[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

The following today, comments?

Canadian Forces working to fix danger pay problem
CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Fri. Oct. 6 2006 10:48 AM ET

Canada's military commander says the armed forces are working to ensure wounded Canadian soldiers continue to receive danger pay after they leave the theatre.

During an appearance on CTV's Canada AM Friday morning, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier responded to a story in The Toronto Star about a soldier whose legs were smashed during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Two soldiers were killed in the attack and five others were wounded, including Pte. Jeffrey Hunter, 23.

With two smashed legs and shrapnel wounds, Hunter was taken to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany for treatment. Just a few hours after he arrived he was told he no longer qualified for danger pay because he wasn't in theatre.

Hillier said that's unacceptable.

"Yes, we have a problem," he said.

"We're going to fix it and we're going to fix it quickly. I've got a bunch of very smart, big brained people and we're going to figure out how to look after those soldiers."

He said the issue came on his "radar scope" last week through conversations with soldiers.

Under the current rules, wounded soldiers who are removed from theatre can lose their more than $2,000 per month "operational allowances" within a few days.

Hunter's father was outraged that his son was told about his pay cut just hours after the devastating attack that killed two of his comrades.

It also caused him to question the support the military has for its wounded soldiers.

"He hadn't been there six hours," Bill Hunter, a retired 31-year veteran of the Toronto police, told The Star. "He's in a lot of pain, and I've got someone from the military going in and telling him they're not going to give him his danger pay....This is not right.

"He is going to have a long-time therapy, a lot longer than the six months he was sent away for in Afghanistan," Hunter said.

"Why aren't these kids getting danger pay?"

Although Hillier gave no specific details about Hunter's case, The Star reported that the defence department has the discretion to continue danger pay for an additional 25 days, and usually does. However, there is no indication Hunter will receive the extension.

Although Hillier pledged to fix the policy, Defence Ministry officials have so far dismissed calls -- led largely by Liberal MP Dan McTeague -- to change the practice, and have accused the opposition of trying to mislead the public.

McTeague calls the policy "insensitive" and argues that danger pay for wounded soldiers should continue until the date their tour was scheduled to end.

In total, 150 Canadian soldiers have been wounded and 39 have been killed since Canada first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001.

The issue threatens another public relations storm on the Afghanistan issue for the Conservative government, which is facing rising opposition at home as the list of killed or injured soldiers continues to rise.