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CANADIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES AGENT ORANGE

COMPENSATION -- People exposed to Agent Orange at

Base Gagetown will receive a lump-sum payment.

 

 

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Government announces Agent Orange compensation

Ken Meaney
CanWest News Service

People exposed to Agent Orange at a New Brunswick military base will receive a lump-sum payment of $20,000 in compensation from the federal government.

The announcement was made at a news conference in Fredericton Wednesday by Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson and Peter MacKay, minister of national defence.

They also said that anyone who accepts the money is still free to sue the government, or apply for a pension if they believe their illness is caused by exposure to the defoliant.

Thompson said people at Gagetown and the surrounding area — soldiers, farmers, mothers and children — were exposed to the dangers of Agent Orange unknowingly for three summer days in 1966 and 1967.

“They had not invited Agent Orange into their world,” Thompson said. “They did not want it to be part of their lives.”

Thompson said the total package is worth $96.5-million and it is consistent with what the federal government has paid in other similar cases over the years.

The work will begin immediately to identify eligible recipients and the payments will begin by the middle of October.

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Larry Scott  --