Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here tonight to address a very important concern with regard to the benefits belonging to spouses of veterans. Of course I should say the lack of benefits with regard to spouses of veterans.
In the House I raised a question to the minister with regard to the benefits of the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit: that there was a promise made that was not fulfilled. Of course the hon. member who was the minister at the time and who is in the other House now worked very hard to bring dreams forward with regard to veterans in general and their spouses.
As a result of the things that were said, the reason we all agreed that this bill should be passed as quickly as possible was that it would provide much needed benefits to our veterans and the survivors of our veterans. This is all in line with regard to the Newfoundland Foresters who were overseas and the spouses of veterans of that unit and other units.
In speaking to many spouses of veterans, they have made it quite clear that a promise was made and not fulfilled. Now is the time for government to compensate the people of Newfoundland, the Foresters' veterans' spouses, and it is time for the government to act immediately to make sure that the spouses of veterans can continue their lives in a respectful manner.
I have received a fair number of calls from an 85 year old lady who is the spouse of a veteran. She is a widow. She is always calling and wondering when she is going to get the money that was promised to her. We are talking about an 85 year old lady who has done her job for the government and for Canada, for our country. Of course we do not look at what the spouses have done for veterans. All we look at is the fact that veterans played an important part in society when they fought to keep our country free, but of course when the veterans returned, the spouses played an enormous part in making sure that the husbands were healed and nourished and lived some type of normal life.
We know that war at that time was a very hard and cruel thing to be involved with, and it even took a very long time for benefits to go to the veterans. Of course thanks to the hon. member who is in the other place now, they have seen some benefits. Now it is time for the government to move forward with the promise that was made to the spouses of the Newfoundland Foresters unit that they would be compensated for their part in the war. The spouse's part in the war was to take care of her husband who came back and the government's part in the war was to ensure that their lives would continue in a reasonable manner.
Benefits are very low. If someone makes a certain dollar value, that person will not receive anything. As a result, there are a lot of veterans' wives out there right now who are struggling from day to day. I think it is very important for the government to ensure that the promise that was made be kept so that spouses can benefit and live normal lives and that a reasonable dollar value be given to them so they can ensure that they can live a suitable life until they pass on.