives formed a minority government. Parliamentary secretary Betty Hinton assisted the introduction of the bill of rights, as did veterans' groups. In April 2007,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Harper and Minister of Veterans Affairs

Greg Thompson Gregory Francis Thompson, (March 28, 1947 – September 10, 2019) was a Canadian politician who served six terms as a Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament (MP), and for one term he represented the district of Saint Croix (electo ...

told the press in

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

that the bill of rights would come into effect then and there would be a new

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

for veterans along with it. This discussion took place at around the same time as Harper was about to observe an anniversary of the

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.Jay Hill, "Doing what's right for our veterans," ''Alaska Highway News'', April 6, 2007, pg. B.5.CTV.ca News Staff,
PM announces veterans' ombudsman, bill of rights
" April 3, 2007, URL accessed 3 April 2007. Earlier, the Conservatives' budget included $19 million to introduce the ombudsman's office.

Text

The Bill of Rights contains seven rights and is meant to be "clear and concise." It reads:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veterans' Bill Of Rights 2007 in Canada Canadian federal legislation Veterans' affairs in Canada National human rights instruments Royal Canadian Mounted Police

History

Text

See also

References