The federal government is dishonouring Canada's veterans by appealing the veterans' interest class action lawsuit on the eve of Remembrance Day.

That's the word from Souris-Moose Mountain MP Roy Bailey, who is also the Veterans Affairs critic for the Official Opposition.

The government lost the class action suit filed by veterans on Oct. 11, when Justice Brockenshire in the Superior Court of Justice in Windsor, Ont. ruled that the government had failed in its duty as a trustee on behalf of veterans who were disabled in the service of their country.

The veterans, who were found to be incompetent as a result of their injuries, could not manage their financial affairs. The government administered their payments in a fund. Rather than pay interest to the veterans, the money was deposited in the government's consolidated revenue fund.

"The government arrogantly asserted the money was (theirs), not veterans' money. With that logic, they didn't pay interest, because it was in their own (fund)," said Bailey. "What's even more unbelievable, is the government declared that it is exempt from the laws governing trustees."

Used as evidence against the government in the class action suit was documentation that showed the government knew, through its own internal task force, that it ought to be paying interest on the money it managed.

"If the government had responded to that task force back then, the matter would have been easily settled. Now, after two critical Auditor General's reports, and a lawsuit judgment against them 25 years later, the potential payments to Vets have skyrocketed," said Bailey, who added interest on the money is mounting by $1 million per week.

"The government has a moral and legal duty to settle this matter out of court, as soon as possible," he said. "Dragging this matter out in the courts while these veterans are dying of old age is cruel."