It’s been years of promises never kept, endless speeches dripping with compassion that achieve nothing, and millions upon millions of dollars spent to fix a problem..But the problem doesn’t get fixed..And still they wait..Tens of thousands of them — injured military and RCMP veterans — wait in despair and anger for the disability benefits they earned..It’s an insult to their dignity..It’s a disgrace they've suffered severe injuries, yet “Band-Aid solutions” are applied to meeting their needs..A report by Canada’s Auditor-General Karen Hogan —Processing Disability Benefits for Veterans — released Tuesday revealed veterans applying for disability benefits face 11-month or longer waits..That is an eternity of need and uncertainty when one is in physical and emotional pain, needs a place to live, and has a family to feed..Hogan’s audit of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) looked at the period between April 2020 to September 2021..“Veterans who submitted their first application had to wait a median of 48 weeks or approximately 11 months before receiving a decision,” the report said..Veterans who asked for a reassessment had to wait on average another five months..RCMP veterans, francophones, and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) female veterans faced even longer waiting times..One would think this injustice to women would deeply disturb Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who prances around professing to be a devout feminist. Apparently not..VAC’s service standard says 80% of disability benefit applications must be processed within 16 weeks..Hogan noted that VAC has failed to meet that standard for seven years..Auditors found 43,227 applicants waiting for a decision, including a backlog of 15,214 applications from previous years, hitting a 22,138 high last year..Canadians cannot ignore or become numb to this cruel incompetence that would never be tolerated in the private sector..Be it a cabinet minister or a bureaucrat, if the job’s too big for you — stop messing with these people’s lives. Step aside, let someone who can get the job done step in..We cheer our military on when they protect innocents in war-ravaged countries, protect our nation, or fight fires and floods on the home front..We dial 911 — or know we can — when our lives and property are threatened..They rush to answer the call of duty to help. But when they suffer injuries doing that and need help — they wait.."I'm left with the conclusion the government failed to meet a promise that it made to our veterans: that it would take care of them if they were injured in service. This has a real consequence on the well-being of our veterans and their families,” said Hogan after the audit was tabled in Parliament..“It’s time to find a more sustainable solution that will see veterans receive their benefits in a timely way. The government should do better by them.”.The Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) yet again let out a “cry” for a “comprehensive strategy to deal with ballooning wait times” veterans face..“The Legion helps many veterans prepare their disability benefit claims and has long been pushing Veterans Affairs Canada for change because we’ve seen the unacceptable wait times, inefficient processes and insufficient staff to handle to load,” said the RCL in a statement Tuesday..The legion must help them because the application forms are unnecessarily convoluted. One mistake or omission delays the application process even more..“We’ve seen the despair and anger from veterans and families as situations worsen. We hope this report will finally provide the impetus needed to create and execute a concrete plan of action, end unreasonable wait times, and adult serve injured Veterans who served us.”.The RCL said it hoped the report “marks a turning point.”.Well, when Lawrence MacAulay was sworn in as Veterans Affairs minister in March 2019, he made promises and one of those speeches dripping with compassion.."I can say to veterans I will do my very best to represent you because that's exactly what you deserve," said MacAulay..Well, he’s still there as their minister..And so is the problem..MacAulay, also associate minister of National Defence, issued a statement following Hogan’s report..Let’s see, “welcome” the report. Check. Processing times “unacceptable.” Check. Reducing them a “top priority.” Check. We’re “working on it.” Check. There are “initiatives underway.” Check. Oh, and don’t forget to thank her. Check..MacAulay said the report was a “snapshot of a point in time” and things are better now..“We’ve reduced applications beyond the service standard by more than half, from above 23,000 in May 2020 to 10,664 as of May 17, 2022.”.“With changes to how we work and by hiring additional temporary employees we have made real, tangible progress since the end of the audit period. We’ve also made excellent progress in closing the gap in wait times for women applicants and are continuing to work to close the remaining gap in processing times for anglophones and francophones,” he said Tuesday..A major delay processing applications for females is that when they change their names, they must provide proof of identity. The forms don’t have a place to include maiden names, so this simple piece of information gets snarled in the bureaucracy..VAC has spent an extra $192 million to hire clerks to speed up processing..Maybe some of that money should have been invested in getting new forms to speed up the name-change problem..Hogan’s audit recommended that VAC address weaknesses in its “poor” data collection..The audit criticized shoddy record keeping, and file and information mismanagement..“Because of the poor quality of the department’s data, neither we nor the department could determine to what extent the department’s initiatives contributed to the improvement,” Hogan told reporters..She added that “overall” VAC hadn’t improved its service standard performance..“The Band-Aid solution of temporary funding isn’t improving the processing time.”.In fact, indications are that since the last 2104 audit, in some cases, things have gotten worse, she said..And so,they wait.
