Veterans Affairs Committee on Dec. 12th, 2023

[Paul Ledwell]

If you'll permit, Mr. Chair, that has been responded to and those payments have been corrected to those women as part of the Merlo Davidson. In fact, the minister recently received a letter from the ombud underlining and confirming her appreciation of the attention on this file.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

A lot of RCMP veterans did not put forward or share their claims because they were worried about the ramifications. Has any communication gone out to RCMP veterans to alert them that this work has been completed, or will there be?

[Paul Ledwell]

We have engaged with RCMP women veterans groups and the leadership and have encouraged that communication to go out within that network and invited others to come forward. We certainly have encouraged that. We have not seen any come forward to this point.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you for that.

I'm also wondering what the current status on the King's coronation medal is. Medals are usually introduced with the design and criteria established, but since the PM announced the medal in the spring, there's been no further information or news on design or criteria.

I'm curious. Where does the medal stand at this point and how many veterans will be included in the process?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Again, that's a very good question.

Last week, I had a meeting where that item came up. I'm going to be following up with the Governor General's office as well, because they play a key role in that. As soon as I have information, I'll be more than happy to share that with the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much.

We have two last interventions of five minutes each.

I will invite Mr. Fraser Tolmie, for five minutes, please.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being with us today.

Mr. Chair, through you to the minister, have you ever bought a house?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Yes, I once bought a house.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Good. How many times did you pay for it?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I don't have the exact amount.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

How many times did you pay for your house?

Have you ever bought a car?

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

It's relevant.

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

With respect, that's not the member's business.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

Please go ahead, Mr. Tolmie.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Mr. Chair, I wouldn't have confidence in someone who paid for a house more than once or twice or paid for a car more than once or twice.

I'm going to give you a bit of information. According to its 2022-23 annual report, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board says that 94% of its hearings are for cases concerning hearing loss and tinnitus, and that over 90% of these cases are adjudicated favourably in funding and support for these veterans. This corroborates what many veterans have been sharing with us, which is that VAC acts more like an insurance company denying veterans claims.

Why not approve these claims in the first place, reduce wait times and reduce stress on veterans?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

First of all, I can tell you that I completely agree with you on this question.

Since I took office as Minister of Veterans Affairs, I've had the chance to meet many veterans, as well as the people responsible for these files. I think there's a lot of work to be done to make sure we find a solution that will be more effective with the right resources. I think there's work to be done, particularly with regard to this specific condition.

Second, both departments are working on it.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Through you, Chair, I think that being efficient would be to approve their claims the first time around. Would you not agree?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Once again, as I said, we're working on this specific condition to see what we can do to find more effective solutions.

I'll say it again; I agree with you.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Again, I'm very perplexed because Veterans Affairs has just recently taken a victory lap for resolving the backlog, but the review and appeals board caseloads have skyrocketed.

Minister, you've said that more money is being invested in clearing the backlog. The backlog has been created because of denials of approval. You're spending more money on a problem that you've created. That is like buying a house more than once or buying a car more than once. Would you not agree?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I think what you're forgetting right now as well is that we have received 61% more applications at the department because of additional investments that we've made for direct services for veterans. That is also contributing to the backlog.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

But you're denying them. You're denying the initial claims when they come to you.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Again, as I said, there's definitely work to be done in terms of some of the conditions you talked about.

I agree with you that we need to make sure that applications can be approved much more quickly.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Minister, did you clear the backlog by simply denying veterans claims that they were ultimately entitled to?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I don't understand your question.