Canadian War Vet Who Killed Self To Be Honoured 6 Years Later After Stephen Harper's Government Sent Mother 1 Cent "Release Pay"

Story out of Hamilton, Ontario:

A Canadian soldier who killed himself after serving in Afghanistan will finally be honoured with a Memorial Cross this weekend, ending a long battle to have the military recognize his death as service related.

In an interview ahead of the ceremony, Denise Stark said she was both stunned and overjoyed when told the family's fight over the death of her son, Cpl. Justin Stark, was over.

Stark, 22, a reservist with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, served a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan. In October 2011, 10 months after his return to Canada, he killed himself at the John Weir Foote Armouries in Hamilton.

The government had already sparked outrage after it sent Stark a cheque for one cent in "release pay" for her dead son in February 2014 — prompting then-defence minister Rob Nicholson to apologize for what he called an "insensitive bureaucratic screw-up."

The board's finding, which devastated the family, spawned a protest petition to then-prime minister Stephen Harper and helped fuel criticism of how his Conservative government was treating veterans. Cont.

Story from - CBC News