It’s been years of promises never kept, endless speeches dripping with compassion that achieve nothing, and millions upon millions of dollars spent to fix a problem..But the problem doesn’t get fixed..And still they wait..Tens of thousands of them — injured military and RCMP veterans — wait in despair and anger for the disability benefits they earned..It’s an insult to their dignity..It’s a disgrace they've suffered severe injuries, yet “Band-Aid solutions” are applied to meeting their needs..A report by Canada’s Auditor-General Karen Hogan —Processing Disability Benefits for Veterans — released Tuesday revealed veterans applying for disability benefits face 11-month or longer waits..That is an eternity of need and uncertainty when one is in physical and emotional pain, needs a place to live, and has a family to feed..Hogan’s audit of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) looked at the period between April 2020 to September 2021..“Veterans who submitted their first application had to wait a median of 48 weeks or approximately 11 months before receiving a decision,” the report said..Veterans who asked for a reassessment had to wait on average another five months..RCMP veterans, francophones, and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) female veterans faced even longer waiting times..One would think this injustice to women would deeply disturb Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who prances around professing to be a devout feminist. Apparently not..VAC’s service standard says 80% of disability benefit applications must be processed within 16 weeks..Hogan noted that VAC has failed to meet that standard for seven years..Auditors found 43,227 applicants waiting for a decision, including a backlog of 15,214 applications from previous years, hitting a 22,138 high last year..Canadians cannot ignore or become numb to this cruel incompetence that would never be tolerated in the private sector..Be it a cabinet minister or a bureaucrat, if the job’s too big for you — stop messing with these people’s lives. Step aside, let someone who can get the job done step in..We cheer our military on when they protect innocents in war-ravaged countries, protect our nation, or fight fires and floods on the home front..We dial 911 — or know we can — when our lives and property are threatened..They rush to answer the call of duty to help. But when they suffer injuries doing that and need help — they wait.."I'm left with the conclusion the government failed to meet a promise that it made to our veterans: that it would take care of them if they were injured in service. This has a real consequence on the well-being of our veterans and their families,” said Hogan after the audit was tabled in Parliament..“It’s time to find a more sustainable solution that will see veterans receive their benefits in a timely way. The government should do better by them.”.The Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) yet again let out a “cry” for a “comprehensive strategy to deal with ballooning wait times” veterans face..“The Legion helps many veterans prepare their disability benefit claims and has long been pushing Veterans Affairs Canada for change because we’ve seen the unacceptable wait times, inefficient processes and insufficient staff to handle to load,” said the RCL in a statement Tuesday..The legion must help them because the application forms are unnecessarily convoluted. One mistake or omission delays the application process even more..“We’ve seen the despair and anger from veterans and families as situations worsen. We hope this report will finally provide the impetus needed to create and execute a concrete plan of action, end unreasonable wait times, and adult serve injured Veterans who served us.”.The RCL said it hoped the report “marks a turning point.”.Well, when Lawrence MacAulay was sworn in as Veterans Affairs minister in March 2019, he made promises and one of those speeches dripping with compassion.."I can say to veterans I will do my very best to represent you because that's exactly what you deserve," said MacAulay..Well, he’s still there as their minister..And so is the problem..MacAulay, also associate minister of National Defence, issued a statement following Hogan’s report..Let’s see, “welcome” the report. Check. Processing times “unacceptable.” Check. Reducing them a “top priority.” Check. We’re “working on it.” Check. There are “initiatives underway.” Check. Oh, and don’t forget to thank her. Check..MacAulay said the report was a “snapshot of a point in time” and things are better now..“We’ve reduced applications beyond the service standard by more than half, from above 23,000 in May 2020 to 10,664 as of May 17, 2022.”.“With changes to how we work and by hiring additional temporary employees we have made real, tangible progress since the end of the audit period. We’ve also made excellent progress in closing the gap in wait times for women applicants and are continuing to work to close the remaining gap in processing times for anglophones and francophones,” he said Tuesday..A major delay processing applications for females is that when they change their names, they must provide proof of identity. The forms don’t have a place to include maiden names, so this simple piece of information gets snarled in the bureaucracy..VAC has spent an extra $192 million to hire clerks to speed up processing..Maybe some of that money should have been invested in getting new forms to speed up the name-change problem..Hogan’s audit recommended that VAC address weaknesses in its “poor” data collection..The audit criticized shoddy record keeping, and file and information mismanagement..“Because of the poor quality of the department’s data, neither we nor the department could determine to what extent the department’s initiatives contributed to the improvement,” Hogan told reporters..She added that “overall” VAC hadn’t improved its service standard performance..“The Band-Aid solution of temporary funding isn’t improving the processing time.”.In fact, indications are that since the last 2104 audit, in some cases, things have gotten worse, she said..And so,they wait.
