Wait times for Veterans still too long
Legion responds to Auditor General of Canada report on disability claims processing
OTTAWA, May 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Royal Canadian Legion is renewing its call for a comprehensive strategy to deal with the ballooning wait times faced by Canada’s Veterans after they submit their disability claims for processing.
The cry comes in the wake of the Auditor General of Canada’s report released today, which conducted an audit into whether Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) is taking appropriate actions to reduce wait times for Veterans to receive disability benefits to which they may be entitled. In a statement released by the Legion’s Dominion President Bruce Julian, the Legion expresses hope that this new report marks a turning point.
“The Legion helps many Veterans prepare their disability benefit claims and has long been pushing Veterans Affairs Canada for change because we’ve seen the unacceptable wait times, inefficient processes and insufficient staff to handle the load. We’ve seen the despair and anger from Veterans and families as situations worsen. We hope this report will finally provide the impetus needed to create and execute a concrete plan of action, end unreasonable wait times, and duly serve the injured Veterans who served us.”
Among many findings, the Auditor General’s report reflects that not only are Veterans waiting a long time – women, francophones and RCMP Veterans are waiting even longer. It also shows that VAC’s departmental data on how claims are processed is poor, and that there is no long-term staffing plan to address the wait times.
The Legion has long been advocating for a comprehensive strategy to deal with this disability claims backlog and is hopeful that with this new report as a basis, a long-term plan will finally come to fruition.
Read the full report here:
https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_202205_02_e_44034.html
About The Royal Canadian Legion
Founded in 1925, the Legion is Canada’s largest Veteran support and community service organization. We are a non-profit organization with a national reach across Canada as well as branches in the U.S. and Europe. With 250,000 members, many of whom volunteer an extraordinary amount of time to their branches, our strength is in our numbers.
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