Frustration is growing within Canada’s veterans’ community as many disabled ex-soldiers continue to wait for federal support and benefits even as the government rushes to approve millions of claims for assistance related to COVID-19.
Veterans and their advocates have been calling for Ottawa to automatically approve roughly 44,000 claims that have been sitting in the backlog at Veterans Affairs Canada, a request that the federal government has so far rejected. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] Yet many are now questioning why the government is refusing to act following reports federal officials have been told to approve payments through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit even in cases of suspected