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Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan doesn’t seem to see this as an issue. He said the form is a generic one needed “for making sure we can provide the right service and that we can continually assess, because things may change for other veterans as well.”

CTV reported that Deputy Minister Walter Natynczyk called the form “un-intrusive” and “caring”. But other veterans have come forward saying the forms are anything but caring – it is an insult for such severely injured veterans to have to state annually their legs or other body parts are still missing. Questions have also been raised why Veterans Affairs, under Natynczyk’s watch, hasn’t dealt with this issue.

The situation prompted this exchange in the Commons yesterday:

“Master Corporal Paul Franklin lost both legs serving this country bravely in Afghanistan,” NDP leader Tom Mulcair pointed out. “Every year, like numerous other veterans, he is obliged to fill out a pile of forms to prove that he still has not gotten his legs back. He lost his wheelchair because he could not produce another doctor’s note. The question to the Prime Minister is not what his talking notes are on veterans. The question to the Prime Minister is: What has he done to put an end to this intolerable situation for our veterans?”

Trudeau answered….with talking points:

“I put forward a mandate letter for our Minister of Veterans Affairs that asked him to respect the sacred obligation we have as a country toward those who serve,” said Trudeau. “We have made sure that we have reopened the nine Veterans Affairs offices. We have increased the funding to the people who are actually helping our veterans. We are ensuring that we are cleaning up the mess left by 10 years of a government that wrapped itself in the flag every chance it got but let our veterans down every single day.”

But nothing about the specific situation affecting Franklin or the other vets.