Kent Hehr

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 5th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), six Veterans Affairs Canada staff oversee and administer the critical injury benefit program. Three full-time equivalent, FTE, employees oversee disability benefits and program management in the critical injury benefit program: a national program manager, a program specialist, and a program analyst. Three full-time equivalent, FTE, employees administer disability benefits in centralized operations division of the critical injury benefit program: nurse adjudicators, benefits operations adjudicators, and processing clerks/disability services assistants.

With regard to (b)(i), the salaries paid to the six VAC staff administering the program from November 4, 2015, to March 28, 2017, amount to $281,979.00.

With regard to (b)(ii), the office expenses related to program administration from November 4, 2015, to March 28, 2017, were $23,499.00. With regard to (b)(iii), no advertising funds have been allocated to the critical injury benefit program from November 4, 2015, to March 28, 2017.

With regard to (b)(iii), no advertising funds have been allocated to the critical injury benefit program from November 4, 2015, to March 28, 2017.

With regard to (b)(iv), as of March 28, 2017, the following expenditures were incurred: for the period from April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016, $7.94 million was expended; for the period from April 1, 2016, to March 28, 2017, $2.49 million was expended.

[Veterans Affairs, May 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, as the member is well aware, we are committed to a pension-for-life option for our veterans. We made that announcement this year, and those details will be forthcoming. Further to that point, we have augmented and strengthened financial security for our veterans. In budget 2016, we raised the ELB to 90% of a soldier's pre-release salary and we raised the disability award. The veterans' ombudsman and many veterans were highly supportive of these changes. It meant more money in veterans' pockets, for them and their families.

[Veterans Affairs, May 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, at Vimy Ridge, I thought of the brave Canadians who fought to defend our freedom; those soldiers had partners, parents, and siblings. It is true that when members serve, their entire family serves along with them. The families are the strength behind the uniform. In budget 2017, we announced a centre of excellence on mental health and PTSD, to advance research, education, and outreach services. This would lead to better mental health outcomes for our veterans and their families.

[Veterans Affairs, March 24th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, budget 2017 focuses on the overall well-being of veterans and their families by investing in mental health supports, educational opportunities, and career transition services. I can say we remain committed to a pension-for-life option, and this too will better serve veterans and their families.

This builds on the momentum we saw in budget 2016, when we delivered $5.6 billion in new financial security for veterans, bettering our earnings loss benefit as well as our disability award. To that end, 67,000 veterans will be receiving more money in their pockets very soon and bettering outcomes for their families.

[Veterans Affairs, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his commitment to veterans across Canada. We are committed to finding veterans more work in both the public sector as well as the private sector.

Since the passing of the Veterans Hiring Act in 2014, we have brought on board a mandate, through me, to the rest of my cabinet colleagues, as well as the deputy ministers, to look at more ways to hire more veterans. We are also investigating opportunities with the private sector to build those bridges and get those opportunities for our veterans and their families to better their lives. We will continue to do that in our department.

[Veterans Affairs, February 24th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his advocacy on behalf of veterans and their families and his constituents. I know this is an extremely difficult situation. Any time Veterans Affairs is notified of an untimely or unexpected death we undertake a review of that file, and this will be the case.

Our government is committed to expanding access to support the veterans and RCMP and their families. That is why we are working with over 4,000 registered mental health professionals, we are expanding our outreach capability by having nine points of contact reopened, as well as hiring front-line staff. We will continue to support veterans and their families.

[Veterans, February 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, our thoughts are with the family and friends and those impacted by this tragedy. It is deeply saddening to hear of anyone taking his or her own life. When it comes to suicide prevention, we always need to do better.

Our government is committed to expanding access to support for veterans, RCMP, and their families. That is why we are working with over 4,000 registered mental health professionals, operate 11 operational stress injury clinics, and have been hiring front-line staff, 360 to date, to work with individuals. We have also opened nine offices and are expanding health and support care.

[Veterans Affairs, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, that is why the Minister of National Defence and I are working very hard on closing the seam to ensure we professionalize the release process and ensure that when our men and women in uniform are leaving the service they get the help they need where and when they need it.

I can also say that we are working hard to deliver timely benefit decisions and it is an area where we can do better. In 2015-16, we did see a 19% increase in the number of disability claims. We are working through those, putting processes in place to speed up delivery of our services. We can and will do better on behalf of veterans.

[Veterans Affairs, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to veterans and their families, full stop. After the previous 10 years with the former government frankly ignoring veterans' concerns by the fact that it closed offices, that it reduced one-third of the front-line staff, it is shocking that we are actually getting this question.

Our government is working hard to ensure that veterans receive the care, compassion, and respect they deserve. Budget 2016 saw us put $5.6 billion in more resources to veterans and their families. We are going to continue to deliver on their behalf.

[Veterans Affairs, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the well-being of veterans and their families is at the heart of all we do at Veterans Affairs. Delivering timely benefits is an area where we can and must do better. In 2015-16, we saw a 19% increase in the number of disability benefit claims. This is a good thing. It means more people are coming forward to get the help they need when they need it. In order to address this, we are streamlining the disability benefits process, hiring more staff, and simplifying the decision-making process. We know we are doing better for veterans, and we will continue to work hard to provide them with the services they need.