Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased my colleague opposite called for an adjournment debate on this topic. Any opportunity I get to explain what the government is doing to support our veterans is good with me.
I understand there are a lot of issues out there about the financial security for our men and women who have served in the Canadian Armed Forces. We have had stakeholder meetings, policy group meetings, and advisory group meetings. What I keep hearing is news to my ears. It is wonderful. People are saying that there are gaps problems. They want us to look after ill and injured veterans. They want us to look after the families of ill and injured veterans.
In the budget plan 2016, we are providing access to very critical benefits that will improve the long-term financial stability, security, and independence of ill and injured veterans and their families. We announced an enhanced access to the permanent impairment allowance and an increase to the disability award in line with what was asked by the Veterans Ombudsman. We are taking advice from right across the spectrum. These people have been talking to veterans for years, to the ombudsmen for the Canadian Armed Forces and veterans.
We will ensure that all veterans benefit from an increase. We knew the disability award needed to be improved. This has been in committee reports now for almost five years. The actions we are taking right now will make a positive difference in many lives of Canadian veterans. We also signalled our intention to increase the earnings loss benefit. It will be fully indexed so it keeps pace with inflation.
In the past, these benefits were not indexed. In 2011, when we talked about earnings loss benefit, that baseline was set to just over $42,000. Now we are resetting that baseline to $44,496. On top of that, we are increasing the amount they are eligible for, from 75% to 90%. That reset means that everyone will come away with at least a $2,000 a year improvement in their financial security. The earnings loss benefit is just one of many supports available to transition from military to civilian life.
Yes, we need to do a better job of communicating with veterans and telling them about the benefits and supports they deserve. Some help can be done immediately. I agree with the member opposite. I want to see those things happen. The mental health wait times had ballooned to over eight months. We are working on this. Do we want a centre of excellence on mental health? Yes, we do.
Some things take a little longer to put into place. When we talk about hearing loss, it is a pain and suffering award. It is a disability award and it can range anywhere depending upon the severity of it.
We all want the same things. We want to work together. We want to make the lives of veterans better. There is a lot more to do, but we are on our way.
