PENTICTON, B.C. — Food, friends and politicians. That was the scene at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre Saturday. It was an open house held by federal, provincial and local government representatives.
“It’s just a very informal get together of elected officials and the public to just kind of bounce ideas off a meet and greet and just say hello,” says Andrew Jakubeit, Penticton Mayor-elect.
Dozens of residents came out for the event. Many say they attended to meet their newly elected municipal leaders. However, MP Dan Albas says on top of meet and greets, he also heard several issues come up such as the federal government’s ability to finance adequate support for veterans.
This comes about a week after a controversial funding announcement by the federal conservatives. It was a $200-million dollar investment to help veterans deal with mental health issues.
“We need to make sure that the resources are there for when they get back. Not just today, not just five years from now, but over the long-haul so to make sure that both them and their families to have the support they need in a place that’s easy for them to access,” says MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla, Dan Albas.
He says a good chunk of the funds will go to building a new operational stress injury clinic in Halifax and to expand services across the country.
The funding announcement came just days before a report from the auditor general concluded that many former soldiers face cumbersome paperwork and unnecessarily long waits before receiving help.
“The Harper government has shamefully, shamefully neglected veterans and then more shamefully tried to cover it up through misleading announcements. Honestly, above all files they have mishandled, this is probably the worst,” says Penticton resident Bob Nicholson.
Albas agrees changes need to be made.
“What I have said is that we need to make sure there is access to services, we need to make sure that the funding is there but it has to be able to be accessed by the people who need it on a timely basis,” says Albas.
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