Bill C-358

2nd Session, 40th Parliament,

57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009

house of commons of canada

BILL C-358

An Act to provide a compensation plan for First Nations veterans comparable to the one offered to other war veterans

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the First Nations Veterans Compensation Act.

INTERPRETATION

2. The following definitions apply in this Act.

“common-law partner”, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the First Nation veteran at the relevant time in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year. For greater certainty,

(a) in the case of a First Nation veteran's death, the “relevant time” means the time of that death; and

(b) common-law partners cease to be common-law partners when they cease to cohabit.

“compensation plan” means the plan referred to in section 3.

“First Nations veteran” means a person who is

(a) a veteran as defined in the War Veterans Allowance Act; and

(b) an Indian as defined in the Indian Act, a Métis, an Inuit or other First Nations person prescribed by regulation made under this Act.

“Minister” means the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

“surviving common-law partner” does not include a person who, at the time of the First Nation veteran's death, was a former common-law partner of that individual.

“surviving spouse” does not include a person who, at the time of the First Nations veteran's death, was a divorced spouse of that individual.

COMPENSATION PLAN

3. The Minister, in consultation with the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, shall prepare a compensation plan for First Nations veterans that offers First Nations veterans compensation for their service compa- rable to that offered to other veterans.

4. (1) The compensation plan shall include:

(a) an offer of equitable compensation in the form, at the option of the First Nations veteran, or of the surviving common-law partner or surviving spouse, of

(i) a grant of land equivalent to the grant of land made to other veterans, or

(ii) financial compensation in an amount equivalent to such a grant;

(b) payment of a sum equivalent to the compensation and other benefits, other than grants of land, that were offered to veterans other than First Nations veterans;

(c) payment of a sum to adequately compensate for the delay in proper and full recognition of the service to Canada of First Nations veterans and the delay in giving them compensation equivalent to that given to other veterans;

(d) provision that the compensation referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) shall be available

(i) to any First Nations veterans who is surviving on January 1, 2009, or

(ii) in respect of a First Nations veteran who dies before January 1, 2009, the surviving spouse or surviving common-law partner of that veteran;

(e) any provision necessary to ensure that families of deceased First Nations veterans receive treatment equal to that received by families of other deceased veterans;

(f) provision for the erection of a war memorial on or near Parliament Hill, designed in consultation with representatives of First Nations organizations, that recognizes the service of First Nations war veterans and commemorates those of them who gave their lives in the service of Canada during the wars in respect of which allow­ances are paid under the War Veterans Allowance Act;

(g) provision for consultations with the Royal Canadian Legion to ensure that the memorial referred to in paragraph (f) is featured in the ceremonies traditionally carried out on Remembrance Day each year and that First Nations veterans are appropriately represented at those ceremonies;

(h) an undertaking that First Nations veterans will be appropriately represented in any delegation of veterans that represents Canada at any event outside Canada;

(i) provision for a scholarship in First Nations studies to be established in honour of First Nations veterans;

(j) any other matter that the Minister, in consultation with the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, considers necessary or desirable to give equitable treatment and recognition to First Nations veterans; and

(k) draft legislation to bring into effect the provisions covered by paragraphs (a) to (j).

(2) The compensation plan shall also provide for a public apology to be made by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government of Canada to First Nations people for the disparate treatment their veterans have received in the past.

REGULATIONS

5. The Minister may make regulations prescribing anything that, by this Act, is to be prescribed.

TABLING IN PARLIAMENT

6. (1) The Minister shall prepare the compensation plan and cause it to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first three days on which that House is sitting following April 1, 2010.

(2) The compensation plan, on being laid before the House of Commons, shall be automatically referred to the standing committee appointed by the House to deal with matters relating to First Nations people, and the committee shall report on it within 90 days of the referral or such longer period as the House may direct.