Following Bill C-42 ...

[The Bread Guy]

... aka "An Act to amend the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act, the Pension Act and the Department of Veterans Affairs Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts" - this, from a summary in the text of the Bill ...

... This enactment amends the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act to, among other things,

(a) specify to whom career transition services may be provided under Part 1 of the Act and authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting those services;
(b) create a new education and training benefit that will provide a veteran with up to $80,000 for a course of study at an educational institution or for other education or training that is approved by the Minister of Veterans Affairs;
(c) end the family caregiver relief benefit and replace it with a caregiver recognition benefit that is payable to a person designated by a veteran;
(d) authorize the Minister of Veterans Affairs to waive the requirement for an application for compensation, services or assistance under the Act in certain cases;
(e) set out to whom any amount payable under the Act is to be paid if the person who is entitled to that amount dies before receiving it; and
(f) change the name of the Act.

The enactment also amends the Pension Act and the Department of Veterans Affairs Act to remove references to hospitals under the jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs as there are no longer any such hospitals.

Finally, it makes consequential amendments to other Acts ...

First Reading of the bill happened Friday (24 March) - you can bookmark the first link to check back to see where the Bill is at in the law-making sausage machine.

The bit I highlighted in yellow intrigues me - the Minister can, in some cases, make an award if the law passes as is?

 

[brihard]

... aka "An Act to amend the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act, the Pension Act and the Department of Veterans Affairs Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts" - this, from a summary in the text of the Bill ...First Reading of the bill happened Friday (24 March) - you can bookmark the first link to check back to see where the Bill is at in the law-making sausage machine.

The bit I highlighted in yellow intrigues me - the Minister can, in some cases, make an award if the law passes as is?

"78.‍1 (1) The Minister may waive the requirement for an application for compensation, career transition services, rehabilitation services or vocational assistance under this Act if he or she believes, based on information that has been collected or obtained by him or her in the exercise of the Minister’s powers or the performance of the Minister’s duties and functions, that a person may be eligible for the compensation, services or assistance if they were to apply for it."

Looks like VAC will be in a better position to simply push benefits to people who appear eligible for them. I can see this being absolutely huge in some cases where someone is in a really bad spot, and VAC can muckle on to their case immediately. It need hardly be said that a lot of worst-case vets aren't in a position to easily get a lengthy application in.

EDIT TO ADD: Duh, I just thought of a perfect example: Those currently receiving SISIP LTD at 75% who need to apply for the ELB top up. This would allow the department to simply go ahead and do it for them.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... Looks like VAC will be in a better position to simply push benefits to people who appear eligible for them. I can see this being absolutely huge in some cases where someone is in a really bad spot, and VAC can muckle on to their case immediately. It need hardly be said that a lot of worst-case vets aren't in a position to easily get a lengthy application in ...

Good idea, actually.  I hope that there's enough staffing at the coal face, though, to make sure this can happen.

 

[Rifleman62]

Budget 2017
Media Advisory

From Veterans Affairs Canada

Barrie, Ontario – The Honourable Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, will provide details on Budget 2017 and the Government’s ongoing commitment to enhanced support to Veterans and their families.

Location:
Georgian College
Second Floor, M Building
Sadlon Centre for Health and Wellness
1 Georgian Drive
Barrie, Ontario  L4M 3X9

Date:
Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Time:
10:00 a.m.