Ottawa ditches longer deadlines for answering veterans’ requests for service
OTTAWA — The federal government has backed off a controversial plan to give bureaucrats more time to respond to disabled veterans seeking benefits and support for their service-related injuries.
Yet while that decision is being welcomed by some, the government is facing fresh questions about how it plans to meet its existing targets for helping veterans, which it has been consistently missing for years.
Veterans Affairs Canada first floated the idea of lengthening its timelines last fall following criticism over former service members waiting months longer than promised to get support — or even find out whether they qualified for help.
Veterans are told they can expect to know within 16 weeks whether they simply qualify for disability benefits, for example. But the average wait time is between 23 and 29 weeks, with many forced to wait much longer.