Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran says he is worried that his medical information is being improperly circulated in the hopes of destroying his credibility.
An outspoken critic of Ottawa's compensation schemes for Canadian veterans, Stogran says there have been more than 400 inquiries into his medical file, which he has asked the privacy commissioner to investigate.
Stogran said he was told by one official that most of the inquiries "were not on a need-to-know basis," and he now fears that information about his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder could be used for political ends -- although he has no proof of impropriety.
He also claims that he became the target of anonymous defamatory emails and other dirty tricks last year, after he criticized the government.
"We were having bags of garbage stolen in the middle night," Stogran said.
But he didn't pay much attention to such intrusions until last week, he said, when another Canadian veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress released proof that his medical files were given to politicians.
Sean Bruyea charged that he was being targeted because he had criticized Ottawa's payment system for disabled veterans.
That led Stogran to consider whether his own medical files -- and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress that they detail -- had been accessed for political reasons.
The former commander in Afghanistan and Bosnia began experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress seven years ago, including depression, nightmares and "misuse of alcohol."
"I haven't had a good night's sleep since I don't know when," Stogran said.
Veterans Affairs Minister Jean Pierre Blackburn insists that what happened to Bruyea won't happen again.
"The privacy of the information of our vets is very important," Blackburn said. "I don't play with that."
However, at least one opposition MP is calling on the Commons Defence Committee to investigate the matter.
"We'd also like to ask the question that's on everyone's mind," New Democrat MP Peter Stoffer said. "How many other people in this country has this happened to?"
The issue of compensation for veterans was thrust into the spotlight last month, when Stogran accused "penny pinching" bureaucrats of blocking benefits for wounded soldiers.
It was subsequently revealed that the Conservative government will not renew his contract when it expires in November.
The Conservative government has since proposed reforms to how injured Canadian veterans are compensated, saying that 4,000 wounded Canadians will receive new benefits over the next five years.
Under the new plan, veterans who cannot return to work because of their injuries will now receive an extra payment of $1,000 each month for the rest of their lives. That's in addition to a lump sum payment, the 75 per cent of salary at discharge that's paid until age 65, and a monthly allowance of between $536 and $1,609.
The current system of lump sum payment and income replacement was instituted with the new Veteran's Charter conceived by the Liberals in 2005 and enacted by Harper's Conservatives the following year.
Veterans have argued that the lump sum is too small, and that ending the monthly cheque at age 65 will leave them penniless in their old age. The criticism has been accompanied by calls for a return to the lifetime pensions that were given after World War Two.
A study commissioned by Stogran took aim at the lump-sum system, which can be up to $276,000 for the most severe injuries.
The new benefits plan must pass through the House of Commons before taking effect.
With a report from CTV's Roger Smith and files from The Canadian Press
