PMO caught in Veterans Affairs suicide scandal cover-up: documents reveal government involvement
Sheila Gunn Reid reports on documents obtained by Rebel News that show the Prime Minister's Office was involved in the cover-up of a scandal involving veterans being suggested to undergo assisted suicide.
Government documents have revealed that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was directly involved in attempts to manage the narrative surrounding the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) scandal, where caseworkers offered assisted suicide to veterans instead of the support they deserve.
Over 6,000 pages of documents obtained through access to information filings expose this disturbing cover-up.
The issue became an international scandal when veterans reported their experiences to fellow veterans, podcasters Mark Meineke and Kelsi Sheren. These veterans seeking help were instead met with VAC caseworkers suggesting suicide as a solution to their struggles — an appalling breach of trust and duty by those tasked with supporting the nation's wounded warriors.
Earlier access to information requests revealed that VAC was prepared to deny these incidents ever occurred. However, as more veterans came forward with similar experiences, it became evident that this was a widespread issue across the department and not an isolated case.
Evidence shows that the PMO was deeply involved in controlling the fallout from this scandal. The newly uncovered documents indicate that the PMO was actively shaping the messaging to mitigate public outrage after the Canadian public learned of VAC's failure to uphold its duty of care to veterans.
VAC emails planning social media posts on the scandal show the department relied on PMO-approved talking points.
"Further to the request this morning, the team pulled together the attached social media posts using PMO language.
We wanted to flag, the ask is for posts to be made on all social media channels. We would not recommend this to go beyond our Facebook services and Twitter accounts i.e. not recommending commemorative channels including Instagram or LinkedIn employment account.
As such, the attached only includes two recommended channels, but if there is a desire to put out more broadly, we can use the same Facebook copy. The copy is based on PMO approved media lines, but there are some tweaks to make it more appropriate for social media and to fit Twitter character length."
Additionally, internal emails show Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launching an investigation into the matter, despite facing resistance from VAC in obtaining records. An email exchange read:
EMAIL: RCMP just called me and once I revealed what this was about, a VAC employee bringing up MAID to a veteran, he stated he would bring this issue up the ranks, but to expect a little more delay.
He stated that this was too political for him to reply to this situation.
The corporal did tell me that there was a veteran that made a similar complaint at his detachment, but the file is concluded.
REPLY: Do we know if the veteran in question already made a complaint to the police? I did not get any further information due to privacy issues. Stand by for more information. I'm expecting a senior rank to call me back and hopefully get the proper guidance
Despite the Trudeau government’s efforts to bury the narrative with reems of paper — nearly 9,000 pages across two access filings, the truth continues to emerge. Rebel News' investigation is ongoing.
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