Veterans frustrated with long delays for disability claims despite government promises

Disability claims for more than 23,000 veterans are waiting to be processed by the federal department - a backlog that remains a source of anger, frustration and anxiety.

When Stephen LaSalle first injured his foot in a military training exercise, he had only heard the stories about what it was like to deal with Veterans Affairs Canada. Five years later, the reservist naval lieutenant can talk about the experience firsthand.

LaSalle is one of more than 23,000 veterans whose disability claims are waiting to be processed by the federal department – a backlog that remains a source of anger, frustration and anxiety despite the Liberal government’s repeated promises to eliminate it.

LaSalle is waiting to find out whether he qualifies for an income-replacement benefit, because the chronic pain and post-traumatic stress he has experienced since his foot was amputated have made it impossible to work.

“I am suffering from not only an amputation, but I’m dealing with my own mental-health injuries from everything,” he says from his home in Niagara Falls, Ont. “So without the IRB, I will have no income.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay agreed Tuesday that wait times at the department are too long, but insisted the Liberal government has made progress by hiring hundreds of temporary staff to process claims.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, the minister said wait times “have come down substantially” _ his department is taking 25 weeks to process initial claims from veterans, as compared to more than 43 weeks last year.

Yet the 25-week average doesn’t take into account how long many claims sit before the clock officially starts, including those deemed incomplete or that are still awaiting assignment to an adjudicator.

That lag time has long been a source of concern and criticism from advocates, particularly because about 17,000 of the 30,000 disability applications held by the department at the end of September fell into both categories.