Mr. Speaker, I am proud to speak today. To begin, I would like to congratulate the member for Random—Burin—St. George's and thank her for her work on this file. This is a very important motion. It is very important that this matter be debated publicly because we were not able to debate it in committee.
I am very pleased to participate in the debate. Part of the reason is that for some time now, I have actually had a motion before the veterans committee. The minute we tried to introduce the motion to do a root and branch study of the Last Post Fund before the veterans committee, it went in camera. Now here we are discussing this in public. I thank the member for Random—Burin—St. George's for ensuring that we are able to do this.
Imagine my surprise, when just a few minutes ago, we heard the parliamentary secretary talk about how the minister is directing a continuing review of the Last Post Fund. That is the very thing in the motion before the veterans committee that is not worthy of public discussion.
I have said on many occasions that the government places more value on symbolism than on substance. This choice of symbolism, spin and propaganda is done to convince Canadians that Conservatives are doing something on veterans issues. This is evident in the empty measures recently announced in the budget, to which I will return to later.
I want to highlight, for the benefit of the House and for Canadians, the true record of the Conservative government with respect to veterans. It is a long rap sheet. It is a record of blaming others, spin and political opportunism. Here are just a few examples.
It was the Conservatives who made the decision to interfere with the work of the independent Privacy Commissioner, who was conducting an audit of the department and investigating breaches of privacy, including the privacy of a decorated veteran, Captain Sean Bruyea.
It was the Conservatives who interfered and halted the work of the independent veterans ombudsman's investigation of breaches of privacy, notably the Conservatives' snooping into medical records of veterans who spoke out against their policies.
It was the Conservatives who removed a decorated veteran, Harold Leduc, from the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. The only reason they did this was that he was an outspoken advocate in his defence of veterans, and more often than not, he granted the benefit of the doubt to the veterans appearing before him.
It was the minister's decision to spend millions of dollars in departmental funding on propaganda, media backdrops, photo ops and other communications to the benefit only of the Conservatives, all the while ignoring the needs of veterans and chopping front-line services.
It was the Conservatives who dragged disabled veterans into the Federal Court over their disability pensions. It was the Conservatives who decided to fight them in court for five years over money they had earned and deserved. The Conservatives lost that case, but only after the minister spent $750,000 fighting the very people the Conservatives go to great lengths pretending to care about.
They did not learn much. There are two class action suits presently wending their way through the courts. All too often, the government's response to valid complaints from veterans is “Have your lawyer call mine”.
It was the Conservatives who shut down local Veterans Affairs district offices. It was these offices that provided a place where veterans could meet caseworkers in person to discuss the issues they are facing, including pensions and benefits. In the case of my province, veterans who are being case managed have had their case managers moved out of the province.
It was the Conservatives who have been and are still in the process of firing hundreds of employees from Veterans Affairs Canada, and they are not done yet. In the report on planning and priorities, issued last week, it shows that over the next 23 months, another 319 positions will be cut. That is 10% of the workforce at a time when they claim that veterans' services will not be affected.
These cuts are happening at a time when veterans' needs are actually increasing. Even the Auditor General has raised alarm bells about the impact of these cuts to veterans' services.
This is the Conservatives' record with respect to veterans. It is a record of symbolism over substance. It is a record where talking points trump substance, where spin trumps truth.
The motion before the House was not brought by accident. It is not something that was created in a vacuum. It was brought before the House because the Conservative government has failed in its duty to support the real needs of veterans and has failed to provide financial support for their burial costs.
Today we have heard the Conservatives talk about how great they are, because they made an announcement about the Last Post Fund in the recent budget. As a result, they intend to oppose the motion. That is a disgrace.
Do the Conservatives know that their colleagues, successive Conservative ministers, refused to implement changes to the Last Post Fund recommended over three years ago by officials in their own department? It was the Department of Veterans Affairs, over three years ago, that recommended changes to the Last Post Fund to expand access to financial support at the passing of veterans. For three years, the Conservatives did nothing. Yet today they are beating their chests as if they saved the day with changes to the Last Post Fund.
As we heard earlier in the debate, there has been very little in the way of detail. It is clear that these changes were made without consultation with the Last Post Fund, the very organization that administers the fund.
We heard the parliamentary secretary describe this as a responsible and effective program. Do the Conservatives think Canadians will forget that they were responsible for the rejection of 66% of all requests for funding to help bury our veterans? Do the Conservatives think Canadians will forget that for years, successive veterans ombudsmen have called for changes to the Last Post Fund to help veterans? They did nothing. They ignored the ombudsmen's recommendations. Do the Conservatives think Canadians will forget that it was their government that ignored recommendations made by the Royal Canadian Legion for changes to the Last Post Fund in the years 2008, 2010 and 2012? They did nothing. They ignored the legion. For years the Liberal Party was calling for expanding access to the Last Post Fund. The Conservatives did nothing. For years they ignored the veterans community, and only after overwhelming pressure to finally do something, they added one paragraph in the 2013 budget and now claim to have solved the problem. That is false. It is a ruse. The proposed changes outlined in the budget provide little in the way of detail.
However, I am grateful to my colleague from Sackville—Eastern Shore for his co-operation and the great work he has done. He was able to obtain a briefing and some information. We are now led to believe that access to the fund, which is now very limited, which was the fundamental complaint, has not been changed, as it should have been. Expanding access to the fund was the primary issue for the ombudsman and the legion. The Conservatives failed them and failed veterans. Not one veteran currently excluded from accessing the burial fund will have access to the fund under the proposed changes announced in budget 2013.
The members opposite may think that their Minister of Finance handed them political cover to go out and brag about how great they are helping veterans, but the truth tells a different story.
Canadians are tired of spin and talking points. They want real action from the government but are getting nothing. The Conservatives have failed veterans, and we are here to tell Canadians the truth.