OTTAWA — 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.
A spokesperson for the department said 5,547 cases are still incomplete beyond the 16 weeks 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. 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.
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. The departments of National Defence and Veterans Affairs are siloed, but Petitpas Taylor is also associate minister of defence.
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.
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Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new ministerOTTAWA — 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.
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Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new ministerOTTAWA — 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.
Read more »
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