Judy Sgro on Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

With respect to the Veterans Affairs program for the compensation of those who were exposed to Agent Orange: (a) how did the government come to the decision on the years that would be covered for those who were exposed; (b) how did the government arrive at the compensation amount of $20,000; (c) why will the government not compensate the widows of those who were exposed and met the qualifying conditions, but who have since passed away; (d) how many applications for compensation has the government received to date; (e) how many of those applications have been approved; (f) how many applications have been denied; (g) how many of those denied were refused because the veteran has since passed away; (h) how many of the applications denied were due to a medical condition that was not deemed to meet the government’s criteria; (i) what mechanisms did the government use to determine which illnesses would be covered and which would not be considered for compensation; (j) how many cheques have been issued and delivered; and (k) was the departmental funding cut of $33.6 million completely due to a program criteria which resulted in lower than expected numbers of beneficiaries?