The report is the result of an internal review following a similar review conducted six years ago. At this point, nearly 45,000 of Canada’s approximately 207,000 veterans’ graves were in poor condition due to a lack of resources.

The Trudeau administration responded by investing nearly $25 million over five years starting in 2018 in bridge funding, which the new report says largely solved the problem by enabling thousands of repairs.

However, the auditors noted that without a sustained increase in funding, this success will be short-lived.

“Although the five-year funding […] The maintenance team of the grave markers made it possible to significantly reduce the number of pending repairs, it will be difficult to maintain a proper inspection cycle after the project, the report said.

“The assessment shows that the current $1.25 million allocated to the Cemetery and Grave Marker Maintenance Program is insufficient to avoid another maintenance backlog. »

The audit report goes on to note that the annual budget of 1.25 million has remained broadly unchanged since 2009, even though the number of graves monitored and maintained by the ministry has increased by more than 40% over the past decade.

Veterans Affairs spokesman Marc Lescoutre confirmed in an email to The Canadian Press that the department has not increased core funding for the maintenance program, although it has taken $900,000 from other envelopes to ensure adequate funds.

“The Department is exploring ways to find sustainable funding to address the rising costs of maintaining the headstone inventory and to develop and implement an appropriate headstone inspection/maintenance cycle,” he added.

Bruce Julian, Dominion President of the Royal Canadian Legion, welcomed the progress made in reducing the number of headstones requiring maintenance.

“At the same time, we were anxious to read [dans le rapport] that the future of the department’s program was jeopardized due to apparent insufficient funding,” Julian wrote Monday.

“We call on the federal government to commit to full and continued support for the ongoing maintenance of the headstones placed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. They are essential tools of reflection and remembrance of those who have served our country. »

Temporary funding terminated

The Liberals have been repeatedly criticized for refusing to make lasting investments in veterans’ affairs in recent years, instead relying on temporary funds and collaborators to address nagging problems.

They hired hundreds of temp workers to handle a backlog of disability claims from sick and injured veterans, as well as dozens of temp case managers to help permanent employees handle their overwhelming workload.

The temporary measures have drawn criticism from veterans, service providers and other observers, such as Comptroller Karen Hogan, who has slammed the continued use of what she calls “ad hoc funding.”

During their review of headstone maintenance, the auditors interviewed staff from Veterans Affairs as well as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which looks after the graves of 110,000 Canadian soldiers killed and buried overseas during World Wars I and II.

Their conclusion: “The return to the financial status quo following the Headstone Preservation Residue Project will result in headstones becoming uninspectable and unserviceable during the current 12-year cycle.”

“Moreover, the 12-year inspection cycle itself was introduced in response to the level of funding, not as best practice. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission currently inspects the gravestones for which it is responsible every six years. »

In addition to Canadian war graves, the commission also looks after British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian soldiers who died in both world wars.

problems in cemeteries

Auditors found operational issues at two cemeteries owned and operated by Veterans Affairs Canada: Fort Massey Cemetery in Halifax and God’s Acre Cemetery in Esquimalt, British Columbia, which was recently expanded to accommodate more graves.

“The upgraded facilities should allow local staff to be hired to accommodate the increasing number of burials at God’s Acre Cemetery. “However, structural health and safety concerns have limited activities on the ground. »

Concerns have also been raised about the lack of formal guidelines on who can actually be buried on God’s Acre, how land is procured, reserved and priced, while “there is no operational process for processing payments from funeral expenses and storing cemetery information.” “.

God’s Acre and Fort Massey also lacked current operational plans or plans to protect the cultural and historical integrity of both sites.