Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 25th, 2011

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

So despite all the media reports, despite the opposition making all sorts of alarmist statements, despite the fact I have opposition members sending me letters through social media and asking veterans to write to me—veterans who are concerned about whether or not their cheques are going to decrease next month—there is no decrease being proposed to veterans' benefits.

[Keith Hillier]

No, there is not.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Do you find it savoury that veterans who have served our country, who have sacrificed for our country, would need to be scared into worrying that their benefits might be reduced next month when a simple phone call to the ministry would have cleared this up?

[Keith Hillier]

I won't get into speculating about how veterans should or should not feel; but again, I reiterate that there have been no cuts.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Fair enough.

Could you tell us how much the department's budget has increased over the last six years?

[Keith Hillier]

It is in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. I don't have the figure. I've been with the department for a number of years. In recent years there have been no reductions; there has actually been an increase in budgets over a number of years.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

That increase is because benefits have actually been expanded. There are new services for our veterans.

[Keith Hillier]

I think there are two things that have driven the budget. Certainly there have been new programs. As I noted in my opening comments, Mr. Chair, there were changes to the permanent impairment allowance, and so on. There's a minimum threshold for injured veterans. Also, we have seen an increase in Canadian Forces veterans coming forward. As I said earlier, and I repeat, these are statutory, so whether one more veteran comes forward or 10,000 come forward, the money is there to make sure they receive the services and benefits they should receive.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

In fact, in 2011-12, there's a projected increase in expenditures in the department, largely due to initiatives like the enhanced services for veterans we just announced two weeks ago; the establishment of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman; and, most interestingly, the ex gratia payments related to agent orange, an issue on which the Liberals refused to act.

So there actually is a projected increase in expenditures for 2011-12. Is that correct?

[James Gilbert, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Communications and Commemoration, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Yes.

Ms. Adams, if I could add to what my colleague said, that is correct. And in the last five years, the increase has been $700 million. Since 2005, the accumulated increase to the budget of Veterans Affairs has been $3.1 billion.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

That's right. And how much is our total budget?

[James Gilbert]

The total budget is....

[Keith Hillier]

It's $3.5 billion.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

So we've increased a $3.5 billion budget by $3.1 billion.

[James Gilbert]

That is cumulatively over the five years.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Correct.

I would suggest to you, respectfully, that this shows an immense amount of dedication on the part of our government to serving our veterans and ensuring that our veterans have the benefits they need.

To be really clear, you mentioned that you anticipate a 42% decrease in the number of traditional veterans over the next five years. Correct?

[Keith Hillier]

That's correct.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

That's where these estimates are coming from. And the estimates indicated in the report on plans and priorities are just that, estimates.

[Keith Hillier]

Yes. I think it's very important to note that they are estimates. That's why the government provides programs such as those for veterans, programs that, again, are referred to as quasi-statutory. In the year, we actually update our projections, because then it's a little closer to reality. That's why I mentioned that in past years we've received increases in the order of magnitude, on average, of about $150 million.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

To reiterate, if the estimates are off, you would simply go back and ask for a top-up to the department's budget, but there will not be one single veteran in this country who will not have his or her benefits paid.

[Keith Hillier]

That's correct.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

You have a little more time, if you want to ask one more question.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

That's fine.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much.

We're now going to Mr. Casey, for five minutes.