Oct 06, 2016 - Live on Facebook, MVA takes Questions

Hi Trooper, just picking my way thur this vid. One pt he said about increasing the PIA was a short blurb, but one I never heard before. I think he said next Apr. Have you heard anymore on it. VVV...

I think what he meant was increasing access.

What I couldn't believe was when it became obvious that Hehr doesn't even know what was written in his own legislation. When asked if someone who received a 100% payment in 2006, would receive the new maximum payment of $360000, he said he believed it does, but to call the department to be told how the top up would affect them. I will probably be calling, just to see how badly they screw it up.

lol ya buds thought that was kina funny and sad at the same time it looked like a "well I think so but don't trust me because I don't really know what the frack is going on" kinda statement .

propat

That's what I have been saying all along, he simply is passing everything down to the bureaucrats to implement, everything that was promised is being left up to the bureaucrats to do as they see fit. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that he should not pass things down to get implemented, that's what the bureaucrats are there for, my problem is that he does not hold any credentials in the form of education with respect to our file, what I mean by education is that if he does not know the in depth scope of what was implemented as proven from the above video, that means that he Cannot overlook in detail what exactly those bureaucrats are implementing, thus reiterating the fact that the bureaucrats have full control of what they bring forward. This is a major problem, you cannot be a minister who simply travels the Country speaking on countless subjects outside of the Veterans file and expect to answer important questions publicly on our file, this has been showed time and time again. He means well and has a big heart, but this does not mean that he is the best person to be minister of our file. With that said, it is his choosing, if he continues to run our file in that way, more problems for him, and more problems for Veterans will be forthcoming. He is the minister, he needs to wear it.
A good cabinet minister always knows their file, and always looks over the bureaucrats implementing changes.

bigrex and propat - That was one weird twilight moment. The minister looked real stunned at that ? He should really look more into the details of the policy. And I thought it was so stupid that out of the 3 of them, none could answer the question. WT_. Then they told him to call the 1-866 #, which made them all look stupid..VVV...

When our MVA looks dumbfounded I think maybe he should call the 1-866# but that could lead to longer wait times for vets because I believe he would be on the phone a lot

In my opinion, there's not enough transparency and communication with the veteran community from the Minister and from VAC itself.  I don't see what the problem is with opening the books to show us the actual progress made on each of the items in Minister Hehr's mandate letter.

The promised expanded access to more education is a good example.   Little to nothing has been said about what action has been taken to get this legislation in place.  This is hugely important for veterans seeking careers as opposed to jobs.
More schooling, means more opportunities and better pay cheques.  Satisfaction in one's career means improved mental health and a better quality of life.

The longer it takes to implement these changes, the more some veterans risk financial insecurity, deteriorating mental health,  problems at home and possibly even homelessness, and in worse case scenarios suicide due to hopelessness.

On a different note, I'm disappointed with the way the Liberals and Minister Hehr are handling the Veteran File and I know I'm not alone.  However, people making personal attacks on the Minister on Facebook by calling him a creep, liar, jerk and making references to his disability and his compensation are uncalled for.  If Minister Hehr behaved like Fantino I might be the first to declare open season on him, but for the moment he's behaving in a cordial manner and I like to think that veterans hold ourselves to a high degree of character and only attack when attacked.