They’re a force to be reckoned with.

A group of outraged ex-soldiers says the system at Veterans Affairs is designed to deny and delay benefits – in the hope that the claimants will eventually die.

The group plans a series of protests on Parliament Hill over the next two weeks  to draw attention to what they call “the insurance- company mentality” of the department that cares for Canada’s wounded warriors.

Linda Magill is an ex-member of the military.

She’s also the wife of a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Magill says the protest will  focus public attention on the cultural change needed at Veterans Affairs.

The former military member says the Canadian public has to be made aware of what’s happening to the people who “had their back,”  and it’s time for them to step up and do the same.

She says there are so many bureaucratic hoops to jump through, troops in need of care often give-up pleading for the benefits to which they’re entitled.