Veterans Affairs Portfolio supports Government On-Line (GOL)

This month, the Government of Canada launched a new and exciting navigational portal, called Seniors Canada Online that promises to provide all seniors, including veterans, with fast, easy access to the kinds of information they need to improve their well-being, preserve their dignity and maintain their independence. Veterans Affairs Canada played a significant role in developing Seniors Canada Online, chairing the interdepartmental committees involved in the management and implementation of the site.

The development of Seniors Canada Online is a key innovation of the Government of Canada's newly-redesigned Canada Site. The redesign of the Canada site and the development of Seniors Canada Online are the first visible deliverables of the Government On-line (GOL) initiative that will provide Canadians with on-line access to all federal information and services by 2004.

A component of VAC's own web site, the Canadian Virtual War Memorial is another example of innovative on-line service to Canadians. Commemorating Canada's War Dead, this site displays an individual's page in Canada's Books of Remembrance, an extract of the war service record and grave site information. Relatives may augment this information with images of wartime pictures or postcards from the front.

The Veterans Review and Appeal Board have joined the GOL initiative by launching the agency Web Site at www.vrab-tacra.gc.ca. This site provides background, service and contact information so that clients may better understand and use its services.