Mr. Speaker, right from the start, may I say that my heart and thoughts go out to the Campbell family for everything they have had to endure.
There is a certain grieving element to this that is often overlooked. For anyone to try to give the false impression, or try to imply, that members on all sides of the House would in any way try to take away from the grieving of the Campbell family would be unjust and unfair. I just wanted to express my condolences to the late Constable Campbell's family and friends, that very important circle, who have gone through what they had to endure.
Having said that, we do have a government that is committed to our Canadian Armed Forces and, in particular, our veterans and their families. We have seen the turning of a page with the last federal election. For many years, I sat on opposition benches. I am a veteran myself, having served for over three years in Alberta in the Canadian Armed Forces as an air traffic controller assistant. I had the opportunity to walk in many different parades with World War II veterans.
I understand and appreciate their many different illnesses, and the huge sense of pride in the service they provided to Canada, both during times of war and peace. Their service is ongoing, even upon their retirement. Their pensions and benefits are all very important things that we provide to veterans, because it is the right thing to do. That also includes the families.
As I have pointed out, for years I sat on the opposition benches and saw government actions that spoke much louder than the words we have heard today inside the chamber. Let me just cite a couple of examples that had a profoundly negative impact on our veterans.
One of the issues that was quite common at the time was the number of individuals working for Veterans Affairs who were losing their jobs. We are talking about hundreds of individuals who were let go under Stephen Harper at a significant cost, in terms of quality of service to our veterans. That needs to be recognized.
The other issue that was raised day after day was the issue of office closures in different regions of Canada. We had Veterans Affairs offices that were being closed. Veterans were being told to pick up the phone and call a number, as opposed to being able to have a face-to-face interaction. In my own community of Manitoba, the Brandon office was one of those offices that were closed.
Contrast that to what we have seen since the last federal election. We opened a new centre of excellence for post-traumatic stress disorder. We launched a joint suicide prevention strategy along with the Canadian Armed Forces. We reopened those nine offices that I referred to as having been closed across the country. We provided better front-line services through 10 regional offices. We operate 19 operational stress injury clinics, which include eight satellite clinics, to offer services closer to where veterans live. As I indicated, additionally, we hired over 450 individuals to help provide services for veterans. We instituted the pension for life program that will have a very strong and powerful impact for veterans.
These are some of the actions the government has taken over the last two and half to three years.
Moreover, in our budgets, we have seen dramatic increases to the tune of hundreds of millions of additional dollars being put into Veterans Affairs to support our vets in a very real and tangible way, via literally thousands of contacts with individuals who are dealing with mental health type of issues. We have seen tax breaks given to mental health services. Here, one of the things that comes to my mind is the service dogs, because we have seen the positive impact of those dogs, which can be a fairly costly, on our vets. There have been many actions taken by this government over the last two to three years, and I would contrast that any day with the previous 10 years of Stephen Harper.
Today a motion has been brought forward by the official opposition that I believe would have been better discussed and debated in question period, which the Conservatives have attempted to do, to provide commentary on the degree of effectiveness and cooperation there has been in looking at the issue. There is a difference between the Conservatives and the New Democrats when it comes to the issue of privacy for veterans.
The current minister stood in this place and explained with passion very clearly how important it is that we respect the privacy rights of our vets. Today in question period and earlier when he addressed this motion, he has consistently stood up for veterans to provide the assurance that this government will respect privacy.
The minister raises it for a good reason, because we saw how the Conservative government dealt with an issue of privacy and did a great disservice to Canadians. I want to refer to the individual in that regard, because it highlights the difference between the Conservatives and the Liberals when it comes to veterans and maintaining privacy.
Many of us might recall Sean Bruyea. He had concerns with regard to the Conservative government in 2010. He raised a number of issues and the minister at the time asked for some reports. Part of those reports were the medical records of Mr. Bruyea. Those records ultimately were leaked in one form or another to the media, where there were some reports done. I believe it was an attempt to ultimately discredit that veteran. I would argue that the government of the day did not do what it was supposed to do, which was to stand by our vets and protect their privacy.
At the end of the day, the Harper government ended up apologizing for violating the privacy of that veteran. Fast forward to today where the minister clearly indicated that what we are really talking about is the privacy of a veteran. The message he is sending to veterans in all regions of our country is that we have a government that will stand by our vets and respect their privacy, that there will not be a leak from this government.
If we compare what we have done for our veterans in two to three years with the 10-plus years of the Conservatives, veterans will understand and appreciate that this government has been there for them in a very real and tangible way and that this is a government that will stand up for the privacy of our veterans and their records.