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By Len Kruzenga

Winnipeg, Manitoba —
After being questioned by The First Perspective newspaper, Veterans Affairs did an about face and decided that the common law wife of the late Sgt. Tommy Prince was eligible to receive benefits from the First Nations Veterans Package.

Verna Sinclair had initially been informed via letter from the department that she hadbeen declared ineligible to receive benefits from the First Nations Veterans Package.

Verna Sinclair filed her papers with the Department of Veterans Affairs and received a reply from the Department advising her that her denial of the $20,000 one time payment was done 'after a thorough investigation was conducted on your behalf.'

The one time payment of $20,000 is available to surviving spouses of Aboriginal veterans who served at least 30 days during the First World War, Second World War and the Korean conflict.

Sinclair says that she was contacted only once by the Department of Veterans Affairs after she had filed her application. There was only one question asked of her and that was if she had ever remarried after her relationship with Prince. He passed away in 1977.

The reasons given for denial of the benefit was that she failed to provide proof that she was married common law to Tommy Prince Sr. under the definition of the Pension Act.

Sinclair's son Tommy Prince Jr. says he is confused by the reply from Veterans Affairs. "How can an investigation be done from Charlottetown? All they ever did was call my mother once and that was that. No one came to see her. How can they say they did their part?"

"When we initially went to a meeting here in Winnipeg about this they told us that under the guidelines that my mother would be eligible for the benefit. Other people we know have been told that they are eligible and are going to receive the money. But not our mother. Why is this?"

Veterans Affairs spokesperson Janice Summerbee says the background investigation hinges on residence requirements. That means Prince Sr. would have had to take up residence on the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation following the war.

The residences are confirmed through INAC but Summerbee says she has no idea just how the department verifies the existence of a common law marriages.

"I don't know what they would be looking for. But I do know if there is some way we can offer to help her then we will do that."

Two days after being interviewed and unable to answer the question by The First Perspective, Sinclair was informed via telephone that the decision had been changed and that she would be receiving the payment.

Family spokesperson Tommy Prince Jr. says he is pleased with the decision. "I'm not sure why they got a hold of my mother so quickly but they changed their minds awfully fast. Maybe why isn't really what's important here. I'm just happy they did. It's about time something happened."

Prince also says that the recognition of common law marriages by the department is probably difficult to verify.

Some paperwork still needs to be finished before the payment is made and that is expected to happen within the next three weeks.