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Veterans Minister Kent Hehr's mandate letter - "One veteran, one standard"

Defence Watch is running the main portions of the ministerial mandate letters relating to defence and veterans in three separate postings. Here are the relevant portions for Kent Hehr, Veterans Affairs Minister. The letter was sent by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:

Veterans and their families have earned our respect and gratitude. Veterans should not have to fight their own government for the support and compensation they have earned. As Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, your overarching goal will be to ensure that our government lives up to our sacred obligation to veterans and their families. I expect you to ensure that veterans receive the respect, support, care, and economic opportunities they deserve. You will ensure that we honour the service of our veterans and provide new career opportunities, make it easier for veterans to access services – including mental health services – and do more to support the families of Canada’s veterans. I ask you to work closely with your colleague the Minister of National Defence to ensure a seamless transition for Canadian Forces members to the programs and services of your department.

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In particular, I will expect you to work with your colleagues and through established legislative, regulatory, and Cabinet processes, including our first Budget, to deliver on your top priorities:

  • Work with the Minister of National Defence to reduce complexity, overhaul service delivery, and strengthen partnerships between Veterans Affairs and National Defence.
  • Re-establish lifelong pensions as an option for our injured veterans, and increase the value of the disability award, while ensuring that every injured veteran has access to financial advice and support so that they can determine the form of compensation that works best for them and their families.
  • Expand access to the Permanent Impairment Allowance to better support veterans who have had their career options limited by a service-related illness or injury.
  • Provide injured veterans with 90 percent of their pre-release salary, and index this benefit so that it keeps pace with inflation.
  • Create a new Veterans Education Benefit that will provide full support for the costs of up to four years of college, university, or technical education for Canadian Forces veterans after completion of service.
  • Improve career and vocational assistance for veterans through ensuring that job opportunities for returning veterans are included in Community Benefits Agreements for new federally-funded infrastructure projects.
  • Deliver a higher standard of service and care, and ensure that a “one veteran, one standard” approach is upheld.
  • Re-open the nine Veterans Affairs service offices recently closed, hire more service delivery staff, and fully implement all of the Auditor General’s recommendations on enhancing mental health service delivery to veterans.
  • Create two new centres of excellence in veterans’ care, including one with a specialization in mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder and related issues for both veterans and first responders.
  • Provide greater education, counselling, and training for families who are providing care and support to veterans living with physical and/or mental health issues as a result of their service.
  • End the time limit for surviving spouses to apply for vocational rehabilitation and assistance services.
  • Increase the veteran survivor’s pension amount from 50 percent to 70 percent.
  • Eliminate the “marriage after 60” clawback clause, so that surviving spouses of veterans receive appropriate pension and health benefits.
  • Double funding to the Last Post Fund to ensure that all veterans receive a dignified burial.
  • Work with the Minister of National Defence to develop a suicide prevention strategy for Canadian Armed Forces personnel and veterans.
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