Prince George's Veterans Affairs office was closed because the workload simply was not there, Prince George-Peace River MP Bob Zimmer said this week.
"I checked and the active files at the time it was closed was only 15," Zimmer said.
Zimmer met with city council this month after council members agreed to support the Prince George Legion's push to have the office reopened. It was closed in 2012 as part of a federal cost-cutting measure.
It was one of nine regional offices closed across the country. Veterans seeking help from the federal government must now go to a Services Canada office, but with 600 of those across the country, Zimmer maintained they can be more easily reached.
When it was open, the Prince George Veterans Affairs office was responsible for the entire northern B.C. region.
"For us, we thought of it as a positive, to broaden the base of service," Zimmer said.
Fellow Conservative MP Dick Harris, who represented Cariboo-Prince George, had similar comments when reached for comment on the issue in December.
Prince George Legion president Bruce Gabriel has argued the level of service received at the Service Canada office is not as good as it was when the Veterans Affairs office was open.
