Poilievre heads to Carney’s riding, announces help for military veterans – National

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is announcing a plan to improve supports for military veterans during a visit his main rival’s turf Saturday on the federal election trail.

Poilievre is slated to hold a press conference in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean, where Liberal Leader Mark Carney is campaigning to win a seat.

The Conservatives say if they’re elected, they will ensure military veterans’ disability applications are automatically approved if they’re not processed within four months.

Veterans have long complained about a backlog in getting those applications approved, which leads to delays in payments for those leaving active service.

Veterans Affairs Canada has set a target of processing those claims within 16 weeks, but in 2023-24 the department only met that standard 69 per cent of the time. Its goal is to reach the 16-week target 80 per cent of the time.

The department says the backlog of claims has decreased by 75 per cent since 2020.

There were more than 5,000 veterans whose cases were still backlogged at the end of the 2024 fiscal year.

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The Conservatives issued a press release saying they’ll give veterans control over their medical records and let military doctors assess injuries using a standardized system, as well as ensure people are able to get service dogs for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The party is pledging to make the educational and training benefit available to Armed Forces members as soon as they get their release date.

The Conservative candidate in Nepean who’s running against Carney is Barbara Bal, a former Armed Forces member. Poilievre is running for re-election in the neighbouring riding of Carleton.

While Poilievre campaigns in Nepean, there are no public events scheduled for Carney. Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will hold a campaign event in Timmins, Ont., at 7:30 p.m.

Canadians head to the polls in a general election on April 28.

Party leaders are looking ahead to televised debates next week in Montreal.

A French-language debate is scheduled for Wednesday, while an English-language one will take place on Thursday.

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