|
After 10 years of fighting the federal government’s
“gold-digger” pension clause on his own, a retired
Kingston major may get his day in court to argue the
law is unfair.
Sparked by a recent article in The Whig-Standard
about Reg Warkentin’s long battle, Toronto lawyer
David Baker is mounting a court case on his behalf
arguing the law contravenes the Canadian Charter of
Rights.
Court papers have yet to be filed but Baker, one of
Canada’s foremost human rights and Charter law
specialists, hopes to have the legislation struck
down.
The contentious clause denies pension and death
benefits to spouses of former military personnel who
get married after the age of 60. Warkentin married
his wife, Hilde, when he was 62.
The legislation dates to 1908. Its name comes from
the fact legislators were trying to prevent young
women from marrying aging Boer War veterans solely
to collect their pensions after the old soldiers
died.
It remains in force, however, and the surviving
spouse of a military retiree isn’t entitled to keep
collecting a portion of his or her pension, or
qualify for dental and health benefits, if they
married when the pensioner
was over the age of 60.
Warkentin
said yesterday he was pleased to have Baker take the
case.
“I’ve been fighting this for 10 years and here it
is, just Hilde and I against the government,” he
said.
“I’m interested in seeing where this will go.”
Christine McMillan, president of the Frontenac-Kingston
Council on Aging, contacted Baker after seeing the
newspaper story last month and deciding it was an
issue on which the council should take a position.
She noted the provision unfairly penalizes older
women in particular as they form the majority of
surviving spouses. There are an estimated 21,000
military widows in the country, although only a
minority are excluded due to the age at which they
married.
|
“The role of the council is to be a watchdog on
seniors’ issues, and this is unequal treatment as
far as I am concerned. The legislation is
particularly unfair to women,” McMillan said.
The council hopes to tap into a special fund
established to allow ordinary citizens to mount
Charter challenges without risking huge legal bills.
It has already started to solicit and collect
letters in support of Warkentin’s cause to show it’s
an issue of concern to a large number of people.
McMillan said the pension limitations are a slap in
the face to veterans, particularly in the year the
federal government set aside to honour them.
“The Year of the Veteran is almost over and here we
are: They don’t even get free parking in downtown
Kingston and their spouses don’t get benefits if
they got married over the age of 60,” she said.
“It’s ludicrous.”
Warkentin noted the case has been argued
unsuccessfully before the courts previously but on
different grounds than Baker plans to use this time.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission has also
expressed interest in fighting the pension rule but
couldn’t challenge it as the legislation predated
the commission’s existence.
A private member’s bill from a B.C. Conservative MP
has also been introduced in the House of Commons.
That bill, though, has little chance of passing
before the next federal election.
Warkentin, a retired Signals officer, is setting up
a website to publicize his case and is using
regimental and veterans’ organizations to get the
word out about the issue.
He also observed that it’s not uncommon for a person
to marry or remarry at a later age these days and
said as time goes on, a larger number of people will
be affected by the pension limitation.
He hopes the government will rewrite the pension
rules without a court fight, although that could
force it to compensate a number of spouses who were
denied the benefits as a result of the rule. |
