Canada’s military ombudsman is calling on the Department of National Defence (DND) to make an exception and offer special compensation to former language and cultural advisers who served alongside Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
Gregory Lick is issuing his call for compensation as Canada marks the 10th anniversary of its military withdrawal from the country’s longest-ever war.
In a letter sent last week to Defence Minister Bill Blair, Lick said there’s precedent for special compensation. He cited the federal government’s decision in 2017 to pay cadets injured in a 1974 grenade explosion at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier in Quebec.
“Ministerial authority has been used in the past to
