The federal government is not only refusing to pay Rick and Ellen Rogers’s own $2,425.55 legal tab but believes the couple is also liable for the Department of National Defence’s court costs.
The battle by the Rogers family to get answers about their daughter’s 2012 death, along with details of how the Canadian Forces continued to make demands on the couple, was revealed by the Citizen on Oct. 21. The news story prompted James Bezan, parliamentary secretary to the minister of defence, to tell the House of Commons that the military’s treatment of the Rogers family was “not acceptable.”
Even so, the government refuses to pay the $2,425 it cost the Rogers family to legally force the Canadian military to back off on its demands that the couple produce medical and phone records of their deceased daughter, Lt. Shawna Rogers.
The couple was sent three summonses to attend a military board of inquiry (BOI) examining their 27-year-old daughter’s drug overdose in Edmonton, even though the parents, who had no faith in that process, had repeatedly told the Canadian Forces they didn’t want to participate.
The punishment for not complying is “less than two years” in jail, according to the Department of National Defence.
Rick Rogers said he isn’t surprised by the government’s refusal to pay his legal fees.
“The army has been pretty vindictive from the start, once we began asking questions about Shawna’s death that they didn’t want to answer,” he explained. “They came after us trying to force us to go to their board of inquiry. We weren’t looking to get into a legal battle, but the army didn’t give us any choice.”
The Rogers have also been told that the Canadian Forces and DND think the family is liable to pay the government’s court costs.
However, in a letter sent in July 2013, Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Richards stated that her client — the Canadian Forces — had decided not to request that payment from the Rogers family. Richards did not outline what the Canadian Forces thought the family owed them.
The Justice Department argues that the Canadian Forces is under no obligation to pay the couple’s legal fees and that they should have checked with the military before proceeding to court.
But Rogers said he went out of his way to tell the army he wanted nothing to do with its board of inquiry. He told BOI officials to stop phoning the family at their home. A legal letter was sent to the Office of the Judge Advocate General Blaise Cathcart, informing the military that the Rogerses did not want to attend the BOI. Still, the military insisted on sending the summonses to him and his wife, Rick Rogers said.
The summons was dropped only after Rogers’s lawyer challenged it in an Ottawa court.
The Justice Department referred questions to DND about whether the department would pay the family’s legal fees, but no answer was received on that issue.
Asked about whether any disciplinary action had been taken against members of the BOI or military lawyers for allegedly harassing the Rogers family, DND spokesman Dan Blouin sent an email that stated, “DND has rescinded the summonses out of respect for the family’s wishes.”
Rogers said he and his wife decided not to participate in the BOI because they had concluded it was a sham. They allege it was designed to absolve army officers from any responsibility for their daughter’s death.
Shawna Rogers joined the military in 2007 and, according to her annual reviews, was an upstanding young officer. Her downward spiral began shortly after she injured her back during a military exercise in 2008. The back injury was enough for Veterans Affairs Canada to classify it a partial disability. At issue for the family is how she was treated by the military leadership and the Canadian Forces’ medical system.
Lt. Shawna Rogers committed suicide in Edmonton in October 2012.
Ellen Rogers, a nurse, has obtained some of her daughter’s medical records; she says the dosages prescribed by the military doctor were extremely high and various medical protocols were not followed.
“She didn’t have to become a drug addict if she had a timely and proper medical help,” Ellen said.
Rick Rogers said the family has now determined the army had all the documents it was seeking from the couple right from the beginning. Most of the material was military records in the first place, he added.
“They never had to resort to a summons, but I think they wanted to send us a message that they could play hardball if we kept asking questions,” Rogers said. “But we’re not going away. We lost our daughter and we’re going to get answers.”
The Rogerses said they don’t know whether the BOI into their daughter’s death was finished. But DND said in an email to the Citizen that the BOI wrapped up in June 2014.
“As a matter of policy, following the completion of a BOI into the death of a member, the next of kin is offered a copy of the executive summary of the BOI, contents of the BOI, and a debrief on its findings by DND officials,” Blouin’s email stated. “This same offer will be available to the family of Lt Rogers.”
Rick Rogers said he has not heard from anyone in the Canadian Forces or DND.
Original Article
Source: canada.com/
Author: BY DAVID PUGLIESE
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