Canada’s Veterans Ombudsman is in the city again today (Thursday).

The highlights yesterday of Guy Parent’s visit included a stakeholders meeting and a public town hall event.

He also visited the local Veterans Affairs Canada office and is giving good reviews of the work they’re doing, saying they’re engaged and caring.

“If the employees of Veterans Affairs Canada care about what they do and have the wellness of the veterans community in mind, things can look well for the community,” he says.

Meantime, Parent says the wait for veterans who apply for benefits is longer than it should be.

He says the average is supposed to be 16 weeks, while in realty it’s almost twice that.

One of the issues is the lack of information to veterans about the benefits they may be eligible to receive.

“They’re not pro-active in what they do so a lot of people would be entitled to benefits that they don’t know about because they’re not really advertised,” Parent says.

 

(File photo from Remembrance Day 2017)