House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 44% of the vote.
Veterans Affairs December 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier, while the opposition wants to increase government bureaucracy, we are increasing front-line support services for veterans and their families. In fact, in the treatment benefit program, 30 positions were reduced when we streamlined health-related travel claims. We are becoming more efficient, more effective, and are able to reduce the bureaucracy by providing front-line services where they belong, for our veterans and their families.
Veterans Affairs December 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I will not comment on a matter that is presently before the courts. However, I will assure the member opposite, and indeed all Canadians, that since 2006 this government has worked tirelessly to upload services and programs for veterans. The fact of the matter is that the opposition has constantly voted against those measures.
Veterans Affairs December 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, while the opposition wants to increase government bureaucracy, we are increasing front-line support services for veterans and their families, including the recently announced eight new front-line mental health clinics for our veterans. In the service delivery branch we are organizing three regional management centres into one in Montreal, reducing hundreds of managers, processing analysts, and administrative support clerks. We make no apologies for finding efficiencies in a bureaucracy and translating those into active front-line services for our veterans and their families.
Veterans Affairs December 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, in fact there are back office positions in almost every segment of Veterans Affairs, and those are what veterans have been saying that we should in fact reduce.
A few examples: The government stopped asking veterans to show it their receipts for snow-clearing. That reduced almost 100 positions. In the disability benefit program, 12 photocopy and processing clerks were reduced when we moved to digitized medical records.
We make no apologies whatsoever for bringing forward savings that will reduce bureaucracy.
Veterans December 8th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, that assertion is absolutely false. We are reducing back office expenses while increasing front-line service for veterans.
The story erroneously suggests that the internal services program area is the only program area where Veterans Affairs has actually cut back. That is not true. In fact, there are back office staff in all of the program areas.
We make no apologies whatsoever for reducing bureaucratic expenses at Veterans Affairs Canada while we focus and continue to focus on improving front-line services for veterans and their families.
Veterans December 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, my concern, and it should be the concern of the NDP, is that in our country we have great respect for due process. In that regard, this matter is before the courts. It is really shameful that people would drag a sidebar issue into a due diligence court process that we should, in our country, respect.
Veterans December 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to get through to people who are not listening. My response—
Veterans December 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, all I can say is that on this side of the House, we have consistently been improving the quality of life support systems and assistance to veterans and their families.
It is very difficult for me to understand, though, how the New Democrats would vote against disability and death compensation, how they would vote against the veterans ombudsman, how they would vote against the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, how they would vote against earnings loss and supplementary benefits and, also, how they would vote against children of deceased veterans education assistance. I do not get it.
Veterans December 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, in our continued effort to improve veterans benefits and programs, I recommended that the Auditor General should review our mental health program. I fully accept his recommendations and no doubt, am grateful for them.
The Auditor General found that Veterans Affairs spends half a billion dollars each year on mental health strategy and also on valuable mental health supports.
While we have already taken action to improve the service delivery, we will in fact continue to follow the Auditor General's recommendation, which, by the way, also stroked some very positive things in his report.
Veterans December 4th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to report that, consistently, since we have been in power in government, through the leadership of our Prime Minister, veterans have been a primary issue for us. Time and again, we have put forward initiatives and support systems dealing with veterans and their families. However, the party opposite continues to vote against them. The hypocrisy is more than anybody can bear.