Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new minister amid ongoing backlogs

by Vexmax Sat 19 Aug 2023, 5:51 pm

Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new minister amid ongoing backlogs

Sarah Ritchie · The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 19, 2023

5,547 benefits cases are beyond 16-week standard for completion as of this summer

Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new minister amid ongoing backlogs Peacekeepers-day-20230813

It's been just over three years since Veterans Affairs Canada released a strategy to tackle its 23,000 backlogged benefits applications, and that file has landed on the desk of a new minister for the first time.

Ginette Petitpas Taylor has taken over from longtime minister Lawrence MacAulay, and she says finishing the job by 2024 — the department's stated target — is among her top priorities.

"We absolutely want to eliminate that backlog to make sure that we can meet our service standards," she said in an interview.

Her other top issues: developing an employment strategy and commemorating the events of the past.

Advocates say they want Petitpas Taylor to tackle a range of other problems, from housing and education to the kind of culture change that's underway at the Department of National Defence.

As for the backlog, the department's service standard is to complete 80 per cent of benefits applications within 16 weeks, allowing more time for what it deems complex cases.

In 2020, just 23 per cent of cases were handled in that time frame.

That's left veterans waiting months or even years for services.

The department has made progress, hiring hundreds of dedicated decision-makers and streamlining processes.

That has cut down the backlog by 75 per cent, Petitpas Taylor said.

A spokesperson for the department said 5,547 cases are still incomplete beyond the 16-week standard as of June 30, shy of the department's goal to get the number of backlogged cases below 5,000 by the summer of 2023.

Concern over number of denied applications

NDP veterans affairs critic Rachel Blaney said she worries about the number of applications that are being denied outright.

"The former minister was in committee on March 20 and he stated that 20 per cent of applications for benefits are denied by the department, and I think that is a fairly shocking statistic," she said.

Applications from French-speaking and female veterans are moving slower than those of English-speaking male vets, according to the department, highlighting the an ongoing struggle to integrate the women who have served in uniform.

"We know that the limited statistics that we have are telling us that women veterans are largely not doing as well as male veterans after service," Blaney said.

She is a member of the House of Commons veterans affairs committee, which is in the midst of its first study about the experiences of women veterans.

It has heard from witnesses who have said the department's list of approved disability claims fails to take into account unique issues for women who, for example, spent years using equipment designed for larger male bodies.

"There's a lot of women [who] disproportionately suffer from osteoarthritis, back and hip issues," said retired Maj. Donna Riguidel.

It's a clear example of the way problems for women in the Armed Forces have become problems for veterans, too.

The departments of National Defence and Veterans Affairs are siloed, but Petitpas Taylor is also associate minister of defence.

She said she sees her role there as being focused on ensuring a seamless transition for Armed Forces members as they retire.

Her colleague, Defence Minister Bill Blair, is now in charge of implementing the recommendations from a 2022 report on the military's toxic culture and issues of sexual misconduct.

Call for culture changes

Riguidel, who is a survivor of military sexual trauma, co-founded a consulting company that trains people to properly support survivors of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. She said the changes in culture must include Veterans Affairs.

"We still are trying so hard to build toward a sustainable culture change," she said. "And although naturally its focus remains on people who are active military, that still impacts veterans."

Petitpas Taylor said a gender-based analysis of her department is important to ensure women and other equity-seeking groups are getting the support they need. She didn't elaborate on what she considers to be the benchmarks of success.

Blaney said the struggles for the two departments are deeply entwined, and they have broad ramifications.

"When people see a lot of veterans hurting, angry, frustrated, unhoused, struggling — how are we supposed to get recruits on the other side of that?"

CBC News

by **Hammercore** Wed 30 Aug 2023, 5:02 pm

New Veterans Affairs Minister takes over as backlog target missed

Published Aug 30, 2023

Ginette Petitpas Taylor has taken over leadership of Veterans Affairs Canada just as the department is set to miss another deadline for resolving the backlog of disability benefit claims.

Last December, her predecessor, P.E.I. MP Lawrence MacAulay, pledged to bring the backlog of veteran disability benefit applications under control by this summer, ensuring 80 per cent of veteran applications receive a decision within 16 weeks.

The department’s website says its goal was to bring the backlog below 5,000 by the spring or summer of 2023.

But as the summer of 2023 comes to a close, the department’s latest figures show that, as of June 30, only 61 per cent of applications are receiving a decision within 16 weeks. There are currently 5,547 applications that have waited longer than this.

