Afghan war veteran battles DND over privacy breach

Retired Sgt. Tara Bertram is fighting the Department of National Defence over a privacy violation and a payment mistake that has left her facing a $21,794 debt.

Bertram, who served as a combat veteran in Afghanistan before transferring to the air force, was leaving the Canadian Forces on a medical disability in summer 2025. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, she received multiple payments from the military — final paycheque, unused leave, back pay, severance, and disability benefits.

In January 2026, DND told her she'd received two severance payments meant for another military member: $17,187.24 in August and $2,872.73 in December. The department demanded the money back and warned of potential interest charges if repayment stalled.

Bertram questioned the explanation. Pay isn't processed by last name, she pointed out — it's processed by military service number. "This error makes no sense to me," she wrote to a DND benefits specialist in a January 7 letter. "Furthermore this error was not made just once, it was made twice."

After pressing further, DND admitted it had provided her personal banking information to another military member without her permission. That soldier then input the information into the benefits system, resulting in the two erroneous payments to Bertram's account. Department officials acknowledged they don't know how her private banking details were shared.

Bertram spent the money on expenses and her mortgage. She's been told that if she can't repay the full amount immediately, her military pension will be docked monthly until the debt is cleared. She's now exploring remission — a legal mechanism to cancel or waive government debt — but says she's had little luck determining next steps.

The ongoing dispute has added stress as she recovers from military-related PTSD. DND has not apologized for sharing her banking information. A department spokesperson cited federal privacy rules and declined to discuss the case.