Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, there is no such barrier to hiring. I am very proud that our government has put forward the veterans hiring act in order to give priority to the men and women injured in the service of Canada. We are looking at a specific and small situation for reservists that tre

Veterans  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be part of a government that in 2010 worked with Statistics Canada to create the Life After Service Studies, which allow us to focus specifically on thousands who are transitioning and leaving the Canadian Armed Forces and becoming veterans. It is

Veterans  Mr. Speaker, as that member well knows, Ms. Young is an inspiring young reserve officer, and I know that the Minister of National Defence addressed her sad situation yesterday. In fact, her mother Pearl is a veteran, and their family is really an example of the tremendous generat

Veterans  Mr. Speaker, I just learned the sad news of the passing of the D-Day veteran 101-year-old Ernest Côté last night in Ottawa. A proud Van Doos veteran, he served in the Normandy campaign and became deputy minister of my department, Veterans Affairs, after the war. He was one of th

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Pickering—Scarborough East for the question and for his service in the Canadian Armed Forces. Today I was pleased to announce the retirement income security benefit, which will help veterans who are moderately or seriously injure

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, certainly if a member of the Canadian Armed Forces has a musculoskeletal problem, the good thing is that the Department of National Defence has chiropractors and world-class medical care, because our desire is to see that injured person return to duty and be given th

Veterans  Mr. Speaker, when looking at the total impact of programming at veterans affairs and benefits directly to veterans and their families, Canadian veterans have among the best comprehensive suite of veterans' benefits and programs in the world. I would like to remind this member th

Veterans  Mr. Speaker, if a moderately or seriously injured veteran is receiving financial benefits at 64, they are eligible for the retirement income security benefit at 65, until the end of their life. I would also like to add that they will get permanent impairment allowance, the perma

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we have learned a lot from the case Paul Franklin has brought forward, and I thank him for raising these concerns with respect to the veterans independence program. We are already making changes. In fact, I have stood up a veterans-centric task force to revisit ever

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, if that member who sits on the veterans affairs committee had been following this matter, he would know that one month ago I already said that no such letter would ever be sent to a veteran or their family, full stop. In fact, we are revisiting all of the types of f

Veterans  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the family caregiver relief benefit we announced. Sadly, that question shows that the member has not even looked into what this benefit is all about. For our most seriously injured, it is Veterans Affairs' role to keep that injured man or women in

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we will continue to make investments in front-line services and support our case managers for veterans. By the end of this year, due to our investments, the veterans and their families will have up to 26 operational stress injury clinics scattered throughout the coun

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, as that member would know, in the last two weeks we have actually expanded benefits and programs for our most seriously injured. We have made a major expansion for eligibility to the permanent impairment allowance for our critically injured. For their families, we ar

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we will continue to make investments in front-line services and work to make sure that caseworkers who are working with veterans and their families have the support and the allocation of cases they need so that they do not have too much burden from some of the challe

National Fiddling Day Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for bringing this subject up in the House of Commons to recognize the unique cultural impact that the fiddle and fiddle music have had throughout Canada, rural Canada, Cape Breton Island, and southern Ontario. My riding is very prou