No, sir.
Evidence of meeting #25 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 national.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #25 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 national.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:30 p.m.
President, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
No, sir. I think I know what you're getting at about access to the VIP.
I've had personal experience. My wife goes to the Y, and she had a friend there who went every day to visit her 90-year-old World War II veteran father, and she didn't know about the VIP program.
I put her on to a good friend who is a service officer. The CAVUNP provides it, the Legion provides it. Within two days he was on the program and it had started. So it is available and there is a fast track, and I couldn't believe how quickly it happened.
The point I was getting at though, sir, is that the VIP program is an excellent program, but it only provides for the feeding, the health. There is no such thing as a handyman allowance if the door knob falls off, or if the furnace is going all the time because he's not in an insulated home.
What I'm getting at is that the VIP program needs looking at to extend it to cover that 90-year-old veteran so that he's not sitting in an overcoat with meals being delivered, medicine being delivered, and his personal well-being being looked after.
Does that answer your question at all, sir?
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
If I can sum it up, you're satisfied with the accessibility that VIP has.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
Okay, that's good.
Mr. Blackwolf, my question for you is this. With your association, how many of your veterans are you able to track, or does your association try to track the veterans you have?
4:30 p.m.
President, Canadian Aboriginal Veterans and Serving Members Association
We actually track all of our World War II veterans. We track many Korean veterans, because the national association is here, and then there are the provincial associations—they're all members there—and between the two layers we keep track of all our members.
We're looking particularly for elders who, like this, need VIP. But we realize there are shortcomings in these things, like in the door knob example, and I'll draw the honourable member's attention to the last page of our presentation.
We formed the Canadian Aboriginal Veterans Benevolent Association, which we're working into a registered charity, to raise money for those things. So we'll be able to provide services where there are shortfalls in funding.
We understand the need for financial stability in the country, and we support the government in those facts. To date, we've built our organization without any public money, not that we won't at some time.... There will be occasions. But anyway, we've federally incorporated a benevolent association to raise moneys through industry and other avenues, and this is what this will be for, because there are people living on the streets. They fall through the cracks at VAC, and sometimes when they come to our attention we can have funding there to act.
We act now. It's been mentioned here. We have very good relationships with all the service officers in the various other national associations, and the Royal Canadian Legion and our own service officers. If we identify somebody, and in our case it doesn't matter if they're aboriginal or not.... We've come across a World War II veteran in his nineties who needed VIP. We immediately took steps to inform the Royal Canadian Legion command in Vancouver and they had somebody out there to assess him.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
Right. Thank you.
With the single parent child care allowance, which you mentioned in your brief, could you just explain a little more about what that would look like?
4:35 p.m.
President, Canadian Aboriginal Veterans and Serving Members Association
That would probably be based on the area and the requirement for money. When you have a single parent and they've received a disability, depending on its severity, they may not be able to look after that child. Depending on where they're based, they may not have family support. They could be in a situation where they're sort of on their own.
In the case that I was pointing out, it was quite a time before this particular soldier got some help. It came through the Legion in Calgary, their battalion. In our case, if we had known about it, we would have sent members there to assess to see if we could get the help that was required.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Jenkins, first of all, I want to thank you, gentlemen, for raising the concerns of your respective organizations with respect to the upcoming budget cuts and the examples set in the United States and the U.K.
You may or may not be aware, but this committee actually started a study on the impact of the budget cuts. But it was terminated after we heard from only a couple of senior officials at Veterans Affairs.
I'm sure you're also aware that this past Monday we spent a full day in the House of Commons debating the very issue you have brought forward. When it finally came to a vote, your wish for bipartisanship, unfortunately, didn't bear out. The votes broke down along party lines and not as you would have wished.
Thank you. I think it's important that this message be raised loud and often as the budget approaches.
My first question is for Mr. Chartrand, since he is the only witness who has not spoken yet.
Mr. Chartrand, I know that you are a spokesperson for veterans. Do you represent only aboriginals or do you also speak on the behalf of other veterans groups?
Sir, I wonder if you would be so kind as to set forth your experience with the aboriginal veterans groups, or more generally in terms of your advocacy work on behalf of veterans.
4:40 p.m.
Sylvain Chartrand As an Individual
It's more general advocacy. What we do is help our soldiers and veterans gain access to various services and provide a second voice to what they may have said, which may or may not correspond to the actual regulations that are in place.
We help any organization or any member of any organization access services. We provide help to ensure that they actually get the services they deserve.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
How has your work been received at the senior levels of the department?
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
It's a bit of doing what Veterans Affairs Canada or the Government of Canada should be doing, which is to be much more proactive in helping veterans. We are helping to ensure that the soldiers and the veterans get access to what they're entitled to.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
You went public recently with respect to breaches of your privacy. Is that related to your advocacy work, in your mind?
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
It's very simple. I started being an advocate in 2005, and between 2005 and 2010, my files were accessed 4,380 times. That includes not only Veterans Affairs Canada. There were breaches with the complicity of the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada.
There's a direct relationship between being an advocate and outspoken and critical of the government in place, whichever one it is, and their relationship in getting my privacy breached.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Thank you, Mr. Chartrand.
Mr. Leonardo, deep in the heart of Reform country, can you hear me, sir?
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
In your remarks, you referenced a February 13 letter. That was a letter from you to the minister. Is that right?
4:40 p.m.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Veterans of Canada
It was a letter from the stakeholders on the Veterans Affairs Canada stakeholder committee. They are from all the veterans groups, including the Royal Canadian Legion, the ANAVETS, the National Council of Veteran Associations, CAVUNP, CPVA, and Veterans of Canada. We all signed a demand letter asking the minister to consider the special needs advisory group recommendations, the new Veterans Charter advisory group recommendations, and the geriatric advisory group recommendations. We are demanding that these recommendations that have been talked about for six years, since they brought in the new Veterans Charter, be implemented.
Right now, in this meeting, we've talked about geriatric treatment and benefits. This has been going around and around in circles for six years. There have already been hundreds and thousands of dollars paid out to veterans groups to talk about these issues and to come up with recommendations through these committees. It's time to stop talking about them and start putting some into action.
The stakeholders committee has demanded that the minister implement these recommendations.
