At the veterans affairs committee, NDP critic for veterans Rachel Blaney questioned federal minister of veterans affairs Lawrence MacAuley about the Liberal government’s continued failure to support veterans’ families.
According to a media release, Blaney, North Island-Powell River MP, stated the Liberals have repeatedly broken their promises to eliminate the discriminatory marriage after 60 clause, which prohibits spouses of veterans who marry after age 60 from accessing the automatic survivor pensions. Instead, the Liberals allocated $150 million over five years to the newly created veterans survivors fund but, so far, not one penny has been provided to veterans’ loved ones, the release stated.
“Veterans who marry after the age of 60 deserve to know that their spouse will be taken care of just like any other married couple,” stated Blaney. “The Liberals haven’t scrapped the marriage after 60 clause and now we see that the money earmarked for the veterans’ survivor fund isn’t getting to the people it was created to help. The minister owes veterans and their families an explanation.”
The release stated that many veterans advocacy organizations have criticized the Trudeau government for breaking its promise to eliminate the antiquated clause from legislation, including the National Council of Veterans Associations and Armed Forces Pensioner’/Annuitants’ Association of Canada.
“When will the Liberal government start treating these people respectfully?” asked Blaney. “They should not be punishing veterans for falling in love later in life. Many veterans live well into their 80s and their partners are caring for them during that time. The government should just remove the clause. Clearly, the system they put in place is still failing our veterans.”
The release stated that during the committee meeting, deputy minister general (retired) Walter Natynczyk acknowledged that COVID-19 delayed the outlay of the veterans survivors fund, but the fund was announced a full year before the pandemic hit.
