House of Commons Hansard #27 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pandemic.

Topics

PensionsAdjournment Proceedings

6:15 p.m.

Liberal

Terry Beech Liberal Burnaby North—Seymour, BC

Madam Speaker, I think I maybe gave eight examples of targeted relief to targeted Canadians, and that member's party voted against all of them.

Canadians make contributions to the CPP based on their annual earnings, up to a maximum amount. The amount in 2022 was $64,900, up from $61,600 in 2021. It is important to note that anyone earning less than $61,600 in 2022 will not see their total contributions to the CPP affected by the change in the maximum annual pensionable earnings. It is important to note that the enhancements to the CPP addresses important challenges faced by working Canadians.

It is also important to note that the CPP is self-financed by employer and employee contributions. As such, freezing the contributions will mean the increases would come at a cost to Canadian workers. It would mean reducing future benefits for Canadians who are currently working and, in particularly, younger workers who are working today. I do not think anyone wants that.

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

Veterans and their families are being left behind by the Liberal government. When they rise in the House on this issue, representatives of the government are quick to state that they have made historic investments and done more than any government has done to invest in veterans. With the greatest of respect, they seem to have convinced themselves that by throwing money at the problem they have dealt with it fully and that, while there is more work to do, most of the issues have been addressed.

Unfortunately, I would like to talk about where we are today, not where we were a few years ago and not where we were in 2015. Currently, there is a backlog of 30,000 disability benefit claims on the books at Veterans Canada. The current average wait time for a processed claim is 40 weeks. Unfortunately, the average is skewed because some cases, the simple ones, are solved quickly. If they have complex cases, veterans who were prepared to lay down their lives for this country are waiting as long as two years. They are waiting two years for hearing aids that somebody desperately needs, or waiting two years for funding for physiotherapy related to injuries.

This is what the government considers good enough. Let us not forget that it was the Prime Minister who said “veterans are asking for more than we can give”. The government has known about this problem for years. We have had reports from the Veterans Affairs committee, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Veterans Ombudsman all giving concrete recommendations on how to fix this. Why has the problem not been solved yet? I simply do not know.

Is there a political will to solve this crisis? It has been a constant passing of the buck from one Liberal to the next, not seeing fit to address anything more than the status quo. What worries me most is that the government is going to cut over 300 disability benefit adjudicators in March. These are people who were hired to address the very backlog that prompts me to rise in the House today.

In an Order Paper question, I asked the government what would happen to the backlog of claims from April, 2022, to January, 2023, if these cuts happen. These are the numbers the Liberals provided of an estimated backlog. It would be 26,600 on April 1, 2022. On July 1, 2022, that would rise to 29,900. On October 1, 2022, it would rise to 33,200, and on January 1, 2023, it would rise to 36,500.

If these cuts happen, the backlog will get worse. The minister knows that and the government knows that, yet they are still failing to act.

I have one simple question for the government. Will it commit, here and now, to extending the 300 staff past March, yes or no?

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:20 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, since the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo asked, in essence, a two-part question, let me offer this two-part response.

First, on the matter of case workers, as my colleague puts it, I believe this refers to temporary employees who were hired by Veterans Affairs Canada to form what the department calls spike teams. These teams were created from the 350 additional full-time staff who were hired in 2020 for two years as part of VAC's strategy to address the long-standing issue of processing times for disability benefits decisions. Employees on the spike teams were hired and trained starting in June 2020, and since January of last year they have been making decisions on disability benefit applications, thereby accelerating the process for veterans.

Coupled with other changes VAC made to its systems, these new teams helped the department reduce the number of pending applications to its lowest point since September 30, 2019, and reduce the number of applicants over the service standard to its lowest point since March 2019.

I can confirm that the department has so far received approval to extend some 168 spike and surge resources beyond March 2022. It is also worth pointing out that, as of April 1, 2022, veterans residing in Canada who apply for disability benefits for a mental health condition as well as those who have already applied will automatically immediately qualify for mental health benefits coverage. VAC is also improving case management supports, which go a long way to helping veterans adjust to and cope with a disability as they transition into post-military life and enter the civilian workforce.

Some steps the department has taken include using temporary funding for additional case managers; implementing guiding support that sees Veterans Affairs agents work with veterans who have moderate needs so that case managers can focus on veterans whose cases are more complex; bringing in screening tools to improve VAC's ability to identify veterans' levels of risk, needs and complexities to make sure they are provided supports that match their needs; and finally launching a new case management access tool, which reduces the administrative burden for case managers, allowing them more time to work directly with veterans and their families.

Regarding my colleague's second question about the unspent funds, I am surprised to learn the member of Parliament is unfamiliar with demand-driven funding. VAC's benefits are demand-driven, so no matter how many veterans come forward they will receive the benefits. These are based on estimates, and the process guarantees that, whether a veteran comes to VAC this year, next year or beyond, the benefits will be available. Money returned remains accessible the next year to fund veterans programming, based on demand.

I would like to also take this opportunity to emphasize, having served for a number of years on the opposition benches and seeing the treatment of veterans by the former Stephen Harper government, I have no problems doing a comparison of what this government has been able to accomplish and the number of resources we put into our veterans, compared to the previous administration. For many years we called for things such as reopening offices, including in my home province of Manitoba, where Brandon VAC offices were shut down.

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:20 p.m.

Conservative

Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC

Madam Speaker, with respect, I do not believe my question had anything to do with unspent funds. I did not ask the hon. parliamentary secretary anything about unspent funds. I asked about backlog numbers. I am not sure why we are getting a prepared answer, when I did not ask that question.

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:25 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

You asked for it previously.

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:25 p.m.

Conservative

Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC

The member may say I asked for it previously. I am talking about right here and right now. It is incumbent on the parliamentary secretary, with respect, to answer the question I actually put forward to the government. I am going to ask very specific questions, and I would invite the hon. parliamentary secretary to deviate from the prepared remarks, because we saw where that got us this time.

He spoke of 168 people when it came to surge funding. I am not talking about those 168. We have numbers that will rise if those 168 are kept but the 300 are cut. Will he commit today, on behalf of the government, to maintain those 300—

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:25 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Madam Speaker, the member does not understand that the purpose of the late show is to follow up on a question posed in question period. The minister's response, which I was more than happy to deliver, was to expand upon what the member had originally asked. Someone can come to the late show and say they have a number of questions to ask, but it would be nice to advance them prior to posing the questions. I have no problem providing answers from my perspective at any time. I do not require speaking notes.

I can tell the member opposite, as I started to at the very beginning, that Conservatives often have a problem. They have this way of manipulating the numbers in an attempt to make the government look bad. In fact, I would suggest to the member that, if he actually did his homework, what he would find is that this government has invested billions, or hundreds of millions, of dollars in our veterans over the last number of years. We understand—

Veterans AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

6:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes

That is it for today.

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:26 p.m.)