Letter to Jagmeet Singh, Leader New Democratic Party of Canada and the party’s response

Dear Leader

On behalf of the women and men of the Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees who have the honour of serving Canada’s veterans and their families, we hope that you will consider the questions we are posing to you and to all political leaders during this federal election campaign.

We will share your response with our members and our friends and allies who support better care and services for those who have served Canada so well.

In recent years there are a number of troubling trends that we have witnessed in our care for veterans at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). They are increased waitlist and times for service delivery, an increase in demands on staff and a funding model that simply does not work to deliver services to veterans in a timely and effective manner.

Waitlists

We have watched as the waitlists for veterans to find out if they qualify for financial assistance has grown from a low of 11,000 in 2018 to over 40,000 veterans today. The average wait time is now over 16 weeks. That has left veterans and their families in extremely stressful situations and has made lives difficult for them and those who are trying to serve them. Regular caseload assignment to the service standard of 12 weeks is rarely met and most cases do not even get assigned for 8-10 weeks. Requests for assistance for service-related injuries takes even longer. VAC admitted in July 2019 that the waitlist for those requests was 32 weeks. Double the published service standard.

Question: What specific measures would you and your party take to reduce the waitlist for veterans and their families who apply to VAC for services?

Excessive Overtime

VAC staff across the country are frantically trying to keep up with expanding workloads and are on average working an excessive amount of overtime. There are vacant positions because of staff stress and burnout and that work is being assigned to the remaining staff. This in turn creates more overtime, more burnout and more delays for our veterans. The latest number we have is that overtime costs are roughly $2 million

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dollars a year for VAC across the country with many case managers working extra hours every day, both paid and unpaid, in order to service our veterans. Those monies could be better used to improve and enhance services to veterans and their families.

Question: What specific measures would you and your party take to reduce the excessive overtime at VAC and would you support the hiring of additional staff to serve Canada’s veterans?

Insufficient Funding

There have been some sporadic increases to VAC funding and the hiring of some additional staff to deal with the most serious backlogs in the system. But this so-called surge funding has only allowed the department to plug some leaks on a very leaky ship. There are still many veterans who have to wait too long and some who never receive the support and care they need until it is too late. We need solid, secure and stable funding that allows service standards to be met and that leave no current or future veteran or their family behind.

Question: Would you and your party support solid, secure and stable funding that allows service standards at VAC to be met and that leave no current or future veteran or their family behind?

Thank you for considering this request and we look forward to your response and working with you to help enhance and improve the lives of Canada’s veterans and their families.

Sincerely,

Virginia Vaillancourt
National President
Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees

NDP Response: Union of Veterans Affairs Employees Waitlists

Question: What specific measures would you and your party take to reduce the waitlist for veterans and their families who apply to VAC for services?

Canadian veterans have made untold sacrifices for our country. To honour their service, we need to offer the best care and support possible when they come home. We know that the staff at Veterans Affairs Canada has done their part – and then some – so now it is up to our federal government to step up and ensure the department has the resources it needs to get the job done.

Unfortunately, for too long, veterans have had to fight for the benefits they’ve earned. For a decade, the last Conservative government closed nine regional offices that provided services for tens of thousands of veterans across Canada and argued in court that the government has no sacred obligation to care for Canada’s veterans. While hopes were high that the Liberal government would improve veterans care, they’ve broken their commitments, failed to improve services, and left more than $372 million that was approved by parliament to help veterans unspent.

It’s time to do right by our veterans. New Democrats will get rid of backlogs and step up high-quality, personalized service delivery by providing one caseworker for every twenty-five veterans and improving services that are delivered by phone and online. There’s also much more that we can do to ease the transition from service for veterans. A New Democrat government will give Canadian Forces members access to care and support before the transition and make sure that their benefits are in place before they are released from service. We’ll also ensure that the department can hire all the staff and make all the investments required to end the backlog by carried-forward, lapsed spending each year, and dedicating those tens of millions of dollars to improving services across the board.

Excessive Overtime

Question: What specific measures would you and your party take to reduce the excessive overtime at VAC and would you support the hiring of additional staff to serve Canada’s veterans?

Absolutely. New Democrats understand and value the tremendous work that the staff at Veterans Affairs Canada has done in the face of budget cuts, office closures, and the introduction of even more complex programs and services that must be delivered. To veterans and their families Your efforts to hold the system together and ensure that

veterans and their families receive the care, programs, and services they deserve has been nothing short of heroic. It’s time you had a government that cares as much about veterans as you do. Only New Democrats are ready and have a real plan to help.

First, we will hire more frontline staff and ensure that we reach the 25:1 veteran-to- caseworker target. This will ensure that programs and services are delivered quickly, and that staff are able to maintain strong relationships with their individual clients. Second, we will re-invest all annual lapsed spending at the VAC and dedicate that money to improving services, which will ensure that the department is able to hire additional staff to relieve the heavy burden carried by your members.

Insufficient Funding

Question: Would you and your party support solid, secure and stable funding that allows service standards at VAC to be met and that leave no current or future veteran or their family behind?

Yes. There are 24 services standards at Veterans Affairs Canada, but in spite of the best efforts of departmental staff, who are working massive amounts of overtime, half of those standards are not being met. We believe that the problem is that there is no stable funding to improve services, and New Democrats are committed to solving it.

The Conservatives under Stephen Harper closed nine offices, cut thousands of jobs at VAC, and did so while failing to spend more than $1 billion that was allocated by parliament to help veterans. We know where they stand, we know what they will do if they are elected again. The Liberals made – and broke – many promises to Canada’s veterans; by fighting them in court, failing to reach the 25:1 veteran caseworkers’ ratio, or ending lapsed spending. In fact, in just three short years the Liberals left $372 million unspent at VAC while service standards plummeted.

To help improve services and ensure that there is stable funding at VAC, New Democrats will automatically carry forward all annual lapsed spending in Veterans Affairs and dedicate that money to meeting all 24 services standards. This money can be used to hire staff, open offices, or do whatever is needed to achieve this objective. We will finally get the job done and meet or exceed all current service standards, and we are the only party fully committed to this objective.