OTTAWA, Nov. 5, 2014 /CNW/ - The Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs, today announced that Dana Kean will join the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, which provides Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members, and their families, with an independent avenue of appeal for disability benefits decisions made by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Ms. Kean, of Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec, has a strong legal background specializing in medical and health law, as well as general litigation and corporate and commercial practice. Ms. Kean has extensive experience as a decision maker in an administrative tribunal, having served from 2007 to 2014 on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Ms. Kean previously worked as in-house counsel and Ombudsman for several Montreal-area hospitals. She holds a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Master of Medical Law from the University of Sherbrooke and is fully bilingual.
Quick Facts
- Ms. Kean is appointed for a three-year term.
- Appointments to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board are made by the Governor in Council through the Board's merit-based selection process.
- The Veterans Review and Appeal Board is an independent body created in 1995 that conducts hearings across Canada to provide Veterans with the opportunity to bring forward new evidence, give oral testimony, and have supporting arguments presented on their behalf.
- The merit-based selection process for new Board members prefers candidates with military, medical, policing or legal backgrounds in recognition of the people served by the appeal process and the nature of the work.
- The last 12 members appointed to the Board have military, medical, policing or legal backgrounds. More than three-quarters of the Board's current members have these backgrounds (19 of 24).
Quotes
"I am very pleased that Ms. Kean will be joining the Board, bringing her knowledge and skills to work on behalf of our country's Veterans. Ms. Kean's legal expertise, both in the medical field and in administrative law, will contribute greatly to the Board's mission of ensuring fairness in the disability benefits system for Veterans and their families."
The Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs
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SOURCE: Veterans Affairs Canada
Barbara Mottram, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs, 613-996-4649; Media Relations, Veterans Review and Appeal Board, 902-566-8575
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