Questions and responses 41st Parliament, 1st session June 2, 2011, to September 13, 2013

With regard to the Last Post Fund and the agreements in place with Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) related to funeral expenses: (a) why does VAC not directly take care of the funeral expenses related to the death of veterans; (b) what restrictions exist that prevent a veteran or a veteran’s family from obtaining funds given for funeral expenses; (c) how many requests to cover funeral costs have been received by the Last Post Fund in each year since its creation; (d) of the requests in (c), how many were (i) accepted, (ii) rejected; (e) what were the reasons for every rejection in (d); (f) what is the breakdown of accepted requests, by veterans of (i) the First World War, (ii) the Second World War, (iii) the Korean War, (iv) the Gulf War, (v) NATO missions, (vi) Afghanistan, (vii) United Nations missions; (g) are the funds given to veterans to cover funeral expenses treated as taxable income; (h) are the funds given to the families of serving Canadian Forces members treated as taxable income; (i) what plan does VAC have to increase the amount given to families of veterans through the Last Post Fund; (j) what plan does VAC have to change the eligibility criteria for Last Post Fund resources; (k) what steps does VAC plan to take to increase the funds available to veterans so as to match what is given to serving members of the Canadian Forces for their funeral expenses; (l) what is the breakdown of contributions given to the Last Post Fund; (m) how much does VAC spend on the administration and promotion of the Last Post Fund; and (n) are funds allocated to the Last Post Fund subject to the Deficit Reduction Plan and budget cuts of 2011-2012, in the range of five to ten percent?

With regard to the $65 million dollars provided to Veterans Affairs Canada’s funeral and burial program, managed by The Last Post Fund, over two years as indicated on page 254 of Budget 2013: (a) why did the government choose to provide $63 million in fiscal year 2013-2014 and only $2 million in fiscal year 2014-2015; (b) what happens to the balance of the $65 million if The Last Post Fund fails to spend the allotment corresponding to each fiscal year; (c) which organizations or stakeholders were consulted with regard to this specific funding measure; (d) how much was this program allotted in each year since 2005; (e) how much did this program spend in each year since 2005; and (f) how much does the government expect to spend in each of fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015?