Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I think it's fair to say that the offsetting of disability pensions from Veterans Affairs Canada programs has been an issue over some years. There's no doubt this is one area that the ombudsman has expressed concerns about, and this should certainly address his concern

Veterans Affairs committee  With the greatest respect, Mr. Chair, I would not presume to advise members of Parliament on how they ought to cast their vote in support of proposed legislative amendments. But from a departmental perspective and a policy perspective, I can certainly say this is a positive move

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, based on our assessment, there will be about 2,000 veterans who are currently in long-term care facilities who will receive a greater subsidy for their care as a function of these amendments.

Veterans Affairs committee  Indeed, Madam, the disability pension has been treated as income really since the inception of the program, which dates back to 1930.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's been a while.

Veterans Affairs committee  Indeed this is a marked change in how benefits are calculated and how eligibility is determined. There is no doubt that it would have a positive effect on clients in this category.

Veterans Affairs committee  Indeed. As I indicated in my opening remarks, this issue of offsetting not only affects eligibility to the program, because it is an income-tested program, but it also has a flow-through effect on a number of programs that veterans receiving WVA are eligible for. Essentially what

Veterans Affairs committee  We think that overall there will be about 3,000 or more veterans and survivors who will now qualify for the allowance as a function of these changes.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. That's a good question. What I can tell you, Mr. Chair and members, is that the Government of Canada has yet to decide on how to proceed with respect to the retroactivity of various benefits. At the moment, these legislative provisions, similar to the regulatory chang

Veterans Affairs committee  Indeed, the communication strategy regarding these provisions of the budget implementation act will be very clear about what implementing the act will mean for veterans who are receiving these benefits. It will also be clear in the shorter term that these particular provisions do

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, as with all legislative amendments of this nature, the Government of Canada applies a fairly rigorous process to assess them, and that includes a very comprehensive legal risk analysis by the Department of Justice so that whenever any change or a change in regulation o

Veterans Affairs committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman, and thank you very much. Good morning everyone. As usual, I'm pleased to be here with you. Mr. Chairman and members, I'm pleased to be here to speak to part 3, division 8, of the budget implementation act, and in particular clauses 156 through to 16

Veterans Affairs committee  Perhaps I'll speak to that quickly. It's a very good question. Of course, as you know, the department is engaged in many initiatives right now around transformation and trying to improve service delivery, improve our communication to veterans, and improve our policy framework so

Veterans Affairs committee  If I might, Mr. Stoffer, I'll thank you for the question. I do appreciate your correction on the issue. Once I said “generous”, I knew that it was poorly chosen, and I was thinking “flexible”. I appreciate the correction. On the issue of bruxism, I'm certainly not aware of the p

Veterans Affairs committee  I wonder if I might weigh in on that issue, Mr. Lobb. As in life, nothing is as simple as it appears on its face. As Rick has said, there are a few things to keep in mind. One is that these are legislative provisions whereby Parliament has said that these benefits are payable fo