No.
Evidence of meeting #4 for Veterans Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was husband.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #4 for Veterans Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was husband.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
You have just received the papers. Okay.
You are probably aware that....
You're getting a pension of some kind now from DVA, correct?
11:40 a.m.
NDP
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Okay.
When you go to Ste. Anne's or you phone and ask the people for help, do you feel that they actually completely understand? They probably sympathize, but do they have a complete understanding of what your husband may be going through?
11:40 a.m.
As an Individual
Absolutely, without any doubt. They are professional and efficient. And the fact that they all work together makes it very easy. You have one person you can call and explain the situation to. This person will....
Actually, can I say it in French?
11:40 a.m.
As an Individual
The person in question will forward the information or put you in contact with the person whose responsibility it is to deal with the problem. For example, we have somebody that we contact if there's a problem with his medication—he his on strong medication and the side effects are sometimes quite extreme. This system allows us to get answers quickly and, as far as I can tell, the advice we receive addresses the problem perfectly.
That being said, I understand that there are financial constraints, I understand all of that. I know that the team at the Ste. Anne Centre organizes one-day training workshops to help families and couples. However, more concrete support needs to be provided for families, and it needs to be provided for each family individually. That would allow for the needs of families to be better addressed.
My husband is on medication and the effects of it are obvious. I do not take any medication, and I'm the same person today that I was three months ago. That means that I do not experience the same cycle of defence and attack mechanisms that he does. While that does not necessarily create friction, it does create a certain level of difficulty.
So, in answer to your question, in my mind, the team at the Ste. Anne Centre is very professional and fully understands what it's like to live with someone who has PTSD. That's a field of expertise in itself.
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Very good.
Might I ask—again, I apologize for being late—if you have children?
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
And how are they doing?
One reason I ask that question is that earlier there was an ombudsman's report from the Ombudsman of Ontario, who's very concerned about the children on the Petawawa base who have lost their dads or mothers in Afghanistan. They've been going through quite the psychological problems, and there's been that ping-pong between federal government responsibility and provincial responsibility.
We asked the question in the House, and Health Minister Clement said that mental health issues are a provincial responsibility. The province is saying, well, they're on a military base. So there's that grey zone. But regardless of which political party, regardless of which level of government, you would think they'd be able to get together to deal with it.
Now, they did get together, and they're working towards a solution. But my concern has always been for the children.
As adults, you're going to struggle through and you're going to get through it...and I admire your courage, sir. Keep on going. I know it's difficult, but don't give up.
Can you just reflect a bit on the children and how they're doing in all of this? Do they have an understanding that their dad is not the dad he once was? How are they coping?
11:45 a.m.
As an Individual
They do not really understand much of what is happening. He was only diagnosed in July, in other words fairly recently. We have begun to notice changes over the past couple of months. The children understand to a certain degree. The two oldest are 20 and 21 years of age. They're my husband's children from another relationship. They have already had to deal with their father being away from home when he was on missions. In my husband's case, it was really after he got back from Haiti that he began to deteriorate. The children went through adolescence with a father who was not very functional. It is difficult to come out the other side unscathed, even with all the good will in the world and even though we try to understand. You cannot heal the scars of their upbringing over night. It is a long process, you have to start from the beginning.
If they had known, if they had been able to... I should point out that Claude did not necessarily discuss his difficult experiences. He was hardly going to tell his children that he had seen a pile of decomposing bodies at a morgue in Haiti and that amongst them all he thought he had seen somebody who was still alive. That is not the sort of experience that people share with their children. I do not, therefore, think that the children are able to fully understand the state in which my husband finds himself.
If they were made aware of the situation, if both the father and the children were given support to help rebuild their relationship, a healthier relationship... He did not have a relationship with them before, that is one of the consequences of what he went through. The oldest children are aged 20 and 21, and one of them is having problems. In spite of this, year in, year out, his father told him that he should join the Canadian Forces. But it is out of the question for him, there is no doubt about that.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Thank you.
Now we're over to the Conservative Party, Mrs. Hinton, for seven minutes.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Betty Hinton Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Thank you very much for joining us today, Jenifer and Claude. It's a very poignant story you've told.
