A union representing Veterans Affairs Canada employees is asking the prime minister to replace Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay.
The request is contained in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from the Union of Veterans Affairs’ Employees, whose national president says her members have lost faith in MacAulay for repeatedly refusing to meet them to discuss their concerns.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Ottawa SUN, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Much of the union’s current frustration can be traced to the department’s contract with Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services, which was awarded in June 2021 and will start to come into effect next month. “This will mean fewer steps for veterans and the case managers that serve them, allowing for more time to focus on the rehabilitation itself.”Article content
“The big fear at this point for us is the fact that we don’t know what the case managers’ role is going to look like after this contract,” Vaillancourt said in an interview. “And this adds another layer another level of burden, if you will, to the clients.”Article content Vaillancourt also took issue with the department’s continued reliance on temporary staff as it struggles with a massive backlog of disability claims. Most case managers also have an overwhelming number of veterans in their caseloads.