McInnes Cooper Raises Concerns Over Proposed Veterans’ Legislation
Published:
November 20, 2025
HALIFAX, NS November 20, 2025 — McInnes Cooper strongly opposes the Federal Government’s proposed legislation that would retroactively amend the calculation of certain veterans’ benefits, affecting thousands of Canadian Forces veterans.
The amendments threaten to eliminate three ongoing court proceedings that seek accountability for errors that have deprived veterans of full disability payments for nearly two decades. Over 100,000 veterans and their families could lose benefits and access to justice.
“The government’s proposal to retroactively change the law during ongoing court proceedings represents a serious breach of trust and raises significant concerns regarding the rule of law,” said Daniel Wallace, Partner at McInnes Cooper and co-counsel in two of the class actions (White v. Canada and Allen Estate v. Canada).
“Canada’s veterans served this nation in good faith and are now being told that the government will change the rules to erase its own mistake. That is neither lawful nor moral.”
The recent federal move to amend the Pension Act and related veterans’ legislation was concealed in the 637 pages of the Budget Implementation Act, tabled Tuesday.
Wallace noted that the proposed amendment could set a concerning precedent for future claims by marginalized groups against government wrongdoing.
“The public should be deeply concerned,” added Wallace. “The government is trying to erase its own longtime errors retroactively to dodge liability.”
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