Saturday was an emotional day for veterans in Sydney. Hundreds of supporters braved the weather to attend a rally to mark the one year anniversary of the closure of the veteran’s affairs office in the community, packing into the Royal Canadian Legion.
It’s a closure people say the veterans are still feeling the effects of.
“They fought for this country and they've been kicked to the curb,” says Brenda Leblanc. “It's a shame.”
Leblanc worked as a case worker at the office in Sydney for 28 years, but now, she says she can no longer offer support to veterans the way she use too.
“Four thousand clients out of Sydney alone have been shipped to client service agents in Halifax,” says Leblanc. “They were overburdened with work as it was and now to have all the Cape Breton clients on top of it. They are not getting the services they deserve.”
Eight offices across the country were closed one year ago, including in Sydney and Charlottetown. The federal government said veterans would still get home visits from case workers, can go to Service Canada offices for help, or access it online, but that change has been difficult for veterans.
“I'm being passed from person to person,” says veteran Vince Rigby. “20 minutes is being lucky. Sometimes it will take 30 or 45 minutes to an hour depending on if they can get you to the right person or not.”
One of the biggest advocates to re-open the offices is veteran Ron Clarke. He suffers from PTSD and says changes need to be made to help those who are suffering from mental health disorders.
“I say that Mr. Harper is a dictator. And we have to get rid of that dictator and I will fight until the day it's over with and it's gone,” says Clarke.
Liberal MP Robert Cuzner spoke at the rally today.
“If we expect young Canadians to service our country, then when they return we have to serve them,” says Cuzner.
A notion everyone in attendance could agree with.
With files from CTV’s Kyle Moore
