Government Initiatives
National News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced Canadian support for an initiative that will help children in the Colombian provinces of Cauca and Nariño gain better access to quality education.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, Jean-François Lisée, Quebec's Minister of International Relations, La Francophonie and External Trade (and Minister Responsible for the Montréal Region), and Michael Applebaum, Mayor of Montréal, are pleased to learn that the State of Qatar has withdrawn its bid to move the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) from Montréal.
Canada strongly condemns today's attack that took place in central Kabul killing at least two people and injuring many others, including members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), security personnel, the International Organization for Migration and the International Labour Organization.
Canadians will soon benefit from improved air quality, Environment Minister Peter Kent and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced today, as a result of the new Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS)
“Good news for our injured veterans”
May 29, 2012
Ottawa- Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP, Mark Strahl, said he was pleased the Conservative Government will not appeal the Federal Court's ruling against the practice of clawing back long-term disability benefits from injured veterans.
"The Government has taken the time to carefully review the Federal Court decision," said Strahl. "I'm glad the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Veterans Affairs have determined that the decision should not be appealed."
On May 1st, 2012, the Federal Court ruled that the longstanding practice of offsetting Pension Act disability benefits from the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP) Long Term Disability (LTD) income was in breach of the SISIP LTD Insurance Policy.
SISIP Long Term Disability is a premium based insurance program that provides financial benefits and vocational rehabilitation to medically releasing Canadian Forces members or members who take a voluntary release but qualify as being totally disabled.
The Government also announced it would harmonize disability benefits at Veterans Affairs to reflect the planned changes to Service Income Security Insurance Plan. With these changes, Veterans Affairs' disability pension will no longer be deducted from the Earnings Loss Benefit, as will be the case with the War Veterans Allowance and the Canadian Forces Income Support Benefit.
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