HALIFAX -- A frail 94-year-old Canadian who served with Norwegian naval convoys in the Second World War has been struggling to gain entry to a Halifax hospital that cares for veterans.

Petter Blindheim's son Peter says he has been informed by Ottawa that the Camp Hill Veterans' Memorial hospital is refusing long term care to his father under regulations that often allow care for Canadians who fought with the allies.

Veterans Affairs has sent the family a letter saying that because Blindheim signed up with the Royal Norwegian Navy based in Britain after the date the German army occupied his homeland, he doesn't qualify.

Peter Blendheim, whose last name was changed slightly by his mother, says the department is being overly rigid and bureaucratic in denying the care to his father, who risked his life and was decorated for his service on merchant marine vessels and corvettes under British command.

He says at one point his father was commended by the Royal Norwegian Navy for his courage when a torpedo sank a vessel he was serving on.

The son says the federal minister of Veteran Affairs, Kent Hehr, could override the civil servants and allow his father to enter the hospital on compassionate grounds.