QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Canadian Heritage—Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Processing Times for Francophone Veterans' Benefits
May 11, 2022
Minister, a 2018 report by the former Veterans Ombudsman found that francophone veterans were waiting longer than anglophone veterans for decisions from Veterans Affairs Canada after applying for disability benefits.
According to an Order Paper answer tabled in the Senate, francophone veterans are still waiting longer than anglophone veterans. As of last February, the average processing time for applications was nearly 39 weeks for francophones and 31.5 weeks for anglophones.
Minister, since your government has been aware of this situation for four years now, why does it continue to accept this inequity in the treatment of francophone veterans when it comes to the services offered?
First of all, I thank honourable senators for inviting me to this Question Period. This is the first time I have met you for such an exercise, and I am very pleased to appear before you today.
Thank you for this very important question about our veterans. It is completely unacceptable that our francophone veterans have to wait longer to access services. As Minister MacAulay mentioned in the House of Commons a few months ago, the government has hired additional staff to address the issue of wait times, so that veterans have access to services in their first language.
It is vital that Canadians have access to services in the language of their choice. That is why Minister MacAulay made it very clear that additional staff were needed to address this situation, and that is exactly what has been done.
