Mr. Speaker, were I to reveal what was in the budget, I would be in a lot of trouble and I cannot do that. What I will say is our government has clearly demonstrated a deep commitment to our veterans and their families.
We promised to not only improve services and benefits for veterans, but to introduce a veterans bill of rights, and we have done that. Funding for veterans programs and services has been increased by over $523 million in our first two budgets, half a billion dollars more than what the Liberals spent in their last budget. The government appointed Canada's first Ombudsman for Veterans.
The Minister of Veterans Affairs has demonstrated great leadership in addressing and responding to issues raised by members of the Canadian Forces, veterans and area residents about the possible health effects of unregistered U.S. military herbicides tested at CFB Gagetown forty years ago.
After an extensive review, our government has announced a one time tax-free payment of $20,000 for eligible recipients connected to the testing of unregistered U.S. military herbicides, including agent orange, at CFB Gagetown in 1966 and 1967. In just over one month we have begun to get the cheques out. We got—