From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Left owing thousands in back taxes, an Alberta veteran calls for federal   
   changes :CRA SOTW   
      
    Joseph Lafortune is haunted by numerous physical and emotional scars after   
   serving on UN-sanctioned missions   
       
   Jennifer Lee • CBC News   
      
   An Alberta veteran and his volunteer advocate say a lack of communication   
   between federal government departments is causing unnecessary harm to disabled   
   vets and they're calling for change.   
      
   Joseph Lafortune, 49, is haunted by numerous physical and emotional scars   
   including PTSD, hearing loss, foot problems and long-term complications from a   
   broken back after serving on UN-sanctioned missions in Cambodia and Bosnia.   
      
   Unable to work, his only income is a disability pension through Veterans   
   Affairs Canada (VAC) and a long-term disability payment through a private   
   insurer.   
      
   But three years ago, he began owing thousands in taxes and started paying it   
   off a few hundred dollars at a time.   
      
   By August of 2018, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) notified him he owed   
   $17,502.92 in back taxes and, according to Lafortune, the government agency   
   threatened to garnish roughly half of his monthly disability pension cheque.   
      
   "I served my country but now my country is punishing me," said Lafortune who   
   has been couch surfing for three years and is so fragile he breaks down when   
   asked about his military service.   
      
   "I can't afford [it]. I just can't," he said.    
      
   With the help of Allan Hunter — a volunteer advocate with the non-profit   
   group Veterans Canada — Lafortune recently discovered that a psychologist   
   failed to fill out paperwork required by the CRA to assess his application for   
   the disability tax    
   credit.   
      
   The department stopped approving the credit and his taxes went up.   
      
   Definition of 'disability' not consistent   
   There is no universal definition of 'disabled' within the federal government.   
      
   That means just because someone qualifies as disabled through Veterans Affairs   
   Canada, that doesn't mean they qualify for the disability tax credit through   
   the Canada Revenue Agency. Canadians have to apply for that separately.   
      
   And that is what is so infuriating to Hunter.   
      
   "If you're totally disabled that shouldn't change from department to   
   department to department. That's absolutely ludicrous," he said.   
      
   "That is symptomatic of a dysfunctional system that is there only to serve the   
   bureaucracy and not the citizens."   
      
   Calls for change   
   Hunter, who recently spoke out at a Calgary townhall with Veterans Affairs   
   Minister Seamus O'Regan, is calling on the government to overhaul a   
   complicated system that he says can trigger PTSD symptoms.   
      
   "Every year there's veterans across the country that have to prove their legs   
   didn't grow back," said Hunter who wants communication between the two   
   government departments improved so that once a veteran is deemed permanently   
   disabled by VAC, they don't    
   have to keep proving their disability to the Canada Revenue Agency to receive   
   tax relief.   
      
   "The system is so broken that these people don't know how to navigate it."   
      
   Federal Minister aware of concern   
   A spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Canada tells CBC News that Seamus O'Regan   
   is aware of the concern and will bring it up — along with other issues he's   
   heard from veterans — with those in charge of the CRA.   
      
   "I will continue speaking with my cabinet colleagues, including the minister   
   of national revenue, to ensure we are best assisting Veterans and all   
   Canadians," O'Regan said in a written statement provided to CBC News.   
      
   For its part, the CRA said in an emailed statement, it is "wholeheartedly   
   committed to ensuring that all Canadians receive the credits and benefits to   
   which they are entitled, including the Disability Tax Credit."   
      
   The CRA  says it is working to improve access to the tax credit to all those   
   who are eligible by increasing outreach. The CRA says it also collaborates   
   with other departments that provide disability benefits and credits, including   
   veterans affairs.   
      
   Pyschological impact   
   Meanwhile, Hunter says when he discovered a psychologist had failed to submit   
   paperwork for Lafortune's disability tax credit, he spoke to the CRA and it   
   has agreed to hold off on garnishing his cheque.   
      
   But he worries about other veterans, struggling to cope with PTSD, who may not   
   have someone to step in and help.   
      
   "The heartbreaking thing to me is how many guys do we lose to suicide or   
   homelessness or drug addiction because they couldn't fight through this? he   
   said.    
      
   For Joseph Lafortune, who is still haunted by his time in the military, it has   
   been an overwhelming process — one that he hopes  other veterans can avoid   
   in the future.   
      
   "They wonder why vets, why we take our lives," he said. "I gave everything to   
   my country and it means nothing."   
      
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