Questions and responses 41st Parliament, 2nd session October 16, 2013, to August 2, 2015

With regard to disabled Canadian Forces veterans who are trying to obtain fair compensation with settlements under the New Veterans Charter (NVC): (a) how many Members of Parliament wrote to the Minister of Veterans Affairs with respect to fair compensation for injured veterans under the NVC, for each of the years from 2006 to 2014 inclusive; (b) what is the total amount of money spent by all government departments and agencies, excluding the Department of Justice, from October 2013 to the present, on the Equitas Society class action lawsuit; (c) what is the total amount of money spent by the government to hire outside legal counsel from October 2013 to the present on the Equitas Society class action lawsuit; and (d) what is the total amount of money spent by all government departments and agencies on the Equitas Society class action lawsuit from October 2012 to the present, including all costs associated with the work of Department of Justice?

With respect to research conducted or funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs: (a) how much has been spent each year on such research; and (b) what is the (i) name, (ii) description, (iii) purpose of each research project, including duration, broken down by year from 2006 to 2014?

With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): (a) how many veterans have been hired at VAC and any other government department in each year since 2006; (b) for each year, how many of these were medically released members of the Canadian Forces hired in priority through the Public Service Commission; (c) what percentage of all hires at VAC since 2006 have been veterans; and (d) what specific efforts are being made by the Department to increase the number and percentage of veterans working within VAC?

With regard to the War Veterans Allowance (WVA) program: (a) how many Allied veterans have applied for the program since it was expanded in June 2009; (b) what are the criteria that Allied veterans must meet to be eligible for the WVA; (c) specifically, are Allied veterans required to be Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or living in Canada to be eligible; (d) how many applicants have been approved; (e) how many family members of Allied veterans have applied for the program since it was expanded in June 2009; (f) how many family members of Allied veterans have been approved to receive the benefit; (g) what is the total value of benefits approved for Allied veterans and their families since the WVA was expanded in June 2009; and (h) after submitting an application, what is the average wait-time for Allied veterans or their families to receive a benefit?

With respect to legal action against the government regarding the Veterans Charter: (a) what is the total amount of money spent by all departments and agencies, broken down by department and agency, since January 1, 2010, in its defence against the Canadian veterans' class action lawsuit; and (b) what is the total amount of money all departments and agencies have spent to hire outside legal counsel, broken down by department and agency, for the same time period referred to in (a)?

Regarding the measures "totaling two billion dollars" contained in the Enhanced New Veterans Charter Act, tabled by the government in November 2010: (a) over what time frame is this money to be spent; and (b) how much of the $2 billion has already been spent?

With regard to Canadian Forces and RCMP veterans who have exhausted all their redress options at the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB) and pursue their right to apply to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review of the decision: (a) how many veterans pursued their right to apply to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review from 2006 to 2013 inclusive; (b) what is the total amount of money spent by all departments and agencies, including all costs associated with the work of the Department of Justice, for judicial reviews of VRAB decisions from 2006 to 2013 inclusive; (c) what is the average cost to the Crown and government for a judicial review case, including a breakdown of average costs including salaries, court transcription services, courier fees, witnesses, and other items; (d) what was the cost for each judicial review from 2006 to 2013 inclusive; and (e) what is the average amount of time it takes for a judicial review decision from start to finish?

With respect to the benefit provided by the government for veterans' funeral and burial expenses: (a) what is the maximum amount available through the Veterans Funeral and Burial Program for funeral services; (b) how does the amount in (a) compare to the allowable maximum established for members of the RCMP and Canadian Forces; (c) in order to qualify for the maximum amount available through the Veterans Funeral and Burial Program, at what must a veteran's estate be valued; (d) how does the amount in (c) compare to the means test established for members of the RCMP and Canadian Forces; (e) how many requests for assistance with burial costs were made in each of the fiscal years from 2006 to 2013; (f) how many of the requests in (e) were approved; (g) for each request in (e), broken down by fiscal year, what were the reasons for rejecting the request; and (h) what is the total number of requests that were rejected for each particular reason mentioned in (g)?

With regard to homeless veterans: (a) what programs from Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) are in place to assist homeless veterans; (b) what programs are in place by other government departments, if applicable, to assist homeless veterans; (c) what organizations are working in partnership with VAC to provide support to homeless veterans, broken down by province; (d) what is the annual breakdown of contributions issued to organizations working in partnership with VAC on veterans' homelessness from 2009 to 2013 inclusively, further broken down by province; (e) how much did VAC spend on veterans' homelessness annually from 2009 to 2013 inclusively; (f) what are the details of VAC's evaluation of the effectiveness of their financial contribution and program delivery for the partnership defined in (c); (g) is VAC considering a plan for a national coordinated effort to support homeless veterans and, if so, what are the details; (h) how many homeless veterans have been identified annually by VAC, from 2009 to 2013 inclusively; (i) how many homeless veterans have been identified by organizations working in partnership with VAC annually from 2009 to 2013 inclusively, broken down by province; (j) how many homeless veterans identified in (h) and (i) are now in receipt of departmental benefits or services; (k) what is the breakdown of the type of departmental benefits or services the homeless veterans received from 2009 to 2013; (l) what are the planned expenditures by VAC for homeless veterans for the next five years; and (m) what are the planned expenditures by VAC for organizations working in partnership with VAC to provide support to homeless veterans?

