Advisors who helped in Afghan war abandoned

On Oct. 29, 2024 the Ottawa Citizen published my latest article about the abandonment of Afghan-Canadians who served the Canadian Forces with distinction.

Some of the Language and Cultural Advisors or LCAs were wounded while others are dealing with post traumatic stress disorder.

These individuals were Canadian citizens of Afghan origin who on the request of the Canadian Forces returned to Afghanistan to help during the war.

The small number of language and cultural advisors wore Canadian Forces uniforms, operated outside the wire and came under fire. Some were spending up to two years in Afghanistan as advisors to the Canadian Army. Others spent more.

But because they were civilians on temporary contracts, National Defence and the Canadian Forces leadership has denied them help or benefits.

The Canadian Forces Ombud has been trying to help these individuals since 2017.

But the leadership, which included Defence Ministers Harjit Sajjan, Anita Anand and now Bill Blair did little. Same goes with various chiefs of the defence staff, including the last one, Afghan war veteran Gen. Wayne Eyre.

Previously the Conservative government did nothing to help these advisors.

So lots of big talk as usual about the importance of standing behind personnel who protect Canada….but little action when it comes time to actually doing something.

You can read my article here:

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/military-watchdog-calls-on-dnd-to-do-the-right-thing-for-afghan-canadians-denied-benefits

The CBC’s Murray Brewster has led the charge on this file. For additional reading here are some articles:

The story of Mohammad Amin (full name not published due to security and privacy concerns), an Afghan-Canadian civilian serving as a language and cultural advisor for the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, was covered predominately by Murray Brewster.

CBC reporter, Murray Brewster noted that Amin reached out to the federal government to get medical treatment for PTSD but was told he did not qualify for the benefits as he not apply for them within three months of the end of his contract. He also noted Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, wrote to Amin that he was truly sorry and directed the department to look into all possible solutions.

Following his interview with Murray Brewster on 4 November 2019, Ombudsman Greg Lick, was quoted in the article published on 11 November, as saying “have we failed them? Yes, we have. Because I think they have… we have not recognised fully yet the-either at a federal public service or as an employer, we have not fully recognised what the solution needs to be for them.”

As reported by Murray Brewster, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has also decided to take a second look into those that were denied post-traumatic stress benefits.

Below includes print, online and broadcast coverage for the period of 18 June 2019 to
10 September 2024.

18 June 2019