Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, seeking re-election in the Carleton riding, unveiled a detailed plan on Saturday aimed at transforming the federal government’s approach to supporting military veterans. Speaking from Nepean—where Liberal Leader Mark Carney is contesting—Poilievre committed to ending delays in processing disability claims and pledged a range of benefits focused on respect, recognition, and efficiency for Canada’s veterans.
At the heart of Poilievre’s announcement was a promise to automatically approve veterans’ disability applications if they are not processed within four months. Highlighting a long-standing concern, Poilievre said that veterans have faced unacceptable delays in receiving the benefits they’ve earned after leaving active service.
“Veterans that have sacrificed so much to defend our country deserve to have us all championing them,” said Poilievre. “In return for that sacrifice, Canada’s veterans deserve a government that fights for them. That’s a core part of the Canadian promise. But after the lost Liberal decade, the government has failed our veterans.”
Veterans Affairs Canada currently aims to process disability claims within 16 weeks, but fell short of its 80 per cent target in 2023-24, achieving that timeline only 69 per cent of the time. While the department says the backlog has been reduced by 75 per cent since 2020, over 5,000 cases remained unresolved at the end of the 2024 fiscal year.
Poilievre’s plan also includes:
- Giving veterans full control over their medical records
- Allowing military doctors to assess injuries using a standardized system
- Providing access to PTSD service dogs across Canada under a consistent national standard
- Making education and training benefits available immediately upon a service member’s release date
- Giving veterans preference when bidding for federal government contracts
- Offering official documentation that allows veterans’ trade and leadership skills to be recognized in the civilian job market
Poilievre stood beside Barbara Bal, the Conservative candidate in Nepean and a former member of the Armed Forces. He criticized the Liberal government for leaving veterans “stranded” and accused them of failing to uphold their commitments.
“A government led by me will put veterans first,” he stated.
He also pledged to ensure that veterans’ previous military qualifications and leadership experience would be recognized in post-service employment, and said his government would take steps to ensure that new income from civilian jobs would not lead to clawbacks of military pensions.
While the other parties focused their campaign messaging elsewhere, Poilievre’s announcement served as a pointed reminder that the Conservatives are seeking to contrast their approach to veterans’ services with what they describe as a decade of Liberal inaction.
