Veterans’ funding to be restored

A motion to restore lapsed funding for Canadian veterans, put forward by Courtenay-Alberni NDP MP Gord Johns, passed unanimously in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

The motion calls on the government to automatically carry forward all annual lapsed spending at the Department of Veterans Affairs to the next fiscal year, for the sole purpose of improving services for Canadian veterans.

“Will the prime minister do the right thing today,” Johns said, “and ensure money budgeted for veterans is actually spent on veterans?”

The motion was tabled on Friday, debated on Monday and voted on Tuesday, with all parties passing it.

In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the Harper Conservatives for $1 billion in lapsed spending at Veterans Affairs, Johns said Tuesday in the House of Commons.

“The Liberals have now lapsed $372 million unspent at Veterans Affairs even as service levels deteriorate,” said Johns, the NDP veterans critic.

He said the Department of Veterans Affairs underspent $80.9 million in the 2016 budget year, $143 million in 2017, and $148.6 million in 2018.

Trudeau said services to veterans were cut under the former Conservative government, but the Liberal government has increased that budget over the past three years. “We have increased by $10 billion financial support for veterans and we will always be there to support our veterans and we will be there to support the NDP motion,” Trudeau said.