Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, minister. It's an honour to have you with us, and I would like to thank you for joining us.
As I am the official opposition critic for veterans affairs, I have done my homework and contacted a number of veterans groups. I also had breakfast with some 100 veterans in Quebec City, last week. I want to start by saying that, like those veterans, I recognize your contribution and congratulate you on the efforts you and your government have made to make things better for veterans. I also want to congratulate you on continuing on the path of the previous government, which adopted an approach of constantly improving the situation under the new Veterans Charter, which was created in 2005.
However, minister, I would like to ask you some questions about two key points. I am talking about two concerns and disappointments I heard about from the veterans I have met and talked to on the phone over the past two weeks. I am referring to the financial benefits covering three specific increases.
The veterans have told me that they were pretty disappointed to see what has come of their recommendations on the earnings loss benefits. Those recommendations, which were supported by the Veterans Ombudsman, were to increase the benefits from 75% to 90%.
Veterans feel a bit cheated. In fact, although this is an increase, the 90% is based on a lower salary base than the 75%. When we do the math—which I did in my office—we see that the increase is actually 3.7% and not 15%, since the salary range is lower. We are rather talking about an increase from 75% to 78.7%. Instead of having $8,600 more per year, a veteran who is entitled to earnings loss benefits receives $2,000 more per year.
Minister, as you know, the veterans' request for a 15% increase implied that the base salary range would not be reduced.
Could you briefly explain the department's actions?