Acting Chair's Stakeholder Update, May 2017

As we move into a new fiscal year, I would like to update you on a few items the Board is working on to provide Veterans and their families with a fair and timely appeal process for disability benefits.

Hearings and Decisions

In 2016-17, the Board continued to provide applicants with timely access to hearings and decisions. As soon as representatives told us their cases were ready, we were able to schedule, hear and decide 97% of Reviews and 96% of Appeals within 12 weeks – one month faster than our service commitment of 16 weeks. Within this timeframe, we issued 87% of Review decisions and 88% of Appeal decisions within our 6-week service standard (which measures the time from hearing to decision). More workload statistics will be available in our 2016-17 Annual Report to be released later this summer.

Briefing of new Chief of Military Service

In March, the Board was very pleased to host Lieutenant-General C.A. Lamarre, the new Chief of Military Personnel, for a briefing and tour of our operations in Charlottetown. We appreciated the time he spent with us and his engagement in learning about the appeal process. It remains the Board’s priority to raise awareness of appeal rights among serving personnel, and to underline how important it is for them to document events in service and to seek treatment for injuries.

Departmental Plan

I encourage you to read the Board’s first Departmental Plan, a new simplified report that replaces the Report on Plans and Priorities to provide parliamentarians and Canadians with information about our work and goals for the upcoming year. Our plan for 2017-18 outlines new and ongoing initiatives that will help us provide Veterans and their families with excellent service while ensuring they receive all the benefits they are entitled to under law.

Reducing Our Reliance on Paper

The Board continues to conduct pilots to test new procedures that will reduce our reliance on paper and eliminate the mailing of documents between our operations in Charlottetown and hearing locations across Canada. This, in turn, will allow us to process Veterans’ files more efficiently and faster. As part of this initiative, we are also working on giving Veterans access to their hearing documentation (known as the Statement of Case) through their My VAC Account. This way, Veterans will no longer have to rely on their representative to provide them with a copy.

Rules of Procedure

As you know, the Board has been working for some months with Justice Canada on formalizing rules of practice and procedure for the appeal process. These rules explain what we need in terms of evidence and information to help Veterans and their representatives present the best, most complete information to the Board. They will also support the Board in being efficient, transparent and consistent in how it processes Veterans’ applications. I expect the proposed rules to be published in the Canada Gazette for public comment later this spring/summer and will ensure you are informed of this opportunity.

Spotlight on Plain Language and Communications

We continue to make plain language writing a priority, so that our decisions and communications are clear and easy to understand. In 2016-17, the Board updated its information brochure for applicants and will be sending you copies for your use later this Spring/Summer.

Another exciting project we completed in the last quarter of 2017 was the production of four informational videos which will be published on our website shortly. The main video explains who we are and what we do, and portrays a Review hearing – so that applicants know what to expect ahead of time. The other three address the Appeal hearing, evidence requirements, and decision-making. These videos will be an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the Board.

Publishing Decisions

We continue to publish our decisions online to fulfill our obligations under the open court principle, so that Veterans can see how the Board applies the law in cases similar to their own. There are now more than 6,000 decisions available, which are searchable by key word. Please help us to promote this important resource among your members.

Membership Notes

As you know, Board members who hear and decide cases for Veterans are appointed by the Governor in Council (GIC) on recommendation from the Minister of Veterans Affairs. Interested Canadians were invited to apply on a selection process for new members through the GIC website last November. Since then, the Board has been working with the Privy Council Office to finalize the process.

There is also an anticipatory member selection process underway, to help us fulfill our membership needs into the future. The deadline for applications is July 31, 2017, with more information on the Governor in Council Appointments website. Please share this link with your members to help us get the word out about these opportunities.

If you have any questions or concerns about the Board, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Feel free to share this update with your members, and encourage them to follow us on Twitter for regular information about the Board’s activities.