An embarrassing multi-million-dollar accounting error that was covered up for years at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) will end up costing taxpayers almost $1 billion, now that a Federal Court judge has signed off on a combined class-action settlement.
More than 272,000 former soldiers, sailors and aircrew — most of them elderly — were short-changed on pension and disability payments for almost eight years, starting in 2002.
VAC staff made the mistake by not factoring provincial tax credits for individuals into their calculations. The department discovered the error in 2010.
The oversight was fixed but officials decided at the time not to notify the affected veterans and not
