Canadian Class Action Planned on Agent Orange Exposure

[babylonsister]

Canadian Class Action Planned on Agent Orange Exposure
by Chris Morris

FREDERICTON, NB - People angry with Ottawa’s compensation package for Agent Orange exposure at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown are turning to a class-action lawsuit for satisfaction, says the lawyer handling the case.

Tony Merchant of the Merchant Law Group said Thursday his law offices across the country have been flooded with calls from people furious at the federal government’s offer of a one-time, $20,000 payment for those who meet strict eligibility requirements.0914 05

“It is ridiculously inadequate,” Merchant said in an interview from his Regina law office.

“It’s enough money to buy a used truck in exchange for what for many is daily pain and suffering. It’s not solving the problem for the government. It’s really drawing attention to the problem and making things worse.”

Merchant said hundreds of people have added their names to the class-action lawsuit, swelling its ranks to about 3,000 veterans and civilians. The law firm is seeking court approval for the case to go ahead in Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson said earlier this week the compensation will apply only to those who worked on or lived near the huge New Brunswick training base in 1966 and 1967 - the two years the U.S. military tested Agent Orange and several other combat defoliants for use in the Vietnam War.

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http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/14/3840/