Madam Speaker, if the veterans sitting at home heard that speech, they would think it was a victory, that it was all good, that everything was sorted out and they could all go home as there was no problem at Veterans Affairs. We could be a little more humble and transparent.
When we think about what is going on at Veterans Affairs, there is a growing backlog for veterans who need their disability benefit application opened up. The government's set standard of 16 weeks is only being met 43% of the time. The Liberals have talked about hiring back staff. They have not even hired back half the staff that were let go by the Conservatives, which is helping to contribute to this backlog.
The minister is also dismissing the importance of lapsed spending and using it to carry forward for veterans who need it.
In the 2015 election campaign, the Prime Minister said, “They left unspent more than $1 billion that Parliament allocated for veteran support. Canadians know that this is wrong”. The Minister of Public Safety had similar comments.
We are looking for the minister to commit to the content of the motion, that all lapsed spending will be used toward those 12 standards that are not being met by the government.