Ombudsman Slams New Restrictions on Mental Health Support for Veterans’ Families

Ombudsman Slams New Restrictions on Mental Health Support for Veterans’ Families
Soldiers parade from Parliament Hill as they take part in the National Day of Honour in Ottawa on May 9, 2014. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
|Updated:

OTTAWA—Canada’s veterans ombudsman is calling on the federal government to reverse recent restrictions on the provision of mental-health support to members of veterans’ families who need treatment because of their loved one’s service in uniform.

The demand from ombudsman Nishika Jardine is in a scathing report released Tuesday, one year after Ottawa imposed the restrictions following outrage over Veterans Affairs Canada having paid for Christopher Garnier’s counselling sessions.