moved that Bill C-67, an act to establish the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, to amend the Pension Act, to make consequential amendments to other acts and to repeal the Veterans Appeal Board Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to begin second reading on Bill C-67, an act to establish the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, to amend the Pension Act, to make consequential amendments to other acts and to repeal the Veterans Appeal Board Act.
The legislation is straightforward and its objectives are simple. We want to streamline the veterans pension application and make the decision making process an improved service to Canadian veterans.
The bill before us does not change benefits that veterans now enjoy, nor does it reduce the right Canadian veterans have to a complete and thorough appeal process with free legal assistance.
Veterans have been faced with long delays when they apply for pensions, sometimes very long delays. We know that those delays are usually caused by the elaborate process we have put in place. We want to simplify that process to provide veterans with their benefit as quickly as possible.
As most hon. members will be aware, veterans pensions provide compensation for service related injuries, wounds and disabilities. Civilians who served in close support of the armed forces during wartime may also be entitled to pension benefits.
Additional pension benefits can be paid to a pensioner's spouse or dependent children. Survivor pensions are payable to the spouse of a deceased pensioner.
This legislation will affect a wide range of people, veterans, their spouses, their dependents and others. More than half a million Canadian veterans are alive today and at this moment there are about 150,000 veterans or their survivors who are getting disability pension benefits. We get about 13,000 claims a year. That is a lot of applications. Canadian veterans are still applying for benefits in large numbers.
Some members of this House may be asking why we are getting so many applications almost 50 years after the end of the second world war. It is simply because many of the wounds and injuries received in the line of duty half a century ago are beginning to have a real effect on the lives of our veterans. The effects of those old wartime injuries have become more obvious, more painful and more difficult to live with, and now many finally have decided that maybe it is time to get some help.
These veterans have reached a time in their lives when the benefits available for the disabilities they received serving Canada so many years ago can make a real difference in their lives. They really need the benefits now. That is why we are processing so many applications.
We have also found that many of the applications are taking longer to process. Many are going through the appeal process because in the years immediately following their service in the armed forces it was easier in the average case to make the connection between the veteran's service and the resulting disability. As the years have passed it has become more and more difficult to find the link between service and disability.
I want to emphasize that the first benefit to which our veterans are entitled is the benefit of doubt. If there is a real doubt about whether a claim is justified, that doubt goes to our veteran. Our system is designed to help veterans by providing assistance in preparation of first applications, and that will continue to be the case.
The disability pension process was designed to be fair but the process was not designed to be fast. Now with the average age of our veterans at 73, these Canadians can no longer afford lengthy delays.
Under our current system successful disability pension applicants will wait on average 18 months for their first pension cheque, a year and a half. Clearly that is not good enough. If the
application is turned down and its appeal is successful it can now take up to three years. Clearly that is not good enough.
These delays are not the fault of the people who work with the current process. It is the fault of the process itself. We know that the only way we are going to catch up is to make the overall system more efficient.
There have been a number of attempts over the years by governments to make changes in the pension process. There has been some tinkering, or some small process has been changed. In some cases this has assisted the veteran but in some cases it has only added to the bureaucracy. Add to those problems the number of first applications we have and we have a situation which is simply no longer acceptable and must be changed.
Most veterans have reached the time in their lives when they want to enjoy their pension benefits. Surely they deserve that. Some will use the disability pension cheque as an added source of income in their retired years. Surely they deserve that. Others need the veterans benefits to obtain the medical services they need. Surely our veterans deserve that.
Over the past year we have commemorated many important events leading to the end of the second world war. I am very pleased and proud to be part of the `Canada Remembers' program. This program makes Canadians and people around the world aware of the dedication and sacrifice our veterans made for us and for democracy around the world.
Canadians want our veterans to be treated fairly. They want us to do the right thing and they want us to do the thing right. Our veterans deserve that. Therefore, we will improve the process with the bill before us today.
At present a veteran applies directly to the Canadian Pension Commission or contacts the department or one of several organizations which will act on his or her behalf. Some veterans go to such organizations as the Royal Canadian Legion or the War Amps of Canada. Others go to the Bureau of Pension Advocates which is now involved in most of the applications for pensions. However immediate involvement of legal assistance at the point of first application almost assumes legal dispute.
It was certainly never the intention, however, just by providing legal advice at that point, to make it look as though we were going to contest the application. That is not what we want, that is not what Canadians want, and that is certainly not what our veterans want.
