Chemical Veterans' National Class Action
Suffield Background Material
Notice to Quebec residents
Nationwide class action litigation is being pursued by Merchant Law Group LLP on behalf of the thousands of chemical warfare veterans who "have not only been forgotten but have been overlooked, ignored, insulted and lest we forget die off by attrition", said Tony Merchant.
On February 1, 2004, the Government of Canada officially acknowledged the existence of approximately 3,500 Canadian soldiers subjected to chemical and biological warfare experiments in Suffield, Alberta and Ottawa during the Second World War. It is asserted that under the threat of a class action and a scathing report by the Military Ombudsman, the Government then hastily cobbled together a totally inadequate compensation program to be administered by the Canadian Forces.
The program expired, leaving thousands of applicants uncompensated and a small percentage of the $50 million dollar compensation fund dispersed.
Hundreds more Cold War chemical warfare veterans from the sixties are also suffering serious long-term health effects and the same official neglect when it comes to treatment or compensation.
The Statements of Claim outline that soldiers were intentionally exposed to highly toxic chemical and biological agents including mustard gas. Many of the participants have suffered for years with respiratory problems, skin conditions, heart conditions and cancer.
The lawsuits also propose compensation for veterans exposed to chemical experiments in the 1940s, '50s, '60s, '70s in other locations including Suffield Camp Sarcee, Camp Petawawa, Camp CFB Wainwright, and Ottawa. Estimates are that over 4,500 veterans may be effected.
Merchant Law Group LLP has 12 offices across Canada, with lawyers practising law in six provinces and an American state. Merchant Law Group and Tony Merchant Q.C. are well known for pursuing class action lawsuits in Canada including litigation regarding Complete Contact Lens Solution,Winners/HomeSense, Various Cellular Phone Fees, BCE Dividends, GM Gasket Manifolds, Hip Implants, Lead Paint in Toys (and similar consumer products), Maple Leaf, Celebrex/Bextra, Vioxx, Sony, Residential Schools, Zonolite and various other cases. Tony Merchant is known to be one of Canada's most active litigators with more than 600 reported cases in leading Caselaw Journals, having argued thousands of cases before the Canadian and American Courts, in Trial and Administrative Courts, and the Courts of Appeal of various American and Canadian jurisdictions, the Federal Court of Canada, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Tony Merchant, Q.C., has a long history in pursuing public policy cases and is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly (M.L.A.)
IF YOU WISH TO JOIN THIS CLASS ACTION OR TO SIMPLY GET MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE COMPLETE THE BELOW FORM. (Please note, providing your information creates no financial obligation for you. You are not charged any fee or cost for joining this class action - we are simply paid a contingency fee from the compensation recovered, if successful.)
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