Evidence of meeting #2 for Veterans Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was veterans.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:55 p.m.
Bloc
Guy André Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
You've provided partial answers to my questions.
I pointed out that because of the current conflict in Afghanistan, many people would be needing care. You stated that there were 416 beds at Ste. Anne's. However, are there enough beds in all? Has demand increased because of the mission to Afghanistan? Are you anticipating an increase in the budget? Do the services provided meet the needs of patients?
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Yes, the service is being provided to that military family, the unit that needs that service. That's why we very early on doubled the number of operational stress injury clinics across the country. We could see that need ramping up.
Actually, if you take a look at the number of veterans who receive a pension as a result of psychological injury, there has been a steep increase over the years. It's not all related to Afghanistan. A lot of it is early detection and knowing more about the disease than we did in the past and erasing the stigma that was present within our military, in terms of recognizing a problem.
Today, I think we have 11,000 clients who have received a pension as a result of a psychiatric condition, and that includes post-traumatic stress disorder. Out of that 11,000, the number who suffer with post-traumatic are well over 7,000. When you ask what the difference would be, some of the others could be drug addiction, alcoholism, or it could simply be a psychiatric condition.
It is a problem we recognize early on, and we really have dedicated a lot of resources to it.
3:55 p.m.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And Minister and Deputy Minister, thank you for coming today.
I'm going to start by saying that if the government does plan to move ahead to make Beechwood a national cemetery--a national site--then we would definitely support that initiative. I think that would be very helpful.
Also, thank you to the department for the Dominion Institute's funding to bring veterans to the schools. I think that's very important, and you should be thanked for that as well.
Okay, that's me being the nice guy.
Minister, I've noticed a trend within the Conservative Party.... And not all of these comments are attributed to you; in fact just one is, but it's rather disturbing.
You're right when you say we owe them a great debt of gratitude, but when platitudes or words are said, you expect them to be fulfilled. In June 2005, you asked Minister Graham, the Minister of Defence, when the government was going to compensate all the victims of Agent Orange. Later on that month you asked whether the public would not best be served by an independent and public inquiry on Agent Orange. The Prime Minister said in 2006 that the Conservatives would stand up for full compensation for persons exposed to defoliant spraying from 1956 to 1984. We know that a package looked at those who qualified and applied prior to April of this year, for 1966 and 1967 only, which is what the Liberals had offered.
You also indicated the Prime Minister said that Joyce Carter--in fact all widows of World War II and Korean veterans, regardless of when the veteran passed away--would receive the VIP immediately upon your forming government. Two years later, money came into the budget that would have offered it to less than 30% of those, and even then under new criteria of a disability tax credit or certain income. That's not what was said.
Also, recently it was indicated that the Conservative Party, in its 2007 platform, said it would disband the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and replace it with qualified medical and military members capable of adjudicating appeals on an informed basis. We notice that Angela Vautour, former member of Parliament--one of ours, who jumped to the PC--is now a member of that board.
Lastly, in September Mr. Harper said to a bunch of Polish veterans--and you have a copy of it--that if elected, they would make sure that allied and Commonwealth veterans who fought with us and have been here for ten years will receive the Canadian war allowance. In my conversations with those Polish veterans, and the average age is 86.... It wasn't in the economic statement, in the budget, and it's not in the estimates, that I can find. So my question to you, first of all, is where is the promise for the allied veterans? They're 86. We already know that several of them have passed away.
Number two, how many total veterans do we actually have in the country--not what DVA serves, but the total number of veterans, their spouses, and RCMP veterans? When we had the Australian government here, they said they serviced 440,000 individuals, with 2,300 people in their administration. We have over 3,800 in our administration serving close to 212,000 people. I just wanted to get that in.
My last question is on the advisory group. Sean Bruyea asked me to ask you this. Is it possible to get the names of that group?
Thank you, sir. There's more, but I don't have much time.
4 p.m.
Conservative
4 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Let me go through some of these very quickly.
What we did on Agent Orange was very fair and it was very generous. We acted where previous governments refused to act. We're going into the years 1966-67. I mean, those were the only years when unregulated chemicals were sprayed.
We depended on the work that the Liberals put in place in their task force. In fact, if you take a look at the task force and what Dr. Furlong was saying, no one would have received an ex gratia payment at all, period; we would have done nothing, as previous governments did. What we did was fair and it was generous. We did exactly what we said we would do and we lived up to it.
In terms of Mrs. Carter, I met personally with Mrs. Carter, as did the Prime Minister. I really take the word of the whip for the Liberal Party, Mr. Cuzner, who said it was a good start to fixing the VI program, the VIP, and I believe it is a good start.
That's not to say our work is finished, because it's not finished. We've enhanced the program. We'll continue to enhance the program and bring benefits in. The widows we brought in were the ones who waited the longest and needed it most, Mr. Stoffer. We targeted the people who waited the longest and needed it most. That's who we addressed.
In terms of the allied veterans, the Prime Minister and I have stated that's the commitment we'll honour. Normally the life of a Parliament is four years, but in the past four years you've been here, whether it's a Liberal government or a Conservative government, name one time when the NDP actually stood in its place in the House and supported veterans. You guys talk a good line.
Personally, you talk a good line, Peter, and I don't doubt your personal commitment to our veterans, but you never put your vote where your mouth is. The truth is--
4 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
--that you have a terrible habit of doing that--
4 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
--and you've done it every single budget that we've been part and process of.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
On a point of order, Mr. Minister, all I can do is go by your exact words. You said “all”.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
You're interpreting my words, but your vote speaks legends. You never--
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
When you say “all widows”--
Hon. Greg Thompson --stand in your place to vote for veterans.
Support us.
It's just like the budget.
No, sir.
When he's being incorrect, Mr. Chairman, that's wrong.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
You made a conscious decision that you were going to vote down the budget before you saw it. You actually had a disagreement with your own leader--
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
--who said, “Well, possibly Mr. Stoffer's wrong”, but you can't do that.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
You can't do that. You can't actually talk about supporting veterans and then go into the House and vote against them. You can't do that.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
