Steven Blaney

[Veterans Affairs, October 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Mississauga East—Cooksville is right. Our veterans deserve a hassle-free service and that is what this Conservative government is giving them.

Yesterday I announced the launch of our initiative, the Benefits Browser for—

[Veterans Affairs, October 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank the hon. member for Kelowna—Lake Country for his ongoing interest in veterans, which he shares with all members of the caucus I am proud to be a part of. By the way, I am also very proud to be Canadian.

I can inform the House that the key element of the veterans privacy action plan 2.0 has been fully implemented as the Privacy Commissioner pointed out in her report tabled today. My department has implemented major improvements to better protect the privacy of our veterans and we will keep doing so.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, September 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear. As you know, over here we are maintaining all the veterans' benefits, and we support the decision by the Minister of National Defence to ensure that the individuals who have been penalized—both the men and women of the military and veterans—will no longer be. We are going to continue to ensure that our veterans are entitled to all the programs and services they need and fully deserve.

[Veterans Affairs, September 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank the member for Sault Ste. Marie for his interest in a successful Canadian initiative for our veterans.

This morning we will launch helmetstohardhats.ca. It is a win-win situation with governments, with businesses and with unions. Yes, we are providing job opportunities in the construction industry for our men and women in uniform as they transition to civilian life.

Helmets to Hardhats is an initiative that allows our veterans to smoothly transition to jobs in the construction sector.

Helmets to Hardhats is open for business.

[Committees of the House, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs entitled “Improving Services to Improve Quality of Life for Veterans and their Families”.

[Veterans, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to praise the hard work of the member for Dufferin—Caledon for bringing a private member's bill in this House so that every member can support a bill that will support and protect war memorials and the memory of our brave Canadians.

Regarding what happened in Belgium, acts of heartless vandalism against the graves of our fallen heroes are truly unacceptable. That is why I have instructed my officials to make sure that repairs are and will be made.

We will remember them.

[Veterans Affairs, June 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Huron—Bruce for his support for veterans and for bringing the Helmets to Hardhats partners to the table.

This morning, I spoke to the Royal Canadian Legion in Halifax and announced a new measure to cut red tape for veterans who travel for medical purposes.

With these new measures, veterans will no longer have to submit receipts to receive the financial support they need to cover travel expenses incurred for medical appointments. Dominion president, Pat Varga, says that any change or improvement that makes the process easier for veterans is great.

I will support—

[Veterans, June 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we have invested billions of dollars so that our veterans have access to all the services and benefits to which they are entitled.

Of course, veterans must meet the criteria to become eligible for those programs. That is what our officials do. They are dedicated people. Thousands of public servants are working every day to assess each veteran's specific needs. I can tell you that they do a remarkable job. We can be proud of the public servants in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their job is to look after a national treasure, our veterans themselves.

[Veterans, June 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear. Our government believes that any breach of confidentiality is totally unacceptable. That is why we do not agree with the Jolicoeur report. We do agree with the Privacy Commissioner's report and that is why I have asked the staff in my department to co-operate fully with the commissioner during her investigation.

[Veterans, June 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, that situation was addressed some time ago. We also apologized to the veteran and ensured that he has access to all the services and benefits to which he is entitled.

I would like to make a suggestion to the member opposite. If he really wants to help veterans, he should support the 2012 budget, which maintains all benefits for veterans.