— Joan Larocque, widow of Cpl. Jacques Larocque
When death and destruction come calling, survivors need all the help they can get.
If you’re a soldier’s wife, you might think the government would be at your side in the wake of physical wounds, mental injuries … and, of course, the supreme sacrifice. Not necessarily so.
Despite the Canadian media’s best efforts to make Election 2015 about Mr. Harper’s tears-on-cue, Thomas Mulcair’s alleged fiscal untrustworthiness, Justin’s hair, or — God save us — who’s winning on social media, there are real issues on the table … issues with a human face.
There is, for example, the often disgraceful treatment of Canada’s war veterans by the Harper government — which spawned the Anybody But Conservative campaign in the current election. This national vote will be ground zero for that issue. And that brings me to Joan Larocque.
In 2005, her husband, Cpl. Jacques Larocque, died of a massive heart attack twenty days after returning from Camp X in Doha. He was 40 years old. The Larocques had four kids, who were just finishing up school and leaving home when their father suddenly died at a family gathering in the United States.
Since 2005, Mrs. Larocque has been fighting a long, twilight battle with the Harper government. The Board of Inquiry into her husband’s death lasted eight years. The first conclusion was that Cpl. Larocque’s death was not service-related — a conclusion later reversed by former Defence Minister Peter MacKay. Cpl. Larcoque’s death ended up being attributed to having served in a Special Duty Area. Though debriefed, Mrs. Larocque was allowed no questions at the inquiry. She considers the entire process a waste of time and money.
“They hoped they could delay me long enough that I would forget and go away,” she said. “I feel that when that didn’t happen they tried to ignore me and that mentality is still going on. If they had given Jacques his due, in reference to his service, why is his name not on the VAC website, why is his name not part of the list of ‘heroes’, why is he not on the monuments? Why should his widow fight tooth and nail for recognition that should and has come automatically for others?”
An autopsy after Cpl. Larocque’s death revealed a badly diseased heart. He had complained repeatedly to military doctors about abdominal and chest pains but the diagnosis always came back the same: acid reflux.
Mike Blais is the founder of Canadian Veterans Advocacy and has been in Joan Larocque’s corner for four years; he read the autopsy report. He remains alarmed by its contents.
“The reported misdiagnosis is very concerning, and more than one doctor was involved. He died 20 days after returning from an operational deployment. Cpl. Larocque’s heart was grotesquely swollen, as were some of his other organs. Surely this would have been identified through a rigorous medical examination.”
Which is why his widow wanted answers to a host of legitimate questions. Why wasn’t her husband’s chronic (and treatable) condition discovered, especially given all the medical attention prior to deployment, while in theatre and after returning home? While on active duty, Larocque was ordered by his boss, Warrant Officer Debbie Campaign, to see the doctor on three occasions. She served two tours of duty with him in Afghanistan.
With the proper treatment, could Cpl. Larocque have enjoyed a reasonable quality of life and longevity? There might have been good answers to these questions, but Joan Larocque wasn’t getting any of them from the Harper government.
“No one from VAC or DND or the Canadian Armed Forces, including the doctors who treated Jacques, ever even looked at me, let alone spoke to me in reference to this. As a matter of fact, they went out of their way not to,” she said.
The day after the evidentiary stage of the Board of Inquiry into her husband’s death, Mrs. Larocque was visited by officials from Veterans Affairs. They suggested that they could provide the widow with a tax-free pension of $1,450. In her hour of maximum need, Mrs. Larocque agreed — a decision she came to regret.
“That pension has prevented me from bringing DND to court over this matter so that I can get the justice I feel I deserve … I feel the pension was imposed on me and given to ensure there would never be any outside opinions as to what happened in Jacques’ medical care by DND.”
What made Joan Larocque’s suffering almost unbearable was the double-standard the Harper government used — honouring some military families while ignoring others when it came to recognizing their sacrifice.
“Do you have any idea how it felt when the ministry of Veterans Affairs and the ministry of National Defence stood with other families showing respect for the dead as they were brought back, how they supported the families as they should? Yet they treated us terrible, they ignored us. It was like we had done something wrong.”
Another pillar of the veterans advocacy movement rallied round Joan Larocque in her standoff with the federal government. Harold Leduc, who had his own PTSD diagnosis used against him by fellow members of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, said that the only thing standing between the continuing deadlock and a proper resolution of Cpl. Larocque’s case is political will. There are no other major hurdles.
“The ministers of DND and VAC can intervene on her behalf but won’t … To add to the stonewalling, rather than act personally, Erin O’Toole asked the DND and VAC ombudsmen to look into Joan’s case. Both can only make recommendations to the minister, despite the minister having the necessary authority to intervene. I suspect the PMO is involved.”
So why did it take so many years to arrive at the status of Corp. Larocque’s death — from 2005 to 2014? In Leduc’s opinion, it was all about not wanting to take responsibility.
“It’s a liability issue. DND legislation is different than VAC’s. A survivor gets the same benefit from DND regardless if their loved one died overseas or in Canada. It does make a difference for VAC legislation. What people don’t realize is that when VAC grants entitlement to a claim, they are essentially acknowledging that the Government of Canada is liable and responsible.”
When Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a part-time reservist, was gunned down at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, then minister of Veterans Affairs, Julian Fantino, announced there would be an exception to the rules: the young soldier’s family would receive the benefits of a full-time soldier who dies while on duty.
There have been some victories, at least partial ones, for Joan Larocque in her lonely battle with the Harper government. There was the pension, there were a few medals, and part of a cash disbursement belatedly arranged for the dead from 2005. But everything came once public humiliation loomed for the government — nothing came from the heart.
“I brought Joan up to speak to the media on Parliament Hill should the minister not move forward on her file and include her in a special Privy Council dispensation that was provided to the fallen of 2005. An hour before we were about to speak, Steven Blaney’s chief of staff calls and asked if I could bring Joan to the minister’s office on Parliament Hill. The nice one in the East Block. She and her daughter were told that they would be included in the award,” Mike Blais recalled.
The Harper government continues to respond directly only when a public event threatens to deliver negative media coverage. Joan Larocque was planning a memorial on August 27 for her husband. She sent a note about the event to Erin O’Toole’s director of ‘stakeholder outreach’, Cybele Wilson. The widow informed Wilson the press would be attending. On August 26, the minister himself called.
“On Wednesday, August 26, Minister O’Toole called me after communicating with me by email since February 2015. Our discussion went nowhere, and actually, if anything, it was extremely disappointing. I feel like he was doing damage control with no tools. He really had nothing to offer, he would not support adding Jacques name to the memorials. I can’t quite figure out why he called, and I was the one to end the phone call.”
Cpl. Jacques Larocque’s name should be on official military websites and inscribed on the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial in Trenton. “He’s 159,” his widow succinctly put it.
When your looking for justice and a little heart, a full-on political schmooze is a very poor substitute.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author: Michael Harris
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