Kent Hehr

[Ethics, October 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, at the core of my mandate is the health and wellness of our veterans and their families.

I am of the understanding that our veterans are testifying at committee, and I would like to hear from them and feed that information into the work we are doing. We will continue to work with our health care professionals throughout our department, the 4,000 who are on standby, ready, willing, and able to assist. We will continue to work on health and wellness issues for our veterans, full stop.

[Veterans Affairs, October 26th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, at the core of my mandate is the health and wellness of veterans and their families. I know very well that much information is being presented at the standing committee this week, and I appreciate the standing committee's work in this regard as it will filter into the decisions made by our department.

I encourage all the members who have issues regarding military service to come forward to our department. We have 4,000 mental health professionals ready, willing, and able to stand by to assist them. They are not alone. We are here to help.

[Veterans Affairs, October 21st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, we respect the tremendous sacrifices that occurred with Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo when they made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.

It is at events, in Ottawa, on November 11, and throughout the world, where we pay tribute to those who have made that ultimate sacrifice, to our Canadian Armed Forces members, and to others who serve and secure this country daily.

We will honour them. We will respect them. We understand the tremendous sacrifice made by them and their families, and we will respect them going forward.

[Veterans Affairs, October 21st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, all of Canada remembers the tragic events on October 20 and 22, 2014.

We mourn the passing of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo and extend our sympathies to their families.

It is at events, in Ottawa, on November 11, and others across Canada and the world, where we will join together as a nation and as a people to recognize and pay tribute to all those brave Canadian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in wartime and in peace, at home and abroad, to safeguard our values and our way of life.

We will remember.

[Veterans, October 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, since I came into this position on November 4, we have had three stakeholder summits, with over 150 people in attendance at all of these summits. Various veterans from all groups and all walks of life have contributed meaningfully and deeply to policy developments, from the range of economic security to families to mental health and physical well-being. These stakeholder summits are going well, and we will continue to engage and consult veterans from coast to coast to coast.

[Veterans Affairs, October 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, honouring the service and sacrifice of our veterans is at the heart of what we do. Many of our ill and injured soldiers receive benefits through our department. Delivering timely benefits is an area we can and must do better at. Since coming into office, we have received a 22% increase in applications for benefits. This is a good thing.

I can also say that we have plowed through much of the backlog left to us by the former government as a result of it cutting one-third of our front-line staff.

We will continue doing better. We will continue to deliver on behalf of veterans and their families.

[Veterans Affairs, September 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, our government acknowledges the significant contributions of veterans and Canadian Armed Forces members and what they have given to this country in protecting our peace and security.

Our sacred obligation to those members is outlined in our mandate letter from the Prime Minister. We remain committed to each and every line item in that, including an option for a lifetime pension.

We delivered greatly in budget 2016, increasing financial security for veterans and their families. We will continue to work forward aggressively on this file.

[Veterans Affairs, September 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we were elected on a commitment to do things better for our veterans and their families. I was given an aggressive mandate from our Prime Minister to do just that. Included in that is working on our transition for all members leaving the Canadian Armed Forces. Our department's job is to assist them in getting to a better place. I know I am working very hard with the Minister of National Defence to reduce complexity, overhaul the system of service delivery, and strengthen partnerships between Veterans Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence. We are making progress on that front and we will continue to do so.

[Veterans Affairs, September 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank each and every member of the Canadian Armed Forces and veterans in this country, who have supported this nation for a long time. I know we are working actively toward getting veterans the benefits they need for financial security, for employment, and for other retraining initiatives. At the core of my mission is assisting that transition. We are working hard to do so with the Minister of National Defence, as well as ensuring that as many veterans as possible receive the benefits that are due and owing to them for their service.

[Veterans Affairs, September 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ombudsman and his staff for their dedicated service and their very good report.

I always value his feedback. The report makes three key recommendations on items in my mandate. In budget 2016, we acted upon recommendations from this ombudsman to increase the disability award, expand access to the permanent impairment allowance, and increase the earnings loss benefit, all measures that the ombudsman was very supportive of.

We will continue to work through the recommendations and make things better for veterans and their families in this country.