Evidence of meeting #69 for Veterans Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was disability.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome, Madame Bastien and Monsieur Cormier.
In your opening remarks, Madame Bastien, you talked about the funeral and burial program, although I didn't see it in your prepared presentation.
If I heard you correctly, I think you repeated what was contained in the budget document, that there's been a $65-million commitment over the next two years to the funeral and burial program.
Can you tell me whether that $65 million will in fact be spent over the next two years?
Director General, Field Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
I'm not the best person to answer that question—
Director General, Field Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
I'm sorry, sir, but we'll make sure that you get something, a prepared response.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Okay.
I'm sorry. I don't mean to cut you off, but it's just that I raised this with the minister in the debate on the budget and I didn't get an answer. I raised it Friday in question period with the parliamentary secretary and I didn't get an answer. I'm trying to get an answer in public.
My question relates to the following, Madame Bastien, if you're able to go back and get it.
The annual expenses on the funeral and burial program are about $10 million. We know that there's been a doubling of the amount paid to eligible parties. If we assume that the number eligible doubles, that would presumably be $20 million over two years, yet the budget says $65 million.
Nobody seems to be willing to publicly explain the difference between what seems to be a maximum of $20 million and a budget pronouncement of $65 million. Anything you could do to help us with a public explanation of that would be greatly appreciated.
My next question for you relates to the veterans independence program. When a veteran is in receipt of housekeeping and ground maintenance benefits during his lifetime and he passes away, those benefits continue to flow to his survivor. If he is in receipt of neither, and his survivor becomes in need, there is a mechanism whereby the survivor can apply. However, there seems to be a quirk in the regulations such that if the veteran is eligible for only one, but not both, of housekeeping and ground maintenance, and then the survivor applies for the other one after his death, there's a policy against it.
Are you familiar with this?
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
I understand that the department has rationalized this. What would it take to get it changed?
Robert Cormier Area Director, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs
What we can say is that's precisely how the policy gets applied. If the veteran during his life is not accessing one of the two services, after his death the survivor does not qualify to have that new benefit added. The survivor can receive the benefit that the veteran was receiving at the time of death.
How to get that changed, well, that's perhaps not in my purview, but you certainly had it correct. That's how it gets applied.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Okay, and that causes some difficulty in the department. It seems to me there's a perceived injustice, that if the veteran gets neither, there's a chance the survivor can get both. If the veteran gets both, the survivor can get both, but if the veteran gets only one, then they're stuck, I presume.
Director General, Field Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
I would just like to correct that. If he is only getting one, it's probably because he only needed one aspect of the program. Please keep that in mind. It's not that he didn't need it and we didn't give it to him. It may be that he might not have needed that component at the time.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
I certainly didn't mean to imply that, but my point is that if he didn't need either, but his survivor does, there's a mechanism by which the survivor can apply and qualify. The problem seems to be that if the veteran who qualifies for only one passes away, then this second one becomes out of bounds for the survivor.
Do I have it right, Mr. Cormier?
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Okay.
I take it that's a point of some contention. It seems to be an inconsistency within the regulations which, frankly, the department is stuck with. Would that be fair?
Area Director, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs
I have to repeat what Madame Bastien has said. It's based on the veteran’s need to begin with. As a result, after the veteran's death, the department is able to access the benefit that was present for the survivor.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Greg Kerr
Thank you, very much.
Mr. Hayes, go ahead for five minutes, please.
Conservative
Bryan Hayes Conservative Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
You mentioned that the benefits for expenses incurred when travelling to receive treatment are paid in full. Is that correct?
Director General, Field Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
No, we always paid based on what receipts were submitted by the veterans. What we changed in the procedure is that if the veterans are entitled to reimbursement for health-related travel, they are no longer required to submit their benefits. We asked them to keep them for a year in case there are issues. They have to submit the form, but not the receipt.
Conservative
Bryan Hayes Conservative Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Is this only for travel in Canada? Have there been circumstances where a veteran needs treatment that may not be available in Canada and they have to travel outside of Canada?
Director General, Field Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
Normally it's for travel within Canada, but we'd have to research to see if we had recent cases where travel abroad was required. I can't answer.
Conservative
Bryan Hayes Conservative Sault Ste. Marie, ON
You're not aware of any offhand, though.
No. Okay.
You spoke of 14 programs of choice, and in your presentation you may have mentioned all 14, but the presentation showed only six. So, through the chair, can we receive a copy of a list of all the programs? I want to make sure we have those.
In terms of disability benefits, what criteria are considered, and do you feel those criteria are suitable and generous?
Area Director, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs
As you may know, the criteria for a disability that gets compensated through this program is based on a service-related injury. Certainly, there is an extensive process that veterans are asked to go through, in providing medical documentation from their service. The determination is made based on the possibility of relating their injury to their service. Certainly, there's some complexity to that, but essentially that's how it operates.
Conservative
Bryan Hayes Conservative Sault Ste. Marie, ON
I think it was in your report, but forgive me if I'm repeating. I apologize, but you went through the report fairly quickly.
How much did Veterans Affairs Canada provide in disability benefits last year, and is that normal? Are we trending more or less over the past five years in terms of what we're paying out for disability benefits?
Director General, Field Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
In the last fiscal year, the program expenses regarding disability benefits were $1.696 billion for more than 115,000 veterans and survivors.
Regarding the trend in the last few years, we'll get the numbers to you, but it's more or less that amount.
Conservative
Bryan Hayes Conservative Sault Ste. Marie, ON
It's sort of flat line.
With respect to long-term care, how many veterans were cared for in long-term care facilities again, please?
Director General, Field Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
We provide financial assistance to over 8,700 veterans located in 1,750 nursing homes and long-term care facilities across Canada.