Evidence of meeting #23 for Veterans Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was programs.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Guy Parent  Veterans Ombudsman, Chief Warrant Officer (Retired), Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
Keith Hillier  Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs
Gary Walbourne  Director General, Operations, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
Raymond Lalonde  Director, National Centre for Operational Stress Injuries, Ste. Anne's Hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Thanks very much.

Mr. Hillier, can you comment upon the expansion to the veterans independence program and how now more widows and primary caregivers are eligible under that program?

5:20 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs

Keith Hillier

Yes, certainly.

There were changes made, probably about three years ago now, specifically to do with VIP for widows. The analysis of some of the work we'd done showed that there were widows who were having some difficulty. They were people who maybe had some disabilities themselves or who were in fact at the lower end of the income scale.

The government brought in measures that expanded the eligibility for these widows. They were probably the most “needy”, if I might say that, in terms of their health and their income situation. We could provide them things like—

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

And for our edification, that's the snow removal and the grass cutting and the housekeeping—

5:20 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs

Keith Hillier

Exactly, those are the things—

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

—so they can stay in their homes longer.

5:20 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs

Keith Hillier

Yes, exactly. What we found is that in some particular cases it was difficult for the widow—it was generally the widow, in some cases the widower, but generally the widow—to stay in the house. So by providing the services that you mentioned—groundskeeping, the snow clearing, the homekeeping. That program was expanded, and I think it's been pretty well received.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Mr. Hillier, our Conservative government also doubled the number of OSI clinics. These are the clinics that provide post-traumatic stress disorder counselling. Is that correct?

5:25 p.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery, Department of Veterans Affairs

Keith Hillier

Yes, that's correct.

Before I toss to my colleague, Raymond, who is responsible for this, one of the things I want to point out is that quite often people will ask me, are you going to be ready for the modern-day veterans or are you going to be ready for some of the occupational stress injuries from Afghanistan? The answer is yes. We have this network across the country that is scalable and we can scale the infrastructure we have to meet any future needs that may come.

With that, Raymond....

5:25 p.m.

Director, National Centre for Operational Stress Injuries, Ste. Anne's Hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs

Raymond Lalonde

I'm pleased to have the opportunity to maybe refer to what the ombudsman was talking about—accessibility. Do we have a sufficient level of service, and is it fair in terms of access?

In 2007 the government did approve the doubling of the OSI clinics. We have now 10, and with the 7 DND operational trauma stress support centres there are 17 sites across the country that CF members, RCMP members, and veterans can have access to.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Monsieur Lalonde, not to put you on the spot, but were you aware that both the NDP and the Liberals voted against funding the doubling of the OSI clinics?

5:25 p.m.

Director, National Centre for Operational Stress Injuries, Ste. Anne's Hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs

Raymond Lalonde

No, I was not aware.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Monsieur Lalonde, were you aware that the NDP and the Liberals voted against funding the expansion of the veterans independence program?

5:25 p.m.

Director, National Centre for Operational Stress Injuries, Ste. Anne's Hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs

Raymond Lalonde

No, I was not aware.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

How about Monsieur....

I'm sorry.

5:25 p.m.

Director, National Centre for Operational Stress Injuries, Ste. Anne's Hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs

Raymond Lalonde

I think everyone at the table, all veterans associations, did support the doubling of the OSI clinics.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Eve Adams Conservative Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

They did, and it clearly provides very meaningful service to the veterans struggling with PTSD.

Monsieur Parent, I'm not sure if you're aware. Were you aware that it was the Conservative government that established the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman, and that both the Liberals and the NDP voted against funding for the creation of your office?

5:25 p.m.

Veterans Ombudsman, Chief Warrant Officer (Retired), Office of the Veterans Ombudsman

Guy Parent

I was not aware, no, but probably I was not interested at that time. I would pay more attention now.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Greg Kerr

It's a little more relevant now.

That brings us to just about the end of the time.

What I'd like to do, on behalf of our committee, is thank you very much for attending. A lot of good information has been provided today, and it's very helpful in reviewing the study. There were excellent questions and excellent answers and so on.

Thank you very much.

The meeting is adjourned.