There are fears the situation could get even worse.
Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Lawrence MacAulay speaks to reporters following a cabinet shuffle at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on March 1, 2019.
And more than one-third of the total had been in the queue longer than 16 weeks, which was also an increase and a sign that veterans are waiting ever longer to find out whether they are entitled to assistance.That is despite the Trudeau government's having moved to hire more frontline staff and committing $42 million over two years in last year's budget to clear up the backlog, which has been a source of concern for years.
"I'm surprised it's grown that much," said Jim Lowther, president of VETS Canada, which supports homeless veterans in communities across the country, adding when it comes to the new pension plan:"No one really knows how it going to unfold.
As for the new pension system, Doiron acknowledged the uncertainties of implementing a new government computer system, particularly when many federal public servants are still suffering under the buggy Phoenix pay system, and that"April will be a difficult month." "With all of these changes, we feel that there is not enough staff," said Virginia Vaillancourt, national president of the Union of Veterans' Affairs Employees, who said some staff have been under the gun to work overtime in recent months.
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