Former Gagetown soldier encouraged by federal probe of Agent Orange use at base

A former Gagetown soldier who's seeking an independent public inquiry into the use of Agent Orange at the New Brunswick military base decades ago has renewed hope, thanks to meetings being held by the Commons committee on national defence.

The committee has undertaken a study into "current and legacy contamination sites" and will hear from government officials, occupational health experts, academics and researchers.

It's also hearing from people affected by Agent Orange in New Brunswick, trichloroethylene, or TCE, a cancer-causing industrial degreasing agent and other contaminants in Valcartier, Que., burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Veterans With Cancer group, and others "impacted by contaminated DND sites."

"Our hopes are high," said Gary Goode, 75, who was an infantry soldier at Base Gagetown from 1967 to 1971, and is chair of Brats In the Battlefield, a Canadian Gagetown veterans advocacy group. He was among those invited to speak recently to the committee about Agent Orange.

Goode says with all of the political parties represented, he has hope there will be changes as a result of the committee's work.

"It has to be more than just a smoke and mirrors show to, you know, appease. I believe that they're serious about this," Goode said of the committee during an interview from his home in Fernie, B.C.

The meetings, which began in November and are scheduled to continue into the new year, come after a Maine commission called in March for a new probe of the historical use of Agent Orange and other herbicides at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown in Oromocto, where Maine National Guard members train.

The Gagetown Harmful Chemical Study Commission determined the data and analysis used in a Canadian report that found most people at or near the base were not at risk for long-term health effects was "incorrect" and "biased."

That Canadian fact-finding report, released more than 15 years ago, concluded only specific populations, including those directly involved with herbicide applications and brush clearings soon after application, were at a greater risk for developing adverse health outcomes.

Compensation payments in Canada were limited to $20,000 for veterans and civilians who worked on or lived within five kilometres of the base between 1966 and 1967, and only those with illnesses associated with Agent Orange exposure. exposure, including Hodgkin's disease, lymphoma, respiratory cancers, prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Goode believes the Maine commission played a "huge role" in the national defence standing committee's decision to study the issue and file a report with recommendations to the House of Commons.

He has been lobbying for an inquiry for nearly 20 years, since he lost his right lung to cancer, and received the one-time ex gratia payment of $20,000 from Ottawa.

"We dug and lived in trenches, sometimes for days" at Gagetown, inhaling dust, Goode told the committee in Ottawa last week via video conference. "And we crawled on our bellies through the chemically saturated training area."

The training area and ranges were "repeatedly sprayed" with chemical mixtures commonly known as Agent Orange, Agent Purple and Agent White, according to Goode.