Kent Hehr

[Veterans, May 19th, 2016]

I find it ironic, Mr. Speaker, that the member opposite can stand and accuse this government of anything. This came about because of years of neglect by the former government on this file.

We are delivering $5.6 billion in financial security to veterans and their families. We have an aggressive mandate from our Prime Minister to do things better than the former government, and this includes a return to an option for a lifelong pension.

[Veterans Affairs, May 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am uncertain if my critic has been paying attention to what this government has done, so I will remind him.

In budget 2016, we delivered significantly for our veterans and their families. We delivered on extending the earnings loss benefit from 75% to 90% of pre-release salary. We expanded the career impact allowance. We retroactively paid the disability award. We are opening the nine offices that his government closed, and restoring staff to the front lines.

We are doing things better. The member should applaud us for what we are doing.

[Veterans Affairs, May 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. The last 10 years under the Conservative government were nothing but a sham in terms of treating veterans with care, compassion, and respect.

We have delivered on this extensively in budget 2016. We are moving on financial security for our most disabled veterans. We are expanding the career impact allowance and the disability award. We remain committed to our mandate letter. We will be returning to the table to ensure that veterans and their families are treated with care, compassion, and respect, and in a better fashion than they were under the former government.

[Veterans Affairs, May 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as stated earlier, we remain committed to treating veterans with care, compassion, and respect by implementing the mandate letter as given to me by our Prime Minister.

Budget 2016 delivered on a lot of those items, including financial security for many of our most disabled veterans. We will continue to work through our mandate items and deliver for veterans and their families going forward. This will be a new day for veterans, and our government is following through for them.

[Veterans Affairs, May 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge the significant contributions veterans and Canadian Armed Forces members have made and continue to make in protecting peace and security for all Canadians. I was given a mandate to re-establish lifelong pensions as an option for veterans and remain committed to this, as to all items in my mandate letter. Veteran stakeholders have asked us to get this right, not rushed. As this matter is currently before the courts, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further.

[Veterans Affairs, May 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has been on me since day one about opening these offices, so I am glad to report that budget 2016 is a great one for veterans.

Not only will we be reopening the nine offices closed by the previous government, including in Sydney, Victoria, but we will be opening a new office in Surrey, B.C., and bringing mobile services to the north. This, along with hiring more staff to reduce the veteran case manager ratio toward 25:1, will mean better in-person service, including in Cape Breton, for our veterans.

[Sports, May 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Scarborough—Rouge Park for his question, and the care and compassion he shows to veterans each and every day.

The Invictus Games are a great opportunity for our injured soldiers to take part in competition, as well as to rebuild their lives with camaraderie. It was a great honour to be in Toronto with the Prime Minister and Prince Harry where we saw our injured soldiers head off to Orlando, where they did us proud.

I am also proud to announce that we are supporting the 2017 Invictus Games to the tune of $10 million.

[Veterans, May 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that commemoration is important to this government. We will continue to honour those who have served from Vimy Ridge to Juno Beach, through peacekeeping efforts in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, from the Gulf War to the Afghan theatre, in a dignified fashion.

We are working closely with the ministry of heritage to see this project through, and rest assured it will be done.

[Veterans, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we have set up six advisory groups to advise us on policy, ranging from financial security to service delivery to commemoration and the like. We have consulted widely with our partners in the various groups, from the Legion through other members abroad. We will be going forward on these policy meetings to advise us of good policy for the long run for veterans and their families.

I can give the member more information as it proceeds along.

[Veterans, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, budget 2016 was a historic day for our veterans. We invested in earning loss benefits, the community impact allowance, and allowing for more access and more supports for our veterans by reopening the nine offices that were closed under the previous administration and rehiring more staff to give more support where and when they need it.

It is included in the budget because it has financial measures that will make our veterans and their families' lives better.