With regard to the Last Post Fund and agreements in place with Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) related to funeral expenses: (a) for each year from 2006 to 2015 inclusive, how many requests to cover funerals and burial costs have been received by the Last Post Fund; (b) of the requests in (a), how many were (i) accepted, (ii) rejected; (c) of the requests rejected in (b)(ii), how many were denied because they did not meet (i) service-related disability qualifications, (ii) income threshold levels; (d) of the requests accepted in (b)(i), how many were from (i) traditional veterans (First World War, Second World War, Korean War), (ii) modern day veterans (post-Korea); and (e) of the requests rejected in (b)(ii), how many were from (i) traditional veterans (First World War, Second World War, Korean War), (ii) modern day veterans (post-Korea)?

With regard to the nine regional offices of Veterans Affairs that are to be closed by February 2014 (Charlottetown, Corner Brook, Sydney, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Kelowna, Prince George, Saskatoon, and Brandon): what are the total operating costs by year for each office from 2009-2012?

With respect to the Enhanced New Veterans Charter Act: how much have payments increased on average for (i) the 2,717 veterans entitled to increased earnings loss benefits, (ii) the 590 veterans entitled to increased Permanent Incapacity Allowances, (iii) the 202 veterans entitled to Exceptional Incapacity Allowances?

With regard to services for veterans, what are the details, broken down by (i) nature, (ii) purpose, (iii) fiscal year, of the “over $5-billion [which] has gone into veterans’ services”, referenced by the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board during CTV's “Power Play“ on January 28, 2014?

With regard to the employability of veterans in departments and agencies and the public service’s priority appointment program for veterans, since the public service’s priority appointment program for veterans came into effect: (a) how many veterans (i) have registered for the priority appointment program, broken down by year, (ii) have found a job in the public service through this program, broken down by year, (iii) have been unable to find a job in the public service within the two-year time limit; and (b) how many employees who identified themselves as veterans (i) have lost their job in the public service following the 2012 Budget cutbacks, (ii) are currently working for the government, broken down by departments and agencies, (iii) have come through the priority appointment program and are currently working for the government, broken down by departments and agencies?

With regard to the Veterans Independence Program (VIP) and the VIP expansion for survivors administered by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): (a) how many veterans have received VIP benefits each year from 2006 to 2014 inclusively; (b) how many clients were reassessed for eligibility for VIP benefits each year from 2006 to 2014 inclusively; (c) how many clients reassessed for VIP eligibility each year from 2006 to 2014 inclusively were denied the benefit; (d) from 2006 to 2014 inclusively, out of those veterans who were denied the VIP benefit after reassessment, how many (i) appealed the decision, (ii) did not appeal the decision, (iii) had their benefits reinstated upon appeal, (iv) were denied further benefits upon appeal; (e) how many weeks did it take for VAC to reassess eligibility for VIP benefits each year from 2006 to 2014 inclusively; (f) how many individuals applied for the VIP expansion for survivors each year from 2006 to 2014 inclusively; (g) how many individuals received the VIP expansion for survivors each year from 2006 to 2014 inclusively; (h) of those mentioned in (g), how many qualified as (i) Guaranteed Income Supplement recipients, (ii) Disability Tax Credit recipients; (i) broken down by year, how many individuals who applied to the VIP expansion as listed in (f) were denied the VIP expansion; and (j) out of these veterans listed in (i) how many individuals (i) appealed the decision, (ii) did not appeal the decision, (iii) received this benefit upon appeal, (iv) were denied these benefits upon appeal?

With respect to staffing at the Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2014: (a) how many caseworkers were employed by the department, broken down by (i) specific work locations, (ii) program activities, (iii) sub-program activities, (iv) sub-sub-program activities, (v) year; and (b) what is the departmental target for caseloads for each caseworker, broken down by year?

With regard to the Department of Veterans Affairs: how many clients were served each year from 2010 to 2014 inclusively at each Veterans Affairs office location, including the nine offices that have recently closed?

With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada's contracts and community beds for veterans' long-term care: (a) what is the cost of long-term care for veterans in community beds, from 2009 to 2013 inclusively, broken down by province; (b) for the cost identified in (a), what is the cost by province for (i) WWII veterans, (ii) Korean war veterans, (iii) Canadian Forces veterans; (c) what is the cost of long-term care for veterans in contract bed facilities, from 2009 to 2013 inclusively, broken down by province; (d) for the cost identified in (c), what is the cost of care by province for (i) WWII veterans, (ii) Korean war veterans, (iii) Canadian Forces veterans; (e) what are the anticipated costs for long term care for veterans in community beds for the next five years for (i) WWII veterans, (ii) Korean war veterans, (iii) Canadian Forces veterans; and (f) what are the anticipated costs for long term care for veterans in contract beds facilities for the next five years for (i) WWII veterans, (ii) Korean war veterans, (iii) Canadian Forces veterans?

With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada: (a) how many veterans have been hired at Veterans Affairs Canada since 2009; (b) how many of these were medically released members of the Canadian Forces hired in priority through the Public Service Commission; (c) what percentage of all hires at Veterans Affairs Canada since 2009 have been veterans (including medically released veterans); and (d) what specific efforts are being made by the Department to increase the number and percentage of veterans working within Veterans Affairs Canada?

With respect to the Scott et al. v. Attorney General of Canada legal action against the Government of Canada: (a) what is the total amount of money spent by all departments and agencies, broken down by department and agency, since October 30, 2012, in its defence against the Canadian veterans' class action lawsuit; and (b) what is the total amount of money all departments and agencies have spent to hire outside legal counsel, broken down by department and agency, for the same time period referred to in (a)?