More than 3,000 veterans waited over a year for Ottawa to process disability claims

'The system (isn't) built for yes,' says veterans advocate

CBC News · Posted: Nov 27, 2018

Well over 3,000 veterans waited over a year for their disability claims to be processed, reassessed or reviewed by Veterans Affairs Canada during the last budget year, according to new statistics tabled in Parliament.

Those long waits impose an unacceptable burden on the most badly injured former soldiers, said a veterans advocate who suffered through the same treatment just over two years ago when he filed his post-traumatic stress claim.

"You're sitting there in limbo," said Don Leonardo, a former peacekeeping soldier.

The figures, released last week in response to a written question posed by the Conservative opposition, revealed that in the 2017-18 budget year Veterans Affairs received 36,437 applications for benefits.

Of that number, 15,949 applications — 43 per cent of the total — were completed within the department's self-assigned target timeline of 16 weeks. A further 17,650 (48.2 per cent) took between four months and a year; 3,110 (8.5 per cent) of the applicants waited more than 12 months.

'Dysfunction in the department'

The files completed on time were likely "the easy ones," said Leonardo, adding he believes they probably involved simple claims such as hearing loss.

The more "complex" injuries are the ones that take more time — and they're the ones that lead to extraordinary hardship when they're delayed, he said.

"If you're waiting for a year, you can't start your treatment," said Leonardo, referring to the long-standing Veterans Affairs policy of not paying for services until a claim is approved. "You're basically in limbo until you're accepted."

Conservative veterans critic Phil McColeman said the backlog — the number of cases that don't meet the 16 week service standard — is a sign of "dysfunction (in) the department" that would never be tolerated in the private sector.

"It's depressing to see these numbers, frankly," he said. "If I was in business and saw these numbers, I would have to say there is something dreadfully wrong."

A spokesman for Veterans Minister Seamus O'Regan said the department has seen a 32 per cent increase in applications and a 60 per cent jump in the number of first-time disability benefits claims since 2015.

"We won't look to the previous government for advice on this matter where they, as the auditor general put it, were 'not doing enough' to facilitate veterans' timely access to mental health services and benefits," said Alex Wellstead, referring to Auditor General Michael Ferguson's 2014 review of veterans mental health services.

Wellstead noted the department has hired an additional 470 staff and committed an extra $42 million to tackle the backlog.

"More complex applications can take time," he said, adding that measures have been taken to simplify the application process.

A backlog built by policy?

Leonardo, however, said he believes some of the backlog — a perennial problem since the Afghan war and the concurrent introduction of new benefits — has been made worse by the requirement that Veterans Affairs conduct its own medical assessments, instead of relying on diagnoses by physicians at National Defence.

"If you're getting out the military on a medical release, why are they adjudicating the claim again when you have military doctors saying that he's unfit, or she's unfit, for service?" asked Leonardo.

There have been cases of former soldiers, bounced from the military over a medical condition, being denied benefits for that illness by Veterans Affairs.

That disconnect between National Defence and Veterans Affairs has long been a sore point with former soldiers and recently-retired Canadian Forces ombudsman Gary Walbourne — who repeatedly took both departments to task over a policy he said didn't make any sense.

No move has been made to change that policy since. Leonardo said that should serve as a caution to newly retired veterans.

"The system is built for no. It's not built for yes."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/veterans-disability-waiting-list-canada-1.4921209

61 COMMENTS

vernon thompson
Shame on the government ! a crying Shame !

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Mike Crow
People are pretty adamant about their party and refuse to see the other sides point of view.

I can understand that but for the military and vets, it doesn’t matter because both the Liberals and Conservatives are guilty of ignoring them.

They will only give funding when it is politically popular.

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Peter Boone
The good news is that Canadians only have to one year to turf the whole incompetent lot.

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george bath
@Kyle Billing
sums it up well.
Canadians are paying the public servants to run VAC. These servants have been with VAC 25 years and still can't set it up properly.

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george bath
@Kyle Billing
the problem is there is a clear agenda by the same keyboard conservatives posters who use veterans as political fodder. to toss around with complete disrespect for what you ask?
a job in the HOC.

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Rosemary Beattie
They're way ahead of many government employees if they get their money within a year.

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Kenneth Hewer
sadly and ironically there's no waiting for the over the top expense claims of politicos: fine dining,first-class travel and even office expenses after ten years retired! sunny days for the elected, storm clouds for the rest of us.

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george bath
@Kenneth Hewer
that is VRAB to a tee.

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Kyle Billing
Here's my bet.

When the Liberal's lose, whenever that is, I truly do not care, when they lose an election, whoever comes in after will be coming with detectives and investigators. If it's the Conservatives, they won't find anything, because they'll only be looking at the Liberal record, instead of all the records from all previous governments.

How do I know this?

If it looks like one is going to be forced to lose something, human nature is to sabotage that thing. In other words, I don't really 'know'.

Someone from a "social" party wouldn't typically want to succumb to such a base emotion, typically, exceptions and so forth.

So, evidence in a Liberal government of intentional failure is unlikely to be found because, it will often come from the government which preceded them. Which is why Phoenix and the auto industry compare to this veteran's crisis.

Is tradition being under thumb, or freedom?
What's an aversion to change?
Who are Conservatives then?

Here's why the Liberals don't come in with detectives and investigators.

Yesterday's over.

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James Watson
Those auto workers in Oshawa should be paying attention to how the Trudeau Regime treats our veterans and not count on Justin's promises of help.

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george bath
@James Watson
geez thanks for that.
I could never count on Harper and he delivered nothing in spades.

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Joe D'Aoust
I am sure mp and mpp don't wait that long to get their pensions processed.

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george bath
@Joe D'Aoust
disability claims to be processed,
it is not the same

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webster sinclair
@george bath

Ya, you know process.

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george bath
@webster sinclair
all too well webster

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webster sinclair
Hm, whatever became of the ABC veteran’s group.

Seem to have disappeared into thin air.