Madam Speaker, it has been interesting to sit and listen to the debate. I have heard a lot of good ideas.
There is more work to be done. I can that about even my own portfolio. However, I really have to share the good news. We are heading in the right direction. Is it all done yet? No, it is not. However, we have taken some major steps forward. A lot of them involve the financial stability and security of veterans. To me, that is something really near and dear to my heart.
We can talk about the difference it is going to make in veterans' lives when we increase the disability award from $310,000 to $360,000, which is part of this budget, and when we increase the earnings loss benefit for injured veterans, so that instead of their getting just 75% of their pre-release salary, they will now get 90% of their pre-release salary. That will make a big difference in their lives.
There is also an upcoming change in the permanent impairment allowance. We are going to change it and call it “career impact allowance”. The eligibility criteria for the permanent impairment allowance were so narrow that hardly anyone could get access to that particular benefit. By making it a career impact allowance—and this is something that is particularly important for young veterans—if they are injured when they are very young, we will give them the financial security they would have had if they had not left the military early due to their injuries. That will make a big difference in the lives of very young veterans. That is one place where there have been significant shortfalls and gaps.
There is a lot of work to do. The start that we have made is to improve the service that Veterans Affairs Canada is providing to veterans. Are we there yet? No, we are not. Opening 10 new offices is a huge step in the right direction, because it is much easier to get things done face to face than online or by telephone. We have heard again and again that a high-touch kind of system, in which people can go to talk to someone face to face instead of waiting on the telephone for a long time, makes a big difference.
It is the same when we talk about hiring new caseworkers or service agents. There was a huge backlog of cases. The service standard for Veterans Affairs was not even close to being met. Now that we are hiring new people, who are now in the middle of being trained, we will be able to deal with those disability requests a lot sooner than we had in the past. We started with this backlog. It is coming down. However, it takes time, because we need to train new people.
There have been shortages at Veterans Affairs Canada over the last few years. There was a loss of 900 employees. The rest of the employees who were left behind really care about veterans. They want to make sure they are well-served. However, because there were so few of them, a lot of them ended up suffering burnout. These veterans mattered to them. However, there were so few of them and they were carrying so many cases that they could not help the veterans and they, the people who were supposed to be helping others, have ended up being injured because of the shortfall of workers at Veterans Affairs Canada.
We know it is never an easy thing to change government departments and how they are structured and move forward. However, we have a wonderful group of people who really are committed to these veterans and to providing them with the kind of service they need and deserve. Part of this budget implementation act is to get these things moving.
There is a lot left to do. There is absolutely no doubt about it, but we are on the right track. I can say the same thing about looking after veterans as with looking after Canadians. Have we got it all done yet? No we have not. Are we heading in the right direction? Yes we are.
I was out knocking on doors on Sunday, and people were telling me what a difference the Canada child benefit is making to their lives already, especially for those who do not have a large income. For example, I heard that they now have the money they need to have their son play hockey, or that they now have the money they need to get him involved instead of sitting in the basement playing with his iPad or watching television and videos. Now he is participating in sports. Now he is involved and getting that social interaction with other people in his neighbourhood. They are celebrating. Now small communities are working to get their kids involved and get them active. Now they have the money and opportunity to do that.
It is the same thing with the middle-class tax cut. There is huge opportunity out there, and I do believe that if the middle class is doing well, everyone will end up doing well, because it creates opportunity. It creates jobs. Did members know that here in Ontario retail sales are up by 7%? This creates jobs. It creates opportunities, because people have more money to spend. We can see the absolute evidence of that here in Ontario.
If we look at our economy as a whole, investments are happening and starting to show results. Do the results happen overnight? No, they do not. They take a bit of time. However, we are now seeing that people have more money in their pockets.
If the middle class is given more money, it will be spent here at home. It is going to be spent and invested here in hockey equipment, in opportunities for children, in community events, and in making their lives just a little bit better. That is what this first budget bill is about. It is about improving the lives of Canadians and knowing that if we make these targeted, strategic investments, there will be opportunities created by others.
I prefer to talk about it in terms of employment generally. While I talk about employment for veterans and others talk about employment for young people and seniors, we need to talk about employment across a broad spectrum. We need to talk in terms of innovation, job creation, and creating new jobs, the ones that we need for the future. This is what we are trying to do, not to look at things just in one particular silo, but to look across the spectrum and to create those kinds of benefits and opportunities for all Canadians.
