Agent Orange vets pin hopes on Harper Tories

Some of the people affected by Agent Orange and other chemicals at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick hope the new federal Conservative government speeds up the investigation into their use.

• INDEPTH: Agent Orange

Public hearings resume Monday as part of the federal government's fact-finding mission on claims by former workers and soldiers at CFB Gagetown that they were harmed by exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange.

The process was set in motion last spring after a CBC investigation revealed CFB Gagetown had been sprayed with several now-banned substances, beginning in 1956. The harmful chemicals included Agent Purple, a more deadly cousin to Agent Orange.

In the communities surrounding Base Gagetown, the federal fact-finders are just getting back to work following a two-month break during the federal election.

The Base Gagetown Fact Finders Project will hold its first meeting at the Queenstown Orange Hall, near Hampstead, at 7 p.m. Monday, hosted by project co-ordinator Dennis Furlong. Anyone who believes they were affected by defoliant spraying on the base is invited to attend.

The government is currently gathering facts about the use of Agent Orange and other now-banned substances at CFB Gagetown beginning in 1956.

The Defence Department has conducted soil and water tests, and the results are to be made public this spring. A key health study has barely begun and could take up to 18 months.

Ken Dobbie, president of the Agent Orange Association of Canada, is optimistic the process will improve with the appointment of New Brunswick Southwest MP Greg Thompson as minister of veterans affairs and Gordon O'Connor as minister of defence.

"We see great promise in that, because both of these gentlemen were quite vociferous in their attacks on the Liberal government as to how the Liberal government was responding to the issue at CFB Gagetown."

Dobbie and his group have argued for a compensation system similar to that of the United States, where veterans are paid automatically if they develop one of a string of health problems related to Agent Orange. "People are sick now. We can't wait 18 months to two years for this fact-finders mission to gather their facts. People don't have that time."

Some of those who say they were affected are also calling on the new Conservative government to transform the Defence Department's investigation into a full-blown inquiry.

Thompson says he recognizes the urgency of the file. "We're going to use the best science and medicine available to establish legitimate claims. At the end of the day we're committed to cleaning up this sad chapter in Canadian history. I think that's the important thing to know."

It's not yet clear how the new government may change the fact-finding process that is now underway. But the New Brunswick minister says his leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is paying attention to the file and supports Thompson's ideas.