Vanguard Magazine

6 APRIL/MAY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com s sIt REP Auditor General finds flaws in veterans' drug benefits management Mounties to probe Canadian's murder by Islamist terrorist in Philippines Former Canadian soldiers under the wing of Vet- erans Affairs Canada may not be getting the ben- efits of proper protection with regards to the drugs they or they may be missing out of more effective remedies because of the lapses in the depart- ment's procedures, according to review by the Auditor General's office. Following the beheading of John Ridsdel this week by his Islamist militant captors, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is mounting a criminal investigation into the Canadian's murder. An official who spoke to The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity said that the extrater- ritorial provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code allow RCMP to undertake investigations abroad. If perpetrators of the murder are found and charged in the Philippines, they can also be tried under Canadian law, the source said. Ridsdel, a 68-year-old former mining execu- tive, was captured with another Canadian man and two other people by Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) There are no adequate procedures for man- aging the drug component of the Health Care Benefits the department, a review by the federal watchdog found. "We reviewed 32 Committee decisions and found that for 17 of them, the Department could not provide evidence that it had appropriately considered veterans' needs, current health prac- tices and policies, clinical research, and cost- effectiveness," according to the report released by Auditor General Michael Ferguson. "We also found that no timelines had been established for updating the drug benefits list with the Commit- tee's decisions." Veterans Affairs Canada's Health Care Benefit Program provides drugs to eligible veterans. Some of these veterans have complex health issues and mental health conditions. Approximately 36 per cent of the recipients are over the age of 80.Dur- ing the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the Health Care Ben- UAVs Sensors So ware Support gapwireless.com/UAVsolu ons efits Program covered drug expenses of 51,000 veterans at a cost of $80 million. The auditor general found that the cost-effec- tiveness strategies used by Veterans Affairs Can- ada "did not use all the information at its disposal" in order to determine and document which drugs it should cover. Islamist terrorists in the southern Philippine is- land of Mindanao back in Sep. 21, last year. The group, which claims links with the fundamental- ist terror group Islamic State earlier demanded as much as US$21 million each for the release of Ridsdel, fellow Canadian Robert Hall, Hall's Filipi- na girlfriend Marites Flor and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkinstad. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has or- dered the military to attack Abu Sayyaf camps. Prime Minister Justine Trudeau has taken a hardline stance against the hostage takers, say- ing "Canada does not and will not pay ransom to terrorists — directly or indirectly."

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