Madam Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for his work on the veterans affairs committee as well. I deeply respect the work. I know, in our hearts, all of us want to see the very best for the veterans who have served our country.
My response is to ask when the money is going to be spent. There was $150 million over five years, and we still have not had any reports of a single cent spent. We have had spouses contact our office and ask about the veterans survivors fund. In fact, when it was first announced, we had a huge number of people contact our office asking what the application process would look like and wanting to identify who they were: the spouses who do not have enough resources, who married after 60 and are desperate for that fund.
We also had veterans calling us who had married after 60 who wanted to know the process because they care about their partners. They wanted to know that after they are gone, that person would be taken care of. There is still no clear pathway for an application process.
Our office is still waiting for answers, but more importantly, the spouses are waiting for answers. When will they get them?