Veterans Affairs

Veterans Affairs Canada

The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), also referred to as Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for pensions/benefits and services for war veterans, retired personnel of the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, their families, as well as some civilians.

A war veteran's eligibility for certain benefits may depend on his/her "overseas" status, defined by Veterans' Affairs as having served at least two miles offshore from Canada. It is worth noting that in the Second World War (1939-45) Canada did not yet include Newfoundland, which became a Canadian province only in 1949. Thus WW2 veterans who served in Newfoundland are considered by Veterans Affairs to be "overseas veterans".

The year 2005 was declared Year of the Veteran in Canada, to teach, remember, thank, honour and celebrate. The image of a poppy overlapping a gold maple leaf became a special symbol during the campaign, on posters, pamphlets, bookmarks and documents. In 2007, the Veterans' Bill of Rights stated that Veterans Affairs Canada must show veterans respect.

The Minister of Veterans Affairs is The Honourable Greg Thompson.

On November 9, 2008, the Honourable Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs, attended a Service of Remembrance at the Canada Memorial in Green Park, London, England. Canada recently assumed responsibility for the Memorial, which pays tribute to the nearly one million Canadian men and women who served in the United Kingdom during the First and Second World Wars.

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Minister of Veterans Affairs (Canada)

The Minister of Veterans Affairs (French: Ministre des Anciens Combattants) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet whose position was created in 1944. The Department of Veterans Affairs Canada was split from the Department of Pensions and National Health and was given the responsibility of administering benefits and pensions for war veterans. Its first responsibility was assisting in the reintegration of demobilised soldiers into civilian life and assisting them with health care, education, employment, loans and pensions. Today the department is largely responsible for medical care and pensions for aging veterans via the Canadian Pension Commission, War Veterans Appeal Board, and Bureau of Pensions Advocates.

Prior to 1944, the responsibilities of the current Veterans Affairs portfolio were part of the now-defunct post of Minister of Pensions and National Health.

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Department of Veterans Affairs Act

The Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-527) changed the former Veterans Administration, an independent government agency established in 1930, primarily at that time to see to needs of World War I, into a Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs. It was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 25, 1988 but actually came into effect under the term of his successor, George H. W. Bush, on March 15, 1989.

This bill passed into law over the objection of some of President Reagan's fellow Republicans, who were committed to preventing the U.S. federal government from expanding further. Many Republicans along with most Democrats ultimately supported it on the basis that it was really more of a reorganization than an expansion of government as the new Department was in reality going to be doing very few things that the former Veterans Administration had not already been doing. There was the further consideration that military veterans constitute a large and powerful voting bloc and could easily be offended at the perceived slight that opposition to the bill might have implied.

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Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs

The Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs is a Cabinet-level agency within the Tennessee state government, headed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Veterans Affairs, who is currently John A. Keys. The Department is responsible for administering programs of veterans benefits for Tennessee's veterans, their families, and their survivors.

The Department manages state veterans cemeteries for members of the Armed Forces of the United States who died while on active duty, and for veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces that were discharged or released before September 7, 1980. They also manage free license plates for 100% service connected disabled veterans, ex-prisoners of war, and recipients of the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, and the Air Force Cross. Owners of free license plates receive parking privileges, and certain veterans receive special or memorial license plates.

Other state benefits include management of state veterans homes, property tax relief for 100% disabled veterans and their surviving spouses, $10 hunting and fishing licenses for 30% or more service connected disabled veterans, scholarships for eligible dependent children, exception to the motor vehicle privilege tax for 100% disabled veterans, reemployment rights of public employees, discounts in state parks, preference for veterans in state employment, and credit for military service in state employment. By statute, the Department of Veterans Affairs is prohibited from in any way assisting the implementation or operation of the Tennessee Tomorrow Program, which was transferred to the Tennessee Department of Education by executive order, or any youth-in-public-service program.

According to the Tennessee Blue Book, an Ex-Serviceman's Bureau was established in 1921, but the small agency was unable to provide adequate service for the influx of veterans after World War II. As a result, the General Assembly created the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide statewide services in 1945. In 1959, the department was placed under the governor's office as a staff division headed by a director, but the General Assembly once again established it as a department in 1975. In 1987 the General Assembly authorized the department to establish state veterans cemeteries, and in 1988 legislation was passed that established state veterans homes under the direction of a board of directors appointed by the governor. In 1991 the department was authorized to train and accredit county-employed veterans service officers.

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