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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012 THE NEW TANNER 5 Branch no. 197 Legion news By Sharon Graham P.R.O. HOLIDAY SONGS: Members of the Acton Citizens Band posed for a group shot after entertaining a large appreciative crowd with holiday favourites at its annual Christmas concert on Sunday at Bethel Christian Reformed Church. ­ Submitted photo Report from PARLIAMENT HILL By Mike Chong MP Wellington/ Halton Hills Recently, questions were raised about government support for Canadian veterans. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the record. Our government believes that veterans should receive nothing but the best care and support. They deserve nothing less. Every attempt is made to accommodate soldiers in the Canadian Armed Forces who are injured (either physically or mentally) and who wish to continue to serve. Soldiers who are injured and who cannot continue in the Canadian Armed Forces are released from service. These veterans are eligible for a program that supports them as they are being rehabilitated. This program provides them with a guaranteed annual income of at least $40,000 a year, for as long as they are not able to work, until age 65. Those injured veterans who have completed rehabilitation and are able to work receive a monthly benefit while they look for employment. This benefit provides up to $1,300 a month for single veterans, $1,900 per month for married veterans, and $300 per month per dependent. In addition, further monthly payments are made to those veterans whose injuries make finding work more difficult. In addition to the monthly and annual ben- efits above, veterans with a long-term injury receive a lump sum payment of up to $593,300 depending on the severity of the injury and how much the injury is related to their service. For those soldiers killed in combat, their surviving spouse (or next of kin) receives $285,300. Canada provides the families of veterans with up to $3,600 to help with the funeral service, and up to $7,000 to cover the cost of the burial, for total of $10,600. In contrast, the United Kingdom provides up to $3,500 for funeral and burial costs, while Australia provides up to $2,000. The US does not provide any financial support for funeral services burial costs, unless the burial takes place in a national cemetery. Low income veterans over 65 or veterans on a disability benefit become eligible for the Veterans Independence Program. This program pays for lawn maintenance, housekeeping, personal care and other support services. Many local veterans take advantage of this program and it can provide a veteran with up to $9,991 a year. Total spending by the federal government for veterans increased from $2.85-billion in 2005 to $3.5-billion in 2010, a 43 per cent increase over five years. While there will always be room for improvement, no other government has supported Canadian veterans as much in recent memory. I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions. You can contact me by phone at 1-866878-5556 or by email at michael.chong@parl.gc.ca Comrades, It is hard to believe that December is here and the weather is still not too bad. We are getting lots of rain but no snow. I think the rain is way better than the snow. But people say that they need snow to get in the mood for Christmas. Now, if we could get snow just on Christmas Day. That would be so good. On behalf of the Branch we send our sympathy to the Phillip family on the passing of Jim. Jim was a Past-President of the Branch. We would also like to send our deepest sympathy to the Irwin family on the passing of Ab. Ab was a Past-President also. Ab liked to go to the cemetery every June to plant the geraniums for our veterans. Ab knew the location of all the veterans' graves in the cemetery. I remember in 2010 when he was not well, and he came out with Keith Andrews. He really enjoyed the day giving out the flowers. On Thursday evening, the Ladies Auxiliary had their Christmas party. It was very good right from the dinner to Santa and his elves wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. Friday evening Rock 40 entertained us in the games room. Their music was great with lots of dancing and singing. They really mixed it all up for everyone. On Saturday we had our Turkey Roll with a great turnout. The Branch was full. Thank you to the cooks for their hamburgers and fries with gravy. Thank you to Dave Lewis and everyone who helped to make the afternoon lots of good fun. Everyone enjoyed all of the games. The mini putt is always a great time. There are just too many to thank but you know who you are. Just a reminder that we have entertainment in the games room, on December 15 with Scott Craig from 3 to 6 p.m. Everyone is welcome so please come out. Scott is one of our members. Tickets for the New Years dance are now on sale. Tickets for the general public will be made available Wednesday, December 12. This year, sales of tickets will be limited to 250 and ticket holders will be required to retain their ticket stubs to be produced, if requested, during the course of the evening events. Congratulations to three Acton students who entered the Poppy Literary Poster contest and came in second in Zone competition. To all of the students of Acton you did a great job. I hope we will get more and more submissions each year. The next executive meeting will be on December 17 at 7:30 p.m., sharp. This is the last meeting of 2012. CHRISTMAS IS COMING `Tis the Season for The New TaNNer's MEGA ADVERTISING SPECIAL! Book your Christmas Ad (1/4 page or larger) for our December 20th edition at the regular rates and receive your New Year's Ad for our December 27th edition for John Holgate WHAT THE DICKENS BOOKS & CURIOS 145 Mill St. East 519-853-1225 Buy 2 books, receive 3rd book (lesser value) FREE $3 off any picture or collectable item *Sale ends Friday, December 21st* Store Hours: Weds. to Sat. 10:00 - 5:00pm 3RD ANNIVERSARY SALE was a merchant in Acton from 1847 to 1852. His hand written diary is in the Ontario Archives. HALF PRICE! We h a v e typed it and added an e l a For S 00 index and . $10 footnotes. Available at: McNabb Our contributors and advertising customers should be aware of our deadlines for the two final issues of 2012. 56 Mill St. Acton or you can call us at: 519-853-0408 Kay and Dave Dills Graphics Office 519-853-5615 · Dec 20th issue - due Dec 14th by Noon · Dec 27th issue - due Dec 19th by Noon · Dec 20th issue - due Dec 14th by 5pm · Dec 27th issue - due Dec 19th by 5pm Editorial Submissions Advertising Submissions