Data from the 2021 census shows that the number of veterans is 25 percent lower than previous estimates by Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC), according to a federal document. The federal department says the overestimation has no impact on its government-funded programs. In a March 20 briefing note, VAC responded to questions about why the 2021…

Data from the 2021 census shows that the number of veterans is 34 percent lower than previous estimates by Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC), according to a federal document. The federal department says the overestimation has no impact on its government-funded programs. In a March 20 briefing note, VAC responded to questions about why the 2021…

Ill and injured veterans were being warned to anticipate longer-than-normal wait times and delays as federal public servants—including hundreds of Veterans Affairs Canada employees—remained on the picket lines heading into the weekend. The Union of Veterans Affairs Employees is part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, whose more than 100,000 members walked off the…

The federal Veterans Affairs Department has no figures on the number of veterans it has hired since Parliament passed a bill in 2015 intended to increase veteran employment numbers. “We absolutely believe in hiring veterans, not just at Veterans Affairs Canada, but across all federal departments,” said Steven Harris, assistant deputy minister of service delivery at Veterans Affairs Canada…

Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay says there is “no evidence” that medically assisted death was ever offered unprompted, or suggested to veterans or their families, by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). The minister’s statement, which responded to an order paper question issued by Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant, comes less than two months after a VAC worker who…

The Trudeau government is facing fresh calls to eliminate the backlog of disability claims from ill and injured veterans amid revelations Veterans Affairs Canada failed to spend nearly $1 billion of its budget last year. Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay’s office says the backlog of thousands of unprocessed applications for financial and medical benefits did not…

It wasn’t until psychologist number three that retired warrant officer Brian McKenna was able to find someone who, in his words, “had a clue.” McKenna, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan now living in Vancouver, had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had been trying unsuccessfully for years to find a mental-health professional…

Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay today responded to several new allegations of veterans being offered unsolicited medical assistance in dying, or MAiD, by at least one of his department’s caseworkers. MacAulay told MPs on the House of Commons Veterans Affairs Committee that his department is aware of only four cases in which veterans have been offered…

A sixth veteran has alleged that she was offered unprompted medical assistance in dying, or MAiD, by a federal department responsible for providing medical care and rehabilitation to those who have served in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Christine Gauthier, a retired CAF corporal and a former team-Canada Paralympian at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, told the…

A union representing thousands of Veterans Affairs Canada employees is asking the prime minister to replace Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay. In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Union of Veterans Affairs’ Employees says it has lost faith in MacAulay for repeatedly refusing to meet to discuss their concerns. Those concerns include a…