Senator Martin: An answer I received to the question that I asked last year stated, “Unspent funds are a normal and expected part of a department’s budgetary process.”

$1.5 billion is a staggering amount of money for Veterans Affairs Canada to allow to lapse in only two years, especially when you consider that the department missed its own target to reduce the backlog to 5,000 cases by the spring of last year. Just one year ago, a report from the Auditor General found that our veterans “are waiting too long to receive compensation for injuries sustained in their service to Canada.”

Leader, do you believe that over $1.5 billion is a normal amount to go unspent at Veterans Affairs Canada while our veterans continue to wait in line for the help they need?