Defence minister says another one-cent cheque incident won’t happen again

OTTAWA – Defence Minister Rob Nicholson says the government blunder that delivered a one-cent cheque to the mother of a dead Canadian soldier will never be repeated.

Nicholson tells the House of Commons that he spoke with government officials shortly after learning about the cheque during question period Tuesday.

He also says he’s scheduled a phone call Thursday to personally apologize to the mother of Cpl. Justin Stark, who took his own life in October 2011 after a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The one-cent cheque was issued by the Public Works department and marked “CF Release Pay.”

While it remains unclear why the cheque was issued, Nicholson says it was the result of what he called an “insensitive bureaucratic screw-up.”

Several tribunals were held to determine whether the death of Stark, 22, was related to his work as a soldier.

“Immediately after question period I contacted the department. I received assurances that something like this will not happen, there will be better communications,” Nicholson told the Commons on Wednesday.

“We’ve contacted this woman and a telephone call has been arranged tomorrow, and I will personally convey our apologies for this unacceptable incident.”