Ottawa reaches out to veterans in Nunavut, NWT, Yukon

Veteran Affairs Minister Kent Hehr at an event in Windsor, Ont. this past summer. (VETERAN AFFAIRS HANDOUT PHOTO)

Staff from Veterans Affairs Canada are to travel to Nunavut and the other two territories to provide information about services to Armed Forces and RCMP veterans and their families, the department said Aug. 31 in a news release.

“Frontline VAC staff will travel to meet face-to-face with veterans and their families and share information on benefits and services with those who may not be aware,” the department said.

Veteran Affairs staff will visit Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Iqaluit — but the department did not give a date for their Iqaluit visit.

However, they did say they will work with Service Canada to “enhance its presence and services in the North.”

Service Canada — which operates offices in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay — offers one-stop access to federal government benefits like Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan

The announcement coincides with an Aug. 31 visit to Yellowknife by Veteran Affairs Minister Kent Hehr.

Hehr’s primary message is that the Liberal government will keep promises made in the 2015 federal election campaign to improve benefits to disabled and emotionally traumatized veterans, and to restore services they accuse the previous Conservative government of cutting.

The Liberals also promised increased payments under the Disability Award, the Earnings Loss Benefit and expanded access to the Permanent Impairment Allowance.

To that end, they have promised to hire 400 new employees for Veteran Affairs Canada and to re-open nine Veterans Affairs offices that the previous government closed, and to open a tenth office next year in Surrey, B.C.

That expansion will also include better outreach to veterans living in the three territories, the department said.

“Veterans from the North selflessly answered the call to serve our country, and now we are answering their call by enhancing financial benefits, restoring and enhancing access to critical services, and hiring more front-line staff,” Hehr said in the news release.