Hon. Robert Black: Honourable senators, as you know, on Wednesdays, the Canadian Senators Group directs our question to committee chairs. It’s great to see another group doing that.

As we approach the seventy-eighth anniversary of D-Day with our minds on the many veterans who have supported Canadians through peace and conflict, my question today is for my honourable colleague Senator Richards in his role as Chair of the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs.

Senator Richards, yesterday the Auditor General of Canada released Report 2 — Processing Disability Benefits for Veterans. The audit found that despite Veterans Affairs Canada initiatives to speed up processing times, veterans from the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP are waiting far too long to receive compensation for injuries sustained in their service to Canada.

More specifically, the audit found that veterans applying for disability benefits for the first time waited almost 10 months for a decision, compared to their service standard of 4 months.

Honourable colleague, I believe you and all my colleagues here in this chamber would agree that this is absolutely unacceptable.

Senator Richards, as Chair of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, can you please share what your committee has been working on, what you have been hearing from witnesses and veterans across the country, and how your committee can help the government to better reach these vulnerable veterans in an expeditious manner?

Senator Black: I apologize for not knowing that rule.