The families of at least four fallen soldiers believe Veterans Affairs discriminated against their late sons because they were not married when they died on the battlefield.
Privates William Cushley, Braun Scott Woodfield, as well as Troopers Jack Bouthillier and Marc Diab all died while serving in Afghanistan since the fall of 2005.
But their surviving families did not receive a $250,000 death benefit that is awarded to married soldiers.
Pte. William Cushley, for example, was one of four Canadian soldiers killed in the opening phase of Operation Medusa on Sept. 3, 2006.
But he did not qualify for a death benefit, while his fellow fallen soldiers did.
"You have four men killed in the same battle, three of them are paid $250,000, (but) William does not qualify because he is single. It doesn't make any sense to me," his father, Errol Cushley told The Canadian Press in a recent interview.
"I always understood you couldn't discriminate on those grounds."
Beverly Skalrud has a similar story about her son, Pte. Braun Scott Woodfeld.
When Woodfield died in an armoured vehicle accident in November 2005, the death benefit did not exist in its present form.
But when the Conservative government brought the death benefit into effect, a decision was made to backdate it for the families of troops who died in the months previous to April 1, 2006. Yet Skalrud did not receive it because her son was not married.
"It felt wrong in the pit of my stomach right from the beginning," Skalrud told The Canadian Press.
"Was the life of my son worth less than a married soldier? That's what this says to me. This policy is wrong and I'm definitely willing to pick up the torch."
That's why Skalrud, Cushley and the families of Boothillier and Diab have stepped forward to file human-rights complaints against Veterans Affairs.
The parents of another fallen soldier, Cpl. Matthew Dinning, previously made a similar complaint.
But it was recently rejected by a human-rights tribunal after Veterans Affairs decided to recognize Dinning's girlfriend as his common-law spouse -- meaning he was no longer considered single.
With files from The Canadian Press
