Veterans' groups call for answers as budget stokes memories of past cuts
The trauma of past cost-cutting exercises is looming large as national veterans' organizations anxiously await word on how the federal budget will affect ill and injured ex-soldiers.
The budget plan released Tuesday contains only one substantive mention of veterans, with a vague commitment of $156 million over five years to address long-standing delays and backlogs for those who have served in uniform.
The funding promise came at the same time as the government was directing federal departments and agencies to start looking for billions of dollars in savings, sparking questions and concerns about the budget's real impact on veterans.
"It's an ominous message when they start talking about reducing departmental budgets," said Brian Forbes, national director of the National Council of Veteran Associations, which represents 60 organizations.
Veterans Affairs was hit hard about a decade ago, when Stephen Harper's Conservative government slashed spending in an attempt to balance the budget ahead of the 2015 federal election.
Hundreds of staff were laid off, including many responsible for processing disability claims from current and retired Armed Forces members who suffered illnesses and injuries while serving in uniform.
The current backlog is a direct result of that period, with tens of thousands of veterans forced to wait months and sometimes years to find out whether their claims have been approved so they can start accessing federal support.
The budget plan references that period, saying: "After significant staff reductions were made at Veterans Affairs Canada between 2009 and 2014, these cuts and the rise in applications after 2015 led to unacceptable wait times for too many veterans."
Yet despite recognizing the problem, which has become the main source of anger and frustration within Canada's veterans' community, the Liberal government has been repeatedly criticized for not doing more to address it.
That includes ignoring calls from the council, the Royal Canadian Legion and others to automatically approve claims. The Liberals have also hired hundreds of temporary staff rather than permanent employees.
Those temporary additions appeared to be helping as the number of unprocessed claims fell from 49,000 in March 2020 to 29,000 in June 2022. However, the number has started to climb again, partly as a result of temporary staff leaving for other jobs.
"They've increased the workers. They're all temporary," NDP veterans affairs critic Rachel Blaney said last week. "We've asked many times why won't they make these permanent. Because this is not just a short-term issue. It's a long-term issue that we've seen for extensive amount of time. And if we had permanent people in the position, that would allow for stability."
The legion's national spokeswoman, Nujma Bond, said the organization is looking for more details about how the government plans to use the additional funds promised in the budget.
She also expressed concern about the government's plan to cut federal spending.
"We are puzzled and worried to hear of plans for a three per cent cut to federal departments after the 2023 budgetary commitments to allocate new funding," Bond said in an email.
"Does this mean departments like (Veterans Affairs Canada) will need to hold back on three per cent of (their) spending to compensate, and possibly grow the backlog even further? This would be untenable."
Bond called for greater transparency both in terms of the planned new funds and the spending review.
The Liberal government did not provide clarity on Wednesday. Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay and his department referred questions to Finance Canada, which did not respond to requests for more information.
The government has said the spending cuts will not affect the delivery of services to Canadians, but Forbes questioned that claim.
"You can't say you need extra staff to meet the backlog problem and in the same breath say: 'We're going to cut."'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Local Spotlight
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found at Pearson airport 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.