The House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs has put its stamp of approval on $64 million in additional funding for Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).

In recent weeks VAC  and government members of parliament have been trying to reassure veterans and veterans advocate groups that services and benefits to veterans will not diminish due to current efforts to trim federal departments’ budgets by five to 10 per cent.

Veterans’ benefits are quasi-statutory, in other words the government is obliged to provide them, and if the VAC budget falls short, the department puts through requests to cover the shortfall through the supplementary estimates, which are part of Parliament’s  normal budget cycle.

This year’s VAC supplementary estimates  are for $21.3 million to cover increases to Exceptional Incapacity Allowance benefits;  $20 million for ex gratia payments related to Agent Orange testing in CFB Gagetown in 1966 and 1967; $10.6 million for new technology to make it easier and faster for veterans to apply for benefits; $8.5 million for support service enhancements for the New Veterans Charter; $1.25 million for the Community War Memorial Project to build or renovate cenotaphs and monuments; $1.25 million for renovations to Ste. Anne’s Hospital; $659,000 for extra case managers and half a million for advertising to increase veterans’ awareness of benefits.

The estimates next go back to Parliament for approval.