OTTAWA — They have been the eyes and ears of Canadian troopers on the bottom within the Afghanistan battle, however a decade on many are nonetheless hitting a wall of forms as they attempt to entry the form of well being advantages accessible to troopers.
OTTAWA — They have been the eyes and ears of Canadian troopers on the bottom within the Afghanistan battle, however a decade on many are nonetheless hitting a wall of forms as they attempt to entry the form of well being advantages accessible to troopers.
Now, a army watchdog is looking on Ottawa to financially compensate the handfuls of Afghan Canadians who went to Afghanistan as authorities contractors to advise troopers and translate for them, and who skilled psychological and bodily misery on account of that service.
Abdul Hamid Hamidi, 62, served as a cultural and language adviser for the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012.
He mentioned he remembers going to get a basket when a mortar exploded some 200 meters away from him – hitting the spot the place he had been standing earlier – earlier than a number of extra landed.
“I simply lied down on the ground, hoping nothing was going to hit me,” he mentioned.
“I witnessed so many of those incidents as a result of I used to be in the midst of a fireplace zone. Each one among us was going out within the area, dealing with hazard every day.”
He described witnessing graphic scenes akin to suicide bombings and later reliving the reminiscences, triggering a flood of tension and nightmares. He mentioned he believes the federal authorities deserted him.
“There is not any recognition. Completely nothing. Simply, ‘Welcome dwelling and go deal with your self,'” he mentioned.
Robyn Hynes, interim ombud for the Division of Nationwide Defence, mentioned in her new report that the federal authorities failed in its obligation to advisers like Hamidi.
Hynes mentioned that Ottawa ought to order impartial assessments and decide on a case-by-case foundation if former advisers want compensation after they have been denied advantages for years to deal with such circumstances as post-traumatic stress dysfunction.
“There have been systemic failures at a number of factors within the employment of the (advisers) and in post-employment care,” she mentioned.
Ottawa employed 81 of those advisers to work from 2006 to 2014 in Afghanistan on deployments outdoors the protected zones of army bases.
Denis Thompson, a retired main common who served in Kandahar, mentioned the advisers have been invaluable.
“While you’re driving by means of the streets of Kandahar Metropolis and also you’re scanning your horizon, searching on the road, they’d choose up on issues that we would not as a result of it isn’t our yard,” he mentioned. “It isn’t like Brockville, Ont. It is extra such as you’re on the floor of Mars — it is that alien to us.”
“The battle in Afghanistan was a counter-insurgency battle and there’s no entrance line in a counter insurgency. So the moment you permit a base … you are mainly uncovered,” Thompson mentioned. “They’re carrying the identical dangers as Canadian troopers.”
In keeping with Hynes’ report and Hamidi’s first-hand account, the advisers got minimal coaching earlier than being deployed and their work circumstances turned out to be not as marketed. They believed they’d stay within the relative security of Kandahar Airfield, not sporting fatigues and dodging shrapnel from improvised explosive units.
After the advisers returned from their deployments, their well being was not tracked by the Division of Nationwide Defence they usually obtained little if any assist navigating the forms after their PTSD signs emerged.
Many are nonetheless being denied entry to advantages and helps for psychological and bodily issues stemming from their service as a result of, as civilians, they are not lined by the identical insurance policies that cowl army members.
“The federal authorities made a dedication to those workers once they employed them,” Hynes mentioned. “They despatched them abroad, they deployed them outdoors the wire, they put them in hurt’s method, after which once they got here again, they discovered themselves unable to entry the care and advantages that they wanted.”
Her workplace has been elevating this problem with the federal authorities for years. The advisers have sought authorized redress and held a number of protests final yr attempting to attract consideration to their plight.
However whereas Defence Minister Invoice Blair has pledged assist, Ottawa has thus far did not act.
Ottawa’s response to former advisers searching for compensation has been to direct them to the Ontario Office Security and Insurance coverage Board (WSIB). Many advisers say they’ve struggled and did not get the provincial forms to advance their claims.
Of all of the WSIB claims filed by former advisers, solely three led to monetary compensation and 13 certified for some stage of health-care advantages, Hynes mentioned.
Blair’s written response to the report mentioned he “remorse(s) the accidents that a number of” suffered attributable to their deployments and the division now has measures in place limiting civilian deployment time.
However Hynes mentioned Blair’s response to her suggestions left her “very unclear” about how Ottawa’s plan for the advisers will “meet the spirit” of her suggestions.
She referred to as her report her final choice to spur the federal government into motion.
“I hoped that clearly laying out the proof, exhibiting the timeline, exhibiting the coverage gaps — I actually hoped that might immediate motion, however I’d word that there is not any requirement for the federal government to comply with the suggestions made by our workplace,” she mentioned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Jan. 22, 2025.
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
