Veterans squeezed again in pension holdup

From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Peter Stoffer is right. Despite changes in government in Ottawa. And more than a dozen different veterans’ affairs ministers over the past two decades, all promising better, faster service. There continues to be unacceptable shortfalls in benefits programs for the men and women who put their lives on the line for this country, says the former NDP MP and longtime veterans’ advocate.

The latest example, from a Canadian Press story this week, is that the waiting list for former military members who’ve applied for disability pensions has increased by 50 per cent since March. As of the end of November, there were 29,000 applications for disability benefits waiting to be processed at Veterans Affairs Canada. Nearly a third have been waiting to find out if they’re eligible for more than 16 weeks, another statistic that has deteriorated.

Meanwhile, the federal Liberals have has yet to make good on an election promise by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to bring back lifelong disability pensions that were removed under the previous Harper government.

Last week, a B.C. appeals court struck down a legal attempt by six veterans to have the former lifelong disability pensions restored, saying that the case had no chance of success on its legal merits.

Liberal Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan has promised a new lifelong disability pension plan by the end of the year. Let’s hope veterans won’t be disappointed again.