I had an opportunity at the beginning of this meeting to speak to you about happier times and better issues, and I was delighted to hear that you had served at Mount Lolo in my riding of Kamloops. I would invite you to come and visit another time; that would be wonderful.
I've been writing notes madly here, trying to put things down as you said them.
What this committee is currently in the process of doing is looking to improve the veterans independence program, as well as reviewing health care, which is part and parcel of that. So your testimony today is extremely helpful in terms of building on the health care review.
I did hear one very constructive piece of advice from you today, that veterans must be made aware of the services available. I was under the impression we were doing that, but perhaps we're not doing it well enough. Your point about advertising the available benefits in the correspondence going out to veterans is a tremendous idea. That will certainly go forward.
On some of the other things I've listened to, I'm very happy to hear you received some help this summer. I share your view of Ste. Anne's. They do a fantastic job.
In terms of what this government is trying to do, we are trying very hard to respond to the needs of our veterans. We value them highly, and we appreciate the fact that we enjoy the democracy we have today because of their service.
So we've put in place $10 million for OSI, or operational stress injury, clinics, which will help many soldiers, and we've put in place an ombudsman. It was $10 million for the first, and $5 million for the second. Now the ombudsman is going to be in a position to help people who are in the circumstances you've been in, too. This is going to be beneficial.
If I heard you correctly, you said that no PTSD victim should have to attend alone, because the paperwork is overwhelming. I think that's another very constructive point. I'm very surprised, though....
You did say—I think I heard you correctly—that the department offered to help, but you didn't feel there was going to be help one-on-one. There was an offer for help—
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Betty Hinton Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
—and I'd be very disappointed to learn there wasn't.
The other point that came through loud and clear to me—and it has been repeated by many veterans before you—is that while we focus on Afghanistan right now, a very difficult mission for our country, PTSD existed long before Afghanistan. A number of people are now learning that the feelings they had inside are something that can be named. I guess that's beneficial, as well.
We also talked about the paperwork. Listening to you talk about it, I share your frustration and can give you an example of it. There was a huge fire in my riding a few years back. I sat on the front-line desk where fire victims came in. This was provincial jurisdiction, not federal. Fire victims came in, and I sat there and filled out five different sheets so that someone could actually have a bed to sleep in that night; have a food voucher so they could eat; have clothing, because they had to leave everything, because they left in such a hurry. The very first thing I said was, why do we have all of these different forms that people in need have to fill out? So you have an ally in me when it comes to making a form shorter and simpler.
I've pretty much taken up my time, but I want to know if there's anything else, aside from the very constructive comments you made, that you think this committee could recommend to improve the situation for veterans like your husband and spouses like you? Is there something else along the lines of making veterans more aware—which I've made a very serious note about—or another point you'd like to leave with us?
11:50 a.m.
As an Individual
Yes.
It is something that I already mentioned briefly. I fully appreciate that decisions cannot be made lightly. Decisions regarding financial or psychological support have to be based on concrete facts and data. I have no difficulty with that. However, the pension officer's assistant clearly said that we should not hesitate to call her if we needed any help.
Allow me to outline the context. This is our story. We knew that we had to send in all of his medical reports by mid-July. We were told that if we did not, we could forget about getting any help.
I have brought an example along today, and I am glad to be able to discuss it. This form is for his lumbar spine problem. They know that my husband is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, yet they send out a form about his back problems. The form is straightforward—it is only three pages long; the answer, however, is 15 pages long. That is the one issue. The questions are short, but they are complex, the level of detail required is simply nonsensical for somebody who struggles to do his own grocery shopping. It's nonsense.
Would you like me to quickly read out the questions on the form? Are you familiar with these forms?
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Betty Hinton Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Jenifer, I understand there is a multitude of problems. Obviously a back problem would have nothing to do with PTSD. But in terms of the forms, what I'm hearing you say is that you'd like to have shorter versions of them. But some things, like back problems, are medical issues. You'd have to relate that to your service.
Is that what you're...?
11:55 a.m.
As an Individual
No, because he's mentally ill. So even for a simple thing like a back problem, this becomes a problem.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Betty Hinton Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
So it would help to have somebody who would go through that—
