Veterans Affairs Canada Charlottetown jobs announced

Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O'Toole has announced 61 new jobs at the headquarters of Veterans Affairs Canada in Charlottetown, but some critics say the new hires don't begin to make up for cuts to the department over the last few years.

It's been a year and a half since Veterans Affairs Canada shut down eight district offices, including the only one in P.E.I.

P.E.I. Legion Command president John Yeo met with the new minister of veterans affairs earlier this year. He made a point of telling him the impact cuts have had on already-lengthy wait times for the 2,200 Island veterans who rely on the department for help.

"Some are as little as 30 days, some are as long as a couple of years," he said. "It all depends on the timeline and the workload the Veterans Affairs has."

Yeo says Thursday's announcement that Veterans Affairs is hiring again after years of making cuts suggests, perhaps, the minister was listening.

The government says the new positions will provide veterans with faster access to disability benefits, and mental health treatment.

But Charlottetown MP Sean Casey says it doesn't make up for the 300 positions cut at the Charlottetown headquarters since 2011.

"I think, really, it's an admission that they cut too deep," he said. "It's amazing how the blinders can come off when there's an election around the corner. So the fact that they're adding jobs is good news for Charlottetown, it's good news for veterans, it's good news for over-stressed employees."

The jobs will include 33 new employees to work on disability benefits applications, including 20 permanent and 13 temporary workers, a permanent case manager to support veterans on P.E.I., 16 support staff to work with other case managers across the country and 11 employees to assist with the hiring and training of the new workers.

The government says most of the new positions should be in place by the end of March 2016.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada says it's pleased with the long overdue new jobs. 

But they express disappointment many experienced case workers have already lost their jobs.

It's also wondering why disabled veterans who've been waiting months to get through the system, have to wait until next March before these new positions come into effect.

The hiring is part of a government commitment to add more positions at other locations across the country, including 101 new disability benefits staff and 167 new case managers to work directly with veterans.