FREDERICTON - Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn is extending the deadline for people applying for the government's Agent Orange payments.
Blackburn announced in Fredericton today that people have until the end of June to submit their applications.
The minister is also expanding the eligibility criteria, which he says will allow just over 1,100 people to qualify for the $20,000 lump-sum payment.
As well, the government is removing a controversial condition that required people to be alive on Feb. 6, 2006 -- the date the federal Conservatives came to power.
Blackburn says that will allow more caregivers and widowers to apply on behalf of someone who died before the ex gratia payment came into place.
In 2007, Ottawa made the payments available to people whose health may have been harmed by the spraying of Agent Orange at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick.
