Getting the Best Results for Our Veterans

In June of this year, the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, of which I am a member, released a report with the findings of its study on the New Veterans Charter.

Members of the committee, from all political parties, held more than 20 meetings and heard from 55 witnesses including individual Veterans as well as representatives of Veterans’ organizations and Veterans Affairs Canada. Our goal, much like the goal of our Conservative Government, was to ensure Canada’s Veterans and their families receive the support they have earned and deserve.

The committee made 18 recommendations for improvements. However, members concluded that overall, the New Veterans Charter is an improvement over the previous system of support which was not able to meet the needs of our modern-day Veterans.
Representing the biggest change in programs and services for Veterans since the Second World War, the New Veterans Charter came into effect four years ago. It was designed to help a new generation of Veterans and their families make the transition to civilian life.

As the committee noted, the vast majority of those affected welcomed the changes and the legislation received the unanimous support of the House of Commons and the Senate.
However, as with any new piece of legislation, we cannot predict exactly how it will work when it comes into effect and so there is always room for improvement.

In addition, Veterans Affairs Canada has been doing its own evaluation of the New Veterans Charter to measure its effectiveness in meeting the needs of Veterans and there have already been improvements made in many areas such as working more closely with the Department of National Defense and giving frontline staff who are most aware of Veterans’ needs more authority to make decisions.

The recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs are an excellent example of the shared commitment of Members of Parliament to do our very best for our Veterans who have so bravely served our country. If you would like to read more about the New Veterans Charter, please visit www.vac-acc.gc.ca.