Legion demands answers on budget promise for veterans' disability backlog

OTTAWA -

The Royal Canadian Legion is asking the Liberal government for more details about its promise of more money to address longstanding delays and backlogs for ill and injured veterans.

The Liberals made the funding commitment in Tuesday's federal budget, setting aside $156 million over five years to address what has emerged as the main source of anger for Canada's veterans' community.

Yet the budget plan does not provide any real specifics on how the money will be used, including whether it will be spent on hiring more staff.

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Legion dominion president Bruce Julian says clarity is critical as tens of thousands of veterans continue to wait months and even years to find out whether they qualify for federal assistance.

The legion and others have previously called on the government to hire more permanent staff at Veterans Affairs Canada, along with other changes to address the backlog.

But the Liberals have ignored those requests and instead hired hundreds of temporary employees to tackle the pile of unprocessed claims, which has started to grow again over the past year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.