Veterans minister touts backlog reduction others attribute to COVID-19 problems

Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay boasted Thursday that the government has started to reduce the backlog of disability claims from injured ex-soldiers — a reduction veterans’ groups have attributed to COVID-19.

MacAulay made the comments before the House of Commons’ veterans affairs committee, where he was grilled about the Liberal government’s latest plan to eliminate the backlog of 45,000 disability claims.

The backlog has emerged as a serious political problem for the federal Liberal government and a more personal one for disabled veterans, thousands of whom have been forced to wait months or years to find out whether they qualify for federal benefits and services.

Advocates say the long waits compound the financial and emotional stress of veterans whose applications are in the queue. Many are struggling to make ends meet while dealing with mental and physical injuries.

The Liberal government announced in June that it was setting aside almost $90 million to hire 300 temporary staff to help process disability applications, which MacAulay repeatedly talked about Thursday in response to opposition questions.

“With this, we will address the backlog,” MacAulay said. “And there will be a very small backlog, if any, after 2022.”

Veterans’ advocates and union members told the committee after MacAulay’s time ended that the plan falls far short of what is actually needed, with the parliamentary budget watchdog saying even with the new hires, there will still be about 40,000 applications unprocessed in two years.

“The proposal to date has been akin to addressing an amputation with a Band-Aid,” said Doreen Weatherbie, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the union representing Veterans Affairs adjudicators.