Mr. Chair, for those who are listening and watching, many of them will notice I do not have a moustache. That is because this is Movember, which means members of Parliament with moustaches shave them off and then grow them back. I invite all those veterans, all those men out there to ensure they get their prostate checked because it is very important. Statistics show that 25,000 of us will end up with prostate cancer this year, so it is very important for early detection. That is why I do not have the moustache tonight.
I personally want to thank the government for allowing this take note debate. The last time we had a debate on veterans issues was in 2006. I firmly believe members of Parliament and senator should be discussing veterans and military issues a lot more than we do now.
I want to give three very quick points for the minister to allow him to understand exactly what the problems are. I have seen these in my thirteen and a half years of advocacy for veterans, RCMP members and their families.
First, the rhetoric does not match the resources. We heard about VIP, but less than 10% of the women actually qualified.
Second, we heard about agent orange. The former minister and the Prime Minister, when he was not prime minister, were in Gagetown and said very clearly that everyone would be covered by agent orange compensation. We learned that just over 3,000 actually were covered. That promise was to over 300,000 people, military and civilians who could have been covered by agent orange compensation. However, the Conservatives brought in the exact same program that the Liberals offered except they offered a caveat. People had to have died after February 6, 2006, in order to receive the compensation package. That is when the Conservatives officially became government.
In a letter Joyce Carter of St. Peter's, Cape Breton received from the now Prime Minister, he said that all widows and widowers of World War II and Korean veterans would be covered by VIP immediately. Two years after the Conservatives formed government, they allowed less than 10% to qualify. Then they accused me of voting against their budgets that included that 10%. When they make a promise of that nature to veterans and their families, they had darn well better keep it.
I personally want to thank veterans out there like John Labelle, Roger Boutin and Mel Pittman of Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, for trying to stop the unfair clawback to their pensions at age 65 and those who have a CPP disability clawbacks as well. Ed Carter-Edwards from Ontario is one of the very few last surviving Buchenwald veterans in our country. These are military personnel who were captured and put in a concentration camp. That was against the Geneva Convention. They fought for years to get compensation and they finally received it a few years ago. My tip of the salt and pepper cap to Ed Carter-Edwards for that.
I thank Dennis Manuge of Porters Lake, Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia for his continuous battle of fighting against the unfair SISIP clawbacks. Here is where the problem is in SISIP. Two DND ombudsmen said that it was not right. The House of Commons voted that SISIP was wrong in terms of the clawback. The Veterans Affairs committee, the Senate committee also said unanimously that this was wrong. Yet these veterans had to go to the Supreme Court of Canada to fight that unfair clawback of their SISIP.
This is why I have said the rhetoric does not match the resources. If the government is truly responsible for veterans and their families, then why do veterans have to go to the Supreme Court to pursue their case when all these outside avenues and agencies have said that it is wrong and it should be dealt with it appropriately?
I also want to give special kudos to Colonel Pat Stogran. I remind everyone it was the Conservatives who put Colonel Pat Stogran in as the ombudsman. Now they may not like what he has to say, but the fact is Colonel Stogran has become the beacon of light and hope for many veterans, RCMP veterans and their families.
One of the best things the government could announce tonight, or very soon, is the reinstatement of Colonel Stogran for the next three years as Canada's ombudsman. I would encourage and plead with the Veterans Affairs minister and the Prime Minister to do that. Although they may not like his style or what he has to say, he has become a beacon of hope, light and truth for veterans, RCMP members and their families. The number one thing the government could do almost immediately is allow Colonel Stogran to continue on for the next three years.
There is another thing the minister could do tonight, or very soon. The Minister of National Defence has announced that all members of the military are allowed to attend the rally on November 6 at 11 o'clock across the country. There will be no repercussions for as long as they do not wear their military uniforms, and that is fine.
We would encourage the Veterans Affairs minister to tell his 4,100 employees across the country that they too will be invited to attend the rally in support of veterans, RCMP members and their families from coast to coast to coast. If the minister wishes to announce that tonight, that would be a very good thing.
One of the major concerns veterans have with the Department of Veterans Affairs is called the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. This Gordian knot called the Veterans Review and Appeal Board is where 90% of the problems are within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Imagine when someone who is 86 years old, who fought in World War II, who has a hearing problem, is denied his or her first claim, but is told he or she can appeal. Six months later, that person gets another letter saying that he or she is denied once more and can again appeal, but the department will assign him or her a lawyer and the individual's case will go before the Veterans Review and Appeal Board.
The Veterans Review and Appeal Board is made up of mostly political appointees. These are people with no medical, military or policing history. In fact, one of my former colleagues, Angela Vautour in New Brunswick, was on that board. An assistant of Norm Doyle, a former member of Parliament for Newfoundland, is now on that board. I do not know what medical, military or policing history she has.
The government has to stop appointing its friends to that board. They are adjudicating on behalf of veterans, RCMP members and their families. It is disgraceful that people who are politically appointed, with absolutely no medical, policing or military history, adjudicate on behalf of the heroes of Canada. That has to stop.
The fact is the Conservatives knew this was a problem. At their 2005 convention, they said they would stop this practice, but they have continued with it. Do not get me wrong, people like Harold Leduc and others with military experience are on the board and do a great job.
I would, by the way, advocate for eliminating the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and for putting the money toward veterans benefits. However, if the government cannot or will not do that, then it should ensure a board is comprised of military, policing and medical personnel who truly understand what it is like to serve in Haiti, in the Middle East, in Korea, in World War II or in Afghanistan.
There are many other things the NDP would like to do to move this issue forward. We encourage the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of National Defence to work co-operatively to do that.
The fact is every day I receive requests from military personnel, veterans and RCMP members from across the country to assist them, in some way, in dealing with the Government of Canada. They find the Gordian knot they have to go through, which I call the Cirque de Soleil act, in order to get assistance is mind boggling.
There are over 770,000 veterans with families in our country. DVA only deals with roughly 220,000, so more than two-thirds are not DVA clients. This is key. When the government says that there is an 80% approval rate for veterans on the services and benefits of DVA, that is only recorded for the people who receive a benefit. I have asked DVA to ensure it contacts all 770,000 veterans out there and ask what they think of DVA. It may get a different answer.
I know there is a lot of time for questions and answers, and I would be more than happy to—