Kent Hehr

[Veterans, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we accept all the Auditor General's recommendations and are working toward them through the programs that we deliver.

My mandate letter says to get working on our suicide prevention, as well as our PTSD and mental health centres. That is exactly what we are going to do. We are going to deliver this care in a forthright and profound manner that makes the lives of veterans and their families better.

[Veterans, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, budget 2016 goes a long way to addressing some of those issues that have been brought up.

We are opening up nine new offices. In fact, there will be more outreach in Surrey, B.C., and the north for veterans to have points of contact.

We are hiring staff to replace the 800 members that the Conservatives cut from our front-line services. This will allow veterans to get care, compassion, and respect and have their issues dealt with in a timely fashion.

I can also say to the member, my goodness, I have been the minister for 162 days. We have accomplished a lot. We will continue to work on the mental health file and get these centres of excellence up and running to get the veterans the care, compassion—

[Veterans, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my hon. colleague that Veterans Affairs has an excellent process to review veterans' claims.

To reiterate, when a veteran has a claim, it goes through to my department. If that claim is rejected, a member can go to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board not once but twice.

We also have the opportunity to provide them with legal counsel to assist them in any and all processes along the way.

I also point out that these are de novo application processes whereby they can present new evidence at all points along the process.

[Veterans, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the member that budget 2016 was a great day for our veterans. We delivered on many different aspects of our mandate items, including increasing the earnings loss benefit, increasing access to the impairment allowance, and increasing the disability award.

We will continue to work with our veterans with care, compassion, and respect to get them the services they need when they need them and where they live.

Part of that budget is for opening up nine new offices and hiring more staff to allow veterans' issues to be handled in a timely and effective manner.

[Veterans, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what I can say is that Veterans Affairs takes all applications to review veterans' issues seriously. There is a process whereby it comes into the department, and then our veterans also have a chance to appeal at the Veterans Review and Appeal Board at two separate levels. We also provide legal assistance to veterans who are looking to get their benefits, allowing those claims to go forward.

I thank the member for his question, and we will continue to monitor the situation going forward.

[Veterans, March 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my apologies, but I would like to take this opportunity to talk about what we are doing in the Veterans Affairs Department.

We are working very hard to ensure that our veterans are getting the care, compassion, and respect they deserve. We are finding ways to find them more employment opportunities, more opportunities to go back to school, and to have the ability to better their lives for their families as well as themselves.

[Veterans, March 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I can inform the member that it is Veterans Affairs' bailiwick to respect and honour those men and women who have served in our armed forces and, in particular, those who took part in the Afghan mission.

It was very important to this country, their service and their sacrifice, and we will dutifully go about doing that. We are currently working with Canadian Heritage to find a way to get this project done, and it will be moving forward in due course in a respectful and dignified manner.

[Veterans, March 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in the Department of Veterans Affairs, we understand that it is very important for us to commemorate those men and women who have served in our armed forces. We have done that as a country through Vimy Ridge, through World War II, through our Korean peacekeepers, through our role in Bosnia, and we will do so for Afghanistan. That is an important part of what we do in this department and what we do on this side of the House. We will continue to show in a meaningful way the respect that our men and women deserve who have served this great country.

[Veterans, March 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there is a saying in my neighbourhood, “You lie to your friends, I'll lie to my friends; let's not lie to each other.”

Here is the true record of what the Conservative government has done over the last 10 years. The Conservatives closed Veterans Affairs offices and cut staff by 800 people. For the last 10 years, it has really been a shame.

We are working hard to ensure that we treat our men and women with care, compassion, and respect. I have an aggressive mandate letter from the Prime Minister that will result in more employment opportunities for veterans and support for their families. We plan on following through exactly with that.

[Veterans, March 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important for us to honour the men and women who have served this country valiantly in Afghanistan. This government is aware of the motion put forward in 2014 supported by all members of the House. We are working very hard with the Minister of Canadian Heritage to see that is put through.

However, I think it is also important for us to show care, compassion, and respect for those members through our veterans services, which we are doing right now. The member will also see that through our reopening of the nine offices that his party closed, as well our rehiring of staff that the Conservatives also let go.