People exposed to the spraying of the herbicide Agent Orange at CFB Gagetown outside Fredericton are encouraged by the case of a British soldier who has been compensated for his exposure.

The British government has awarded a special pension to Keith Pilmoor, 65, of Bradford, who said he was exposed to the defoliant sprayed at the base in 1966 and was sick for decades afterward.

Art Connolly, vice-president of the Agent Orange Association of Canada, said his group provided information about the health effects of the herbicide to Pilmoor's lawyer.

"He took that information, presented it to the British medical board, and they said, 'of course, this makes sense,' and they immediately granted Mr. Pilmoor his pension."

Connolly said he's hoping Canada will follow suit.

"Other governments are recognizing the research that we have discovered," Connolly said Thursday. "I hope that somewhat they are embarrassed. They should be dealing with this. They want to ignore this. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in the last election, he promised there would be testing and compensation for the victims of Gagetown. That hasn't happened."

A fact-finding committee released three reports last year about herbicide spraying at the base.

Hundreds of people who worked on the New Brunswick base and lived near it from the 1950s to the 1980s are claiming health problems as a result of the aerial sprays, which included U.S. military tests of such powerful defoliants as Agent Orange and Agent Purple.

Canada's Veterans Affairs Department has received more than 1,500 applications for compensation since June 2005, but has awarded only six disability pensions or awards so far.