Trudeau government withholds $372 million allotted for veterans since taking office

Editor's note: This post was updated as of January 9th, 2019.

New evidence has come to light showing that Justin Trudeau's Liberal government has left $372 million earmarked to help veterans and their families unspent since they first came to office in November 2015.

This new revelation seems at odds with the Prime Minister's comments at an Edmonton town hall earlier this year when he chastised some of the veterans groups currently fighting the government in court saying that they were "asking for more than we're able to give right now."

A broken campaign promise

The unspent money also serves as a reminder of a campaign promise (now seemingly broken) that Trudeau made during a veterans themed campaign stop in August of 2015.

“They left unspent more than $1 billion that Parliament allocated for veteran support. Canadians know that this is wrong. A government led by me would make it right.”

This was a point that Trudeau and his Liberal Party constantly hammered former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government on during the last federal election.

However, since defeating Harper and forming government themselves, Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party have continued on in a similar fashion leaving money used to help veterans and their families unspent.

Billion-dollar deficits, still not enough money for veterans

Despite their virtuous talk about having a "social covenant with those who serve and their families", the Liberals have failed to spend all the money they originally committed to spending.

In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, the Liberals left $80.9 million unspent at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2017, they held back over $60 million more, leaving $143 million unspent. In 2018 they upped the amount held back to $148.6 million.

Now, lest you accuse the Liberals of fiscal austerity, as a point of reference, the budget deficits for those three years were $2.8 billion (2015-16, change in government), $19 billion (2016-17) and $19 billion (2017-18).

It's disappointing to see that despite his grandiose promises on the campaign trail, Trudeau has turned into just another politician who says one thing before the election and does another upon receiving power.

Canada's veterans and their families deserve better.