Clayton Goodwin, Veteran Turned Medicinal Pot Activist, Seeks Meeting With O’Toole
CP | By Arielle Follett, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA – Former soldiers who want timely access to medical marijuana say they are undeterred despite having been denied a meeting with Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole.
Retired corporal Clayton Goodwin, who represents a group known as Veterans for the Use of Medical Marijuana, was shut out of O’Toole’s stakeholder meeting Tuesday at the Canadian War Museum.
A spokesperson for the minister said Veteran Affairs staff have spoken with Goodwin and are setting up a one-on-one meeting.
“There isn’t a lot of blame to be placed on Veteran Affairs, they’re working,” Goodwin said.
“It’s more that we need to work towards ending stigma and shame and get more voices in a room because I’m not aware if we’re ever brought up in there.”
Veteran Affairs data shows the number of ex-soldiers eligible for medical marijuana jumped to 601 in the last year, up from 116 the previous year.
Those veterans are facing unacceptable delays in procuring the drug and the government is taking too long to reimburse them, he added.
“If everyone is in (the meeting) representing some section of the Veteran Affairs file, I would like to know if we’re being represented. Because if we’re not, that’s 600 silent voices.”
O’Toole, meanwhile, said Veteran Affairs will be hiring more than 100 new disability benefits staff, speeding up the application process — and complimenting the more than 100 new case workers announced earlier this week.
In the meeting, the minister did not specifically address the issue of medical marijuana for veterans.
O’Toole also said he wants Veterans Affairs to strive for service excellence and to work closely with the Canadian Armed Forces.
“We want everything we do to be ‘veteran-centric,’ having the veteran and their family at the core of everything we do,” he said.
“We should constantly be reviewing how we discuss things with veterans and how to meet their needs in the future. And in areas where there are challenges, let’s try to tackle those challenges. Let’s not shy away.”
He also said the government is revising the New Veterans Charter, the federal government’s benefits agreement with ex-soldiers, in an effort to “take the politics out” of the discussion and get rid of “unintended gaps.”
Veterans Affairs minister announces more help, but medical pot proponent not impressed
JESSE WINTER
Published on: April 14, 2015
Cpl. Clayton Goodwin (ret’d) protested the Veterans for the Use of Medical Marijuana Society’s exclusion from Veterans Affairs stakeholder meetings at the Canadian War Museum on Tuesday. Jesse Winter/ Ottawa Citizen
Veterans Affairs Canada is hiring at least 100 more support staff to help speed up applications for disability benefits. The announcement Tuesday came just a day after the department also said it would hire at least 100 full-time veterans’ caseworkers across the country.
Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole revealed the support-staff hirings at a major stakeholders’ meeting that also welcomed back some veterans’ groups who had complained about being shut out under his predecessor.
O’Toole has tried to put a fresh face on the veterans’ portfolio since taking over earlier this year from Julian Fantino, now associate defence minister.
The additional staff will support veterans who need help filling out application paperwork and will speed up evaluations of those applications, O’Toole said. “It’s about service excellence and it’s about recognizing that we weren’t meeting the objectives that we wanted to,” he said.
In November, the federal auditor general slammed Veteran Affairs for failing to provide enough mental health services to veterans. Specifically, the report said veterans faced long wait times and an overly complicated application process.
In recent months, the federal government has been increasing benefits for veterans following a series of controversial cuts. In 2013, Veterans Affairs closed nine regional offices, triggering an outcry from some veterans who said they could no longer access crucial services in person.
Carl Gannon, national president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, said he’s worried the new hires are mere window-dressing.
“It’s a bit disingenuous. With that being said, I’m happy that we’re moving in the right direction or are at least giving the appearance of moving in the right direction,” Gannon said.
Gannon said what’s really needed is to reopen the closed veterans services offices. “That’s when I’ll come around and sing the government’s praises,” he said.
Last month, the government tabled bill C-58, which includes additional benefits for veterans. O’Toole promised the bill would be passed before the election, slated for October.
Last November, Veterans Affairs came under fire for excluding from its major stakeholders’ meeting selected veterans groups such as Veterans of Canada, Canadian Veterans Advocacy and Veteranvoice.info. Those groups were all at Tuesday’s meeting with O’Toole at the Canadian War Museum.
But holding a protest sign on the street outside was retired Cpl. Clayton Goodwin. He was upset that his group – Veterans for the Use of Medical Marijuana Society – was excluded.
Goodwin said his group of about 600 veterans is relatively new – formed in late March – but he still wants his cause represented.
“We’re here to fight for access for veterans, to make sure they understand the process. It’s about harm reduction and quality of life. You don’t have to choose pharmaceuticals if you don’t want to,” Goodwin said.
A Métis reservist for almost a decade, Goodwin said he suffered occupational stress and other injuries while on patrol in the high Arctic. Now he walks with a cane and says medical pot is the only thing that helps his chronic pain.
There is a process in place for veterans to access medical marijuana, which Goodwin says he’s happy with.
“It’s there and it works. We just want to make sure the status quo is protected,” he said.
“Mr. O’Toole can’t help that Health Canada, under Minister Rona Ambrose, is not licensing enough producers, not actually giving access to not only veterans but other Canadians,” Goodwin said.
JESSE WINTER