Injured veterans have complained for years about the lengthy wait times. Many are entitled to income-replacement benefits because their physical or mental injuries make work impossible.

Petitpas Taylor, who replaced MacAulay as minister of veterans affairs after a cabinet shuffle this summer, said the backlog would be brought under control by the end of the year.

But in an interview during last week’s cabinet retreat in Charlottetown, Petitpas Taylor appeared either unaware or undaunted by the previous commitments.

“We are certainly on track in making sure that we are going to meet those targets," Petitpas Taylor told SaltWire.

When asked about the commitment from MacAulay to meet the targets this summer, Petitpas Taylor said she was “very confident” the backlog targets would be met this year.

“I really think that within the very near future that you're going to see those targets being hit," she said.

Making progress
The backlog has shrunk considerably since its 2019 peak of 23,000 applications. But Veterans Affairs Canada has struggled to resolve the longstanding issue. After hiring hundreds of temporary staff, a May 2022 auditor general’s report found veterans were waiting a median of 39 weeks for decisions on their claims.

Petitpas Taylor committed to ensuring wait times do not return to the pre-2020 peak.

She pointed to progress in reducing longer wait times for equity seeking groups, such as women, minorities and francophones.

Brian Forbes, chairman of the National Council of Veterans Associations (NCVA) in Canada, said he is hopeful Petitpas Taylor can bring a “breath of fresh air” to her new role.

He said the official backlog statistics mask a growing tally of applications deemed incomplete.

“There's a whole question as to when does a claim actually become initiated for the purpose of their standards,” Forbes said.

“We have many claims where we have to wait months and months to get further medical reports or further evidence of service relationship. And they don't count."

As of June 30, 2023, the number of incomplete applications for disability benefits stood at 16,406 – 27 per cent higher than a year ago.

Staffing in question
Since 2018, Veterans Affairs Canada has hired over 500 temporary employees to resolve the backlog. It remains unclear if these term hires will be kept on.

Treasury Board President Anita Anand has asked all cabinet ministers to find a total of $15 billion in savings from their departments by October.

When asked if this could mean job cuts at Veterans Affairs Canada, Petitpas Taylor said the savings could come in the form of efficiencies.

"The efficiencies, I guess I'm going to say, that are going to be found within the department will not be having a direct impact on our veterans," she said.

Petitpas Taylor did not clarify whether the temporary staff will be retained after March 2024.

Virginia Vaillancourt, president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, says the department needs a plan to retain the staff it already has. Vaillancourt believes the federal government needs to allocate more permanent funding for staff brought on since 2018.

"Our veterans are not temporary, so I don't understand why the government of Canada will not put in permanent funding," Vaillancourt said.

Vaillacourt said a senior department official has told her a funding stream, known as service excellence, will not be renewed.

"If in fact the funding does not get renewed, that's a loss of 50 case managers, 25 veteran service agents and eight veterans service team managers," Vaillacourt said.

Forbes said the focus of VAC on temporary staff sends an “ominous message” to the veteran community.

“In one breath, they're saying we're going to add temporary staff. In the next breath the government's saying you're going to have to find three per cent in your budget to cut back," Forbes said.

Not briefed on ‘golddigger clause’
Forbes hopes Petitpas Taylor will follow through with a longstanding pledge to repeal a department policy that deems spouses of veterans who married after 60 to be ineligible for a survivor’s benefit.

The policy, referred to by critics as the “golddigger clause,” was deemed to be “chauvinistic” by a recent report by the all-party standing committee on veterans Affairs.

The Trudeau Liberals promised to eliminate the clause in their election 2015 platform.

SaltWire asked Petitpas Taylor if she would repeal the clause.

"That is not one of those files that I've been briefed on as of yet,” she told SaltWire.

Rachel Blaney, Veterans Affairs Canada critic for the NDP, said this was “extremely disappointing.”

“It means that largely elderly women who cared for veterans, in some cases (for) up to 30 years, are left impoverished because they got married at 60," Blaney said.

In 2019, the federal government set aside $150 million over five years to provide spouses of seniors, who were deemed ineligible for the survivors benefit, with financial support.

Years later, little has been done with this fund.

“It's sat there for four years. They haven't implemented it,” Forbes said.

Blaney said she often hears from women in their 80s and 90s who continue to be denied these benefits.

"I think that's shameful, I think that's something that they should take seriously," Blaney said.

Saltwire

Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new minister amid ongoing backlogs

Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new minister amid ongoing backlogs

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