Canadian veterans should not need legal help to apply for pensions. With the passage of this bill they will not need such help. The need for legal advice and assistance will come in the appeal process.
Our lawyers in the Bureau of Pension Advocates are highly trained people. They will continue to work hard for Canada's veterans where their expertise is needed. Why have legal experts using their time in the detailed preparation of a case that is not going to be contested anyhow?
At present, the department receives the application on behalf of the Canadian Pension Commission and prepares a medical summary and opinion. It examines the degree of the disability and recommends the amount of assessment. In many cases it is obvious the applicant will be approved but the department cannot approve it. It sends the application to the Canadian Pension Commission. The CPC has to decide on two things, the first one being entitlement. Does the applicant have the qualifying service? Is the injury or condition likely to be a result of that service? Then, assessment. That is based on the degree of disability and it is a decision on how much pension to pay.
The Canadian Pension Commission makes its decision on those two issues: entitlement and assessment. It then passes the decision on to the department which informs the veteran and delivers any cheque or payment.
If the Canadian Pension Commission decides that the applicant is not entitled, the applicant can go before something called the Entitlement Board. If the commission had agreed that the applicant is entitled but the applicant does not agree with the assessment, there can be what is called an assessment hearing.
Both the board and the hearing are made up of members of the Canadian Pension Commission. If the applicant does not like either decision at this level he or she can appeal again. At this time it goes before the Veterans Appeal Board.
After all of that, we arrive at a final decision on whether a disability pension will be awarded and, if so, how much. The information goes to the department and then begins the process of having the first cheque delivered to our veteran.
In a nutshell, that is the system as it currently exists. It relies on the work of four different government bodies: the Bureau of Pension Advocates which provides free legal assistance when veterans apply; Veterans Affairs Canada which completes medical examinations, summaries and opinions, and does the administrative work, including preparing and researching files, communicating with clients and calculating and making payments; the Canadian Pension Commission which decides on first applications and then hears initial appeals; and finally, the Veterans Appeal Board which hears final appeals.
The system is thorough. The system is fair but the system is not fast. It can take up to three years from the time the veteran first applies until the first cheque is delivered. Our Canadian
veterans deserve better than that. We have been looking for ways of speeding up the process for a period of time.
In 1992 Veterans Affairs Canada completed an evaluation of the process. The following spring it consulted with major veterans' organizations, employee unions, staff and other stakeholders. The evaluation made 55 recommendations on ways to improve the pension process and we have implemented those that we could.
Now has come the time to act on those recommendations that need legislation, the long term recommendations that streamline the process.
The legislation before us acts in three broad ways. First of all, Veterans Affairs Canada, the department, makes the first decision. In many cases veterans affairs employees will be able to counsel and assist veterans with pension applications in their own homes and communities.
Second, the Bureau of Pensions Advocates becomes part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bureau will no longer be involved in first applications, therefore the bureau's lawyers would concentrate on helping veterans in the appeal process.
The third broad area concerns the appeal bodies. As I have said, the Canadian Pension Commission hears first applications. If first applications are now to be heard by the department, then the Canadian Pension Commission in handling only appeals would have the same mandate as the Veterans Appeal Board. This legislation merges the two agencies into one body. The Canadian Pension Commission and the Veterans Appeal Board will be combined into the Veterans Review and Appeal Board to hear appeals at the first and if necessary the second level.
I want to emphasize that we maintain two levels of appeal. However, we do it with much more flexibility built into the system. We will have board members who are not locked into just one level of appeal, meaning that we can utilize the board members' time with maximum efficiency.
Some members of the new board will be deployed across the country to hear initial appeals. If the applicant wants to continue the appeal process, final appeals will be heard by different members of the same board. We will again speed up the appeals process by combining the expertise of both former agencies and having them concentrate only on appeals, not on first applications.
One overall theme is important to all these measures. We will maintain all veterans' benefits and appeal rights. Decisions will still be based on the principle that veterans receive the benefit of the doubt. Two appeal levels will continue to be available.
The Government of Canada spends about $1.1 billion on disability pensions. Nothing in these proposed changes will affect the amount of money veterans receive through the process.
Our only objective is to make sure that the veterans get their applications dealt with faster. I am sure the House will agree that our veterans deserve this. I know we all recognize the debt that Canadians owe to our veterans. Veterans deserve their disability pensions and this is the time when many veterans need them the most.
I hope all members of this House will join me in supporting this bill because this is an occasion where we, together, can further help those who have served our country so well. Surely our veterans deserve that.