Veterans Affairs Committee on Dec. 11th, 2006

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Thank you, gentlemen.

Now we're off to Mr. Sweet for five minutes.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Mr. Ferguson, you were mentioning the newspaper Salute!, is that right? Is that in electronic form as well?

[Brian Ferguson]

I believe it is, but I'll have to double-check that.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Could we as a committee maybe get on the e-mail list for that?

[Brian Ferguson]

Yes, I'll look into that for you, sir.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

That would be something to keep up to speed with.

You've talked about continuous improvement, so whether you use continuous improvement, or kaizen, or an integrated evaluation innovative process, is that happening on a consistent basis with all of the services you deliver at VA?

[Brian Ferguson]

We strive to make it happen within the limits of human endeavour. In other words, you may have a priority area where you're focused in on improvement at a particular point in time and have to find time later on to deal with another problem. That's what you're faced with as a management challenge in a large institution.

But I would say that in a general sense, yes, we have an annual business planning process within the department where we formulate ideas for change, and we attempt, through our best efforts, to make those changes. We set priorities on change as part of the regular management process. We look for areas that need improvement, from our client satisfaction surveys, from the observations of our own staff, observations that are made by you.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Do you incent every level of staff for input as well, for them to give their input, the client centres, etc., when they have suggestions?

[Brian Ferguson]

We try to encourage that kind of culture and ethic across the department. One of the things we ask is, for example, when the employee surveys are done—we also have employee surveys that are done—when we get those levels of results, we seize that opportunity, go back and talk to employees about changes they would like to see made.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

I asked that specifically because you said that the bill of rights would give greater assurance and clarity to the client, to the veteran who's applying. But it's also going to put substantial pressure, because even if you make a statement that the veteran has the right to quality, compassionate care, this goes to timeframes right away. So is the department ready for that kind of, how should I say, new encouragement?

[Brian Ferguson]

You're quite correct. I had neglected to mention that, and it is an important element. I talked about it in client terms, but you're quite correct, it puts a heightened onus on the department. I accept that point; it's a good one too.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

The cases that are delayed right now and waiting for the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, are they on a first-come, first-served basis, or are they prioritized?

[Brian Ferguson]

Are you referring to cases in front of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board?

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Yes.

[Brian Ferguson]

This is really an area that's sort of arm's-length from the department as well. Unless, Ken, you had some information about that—

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Does it depend on when my appeal was lodged that I come before the board, or is there a prioritization? In other words, if I'm 92 and likely not going to make it for a long period of time, would you prioritize that, so I would get the first appeal board?

[Ken Miller]

I certainly know what the department does; I can't speak for the VRAB process. That's something we could provide to you.

Within the department, when we're looking at an appeal or a review, the norm is the order in which it's received. However, when we receive a case where there's something quite pressing about it, whether it be the length of time that it's been in the system, the urgency of the intervention, or the circumstances of the individual, we have a mechanism whereby we elevate the priority of that particular claim or request and deal with it more expediently. That's the process within the department, though, not VRAB.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

I have a case right now, and I don't want to give much detail, because obviously I want to respect the privacy of this specific case, but it's a veteran who is immobilized. Right now I'm getting good feedback that Veterans Affairs looks after our veterans well. But there's an interface with HRSDC's CPP that is not very smooth, and I'm wondering, have you heard this before? Again, if there's a bill of rights, going back to my off-the-shelf statement, this is going to mean that in every interface with DND, HRSDC—I'm not certain how many other departments you have—they have to live under that standard.

I don't want to see anybody else have a case such as this one, where because the wound means they can't sign a form, their services were delayed substantially and they were not understanding the nature of it.

I'm wondering, have you looked into this with all of the stakeholders that are going to have to deliver these services, in order to make sure that the transition is going to be as high a quality as the kind of feedback you're getting right now on your appraisals?

[Brian Ferguson]

I think you've identified an important issue. Again without getting into where the ombudsman and the bill of rights will land, I think you've made an important observation, sir.

I would be interested if you're not violating privacy—not at this committee, but separately—to find out more information about the particular case, if it's not too late to help. Or if it is, at least we could look at whether or not we could learn from it to avoid whatever problems occurred there, if we possibly can. So I'd like to follow up with you on that.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Mr. Stoffer, you now have five minutes.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The question I asked earlier was, if somebody calls into DVA and applies for a hearing pension and they're turned down, then they go to the appeal, are turned down, and say, okay, I give up, and I'm not going to argue this anymore, are they still considered a client with DVA?

[Ken Miller]

I guess they could be a potential client. If they're not actually receiving a benefit from the department, then technically I expect they would not be a client. But I would need a little more information about the backdrop of your question.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Okay, just a simple one.

I, Peter, served 25 years in the military. I think my hearing loss is because of my military service. I go before the appeals board. They say evidence is not there to show that military service resulted in my hearing loss. I appeal. They say no, you can go to the Federal Court. But who's got the money for that? So I've tried my best, I've appealed, I've lost, and I'm going to walk away from this process and carry on. Would I be considered a client of DVA?