Veterans ask USSR to help

The Indian veteran's association is about to call upon the Soviet Union to put pressure on Canada for a better deal for Indian war veterans.

Hugh Taylor, the executive director of the national association said he chose the Soviet Union because it has been a war time ally and would draw attention to the plight of the Indian veteran.

Taylor charges that Ottawa is ignoring a special report from an advisory task force that said the government made a mistake in allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to turn over its responsibility for Indian veterans to the Department of Indian Affairs.

Taylor says this resulted in fewer benefits for Indian veterans.

The advisory group's report said many veterans claim they were never told they could receive $2,320 for resettlement and because they lived on reserves, they could not receive the $6,000 low-cost loan that many non-Indian veterans received.