Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 24th, 2012

[Keith Hillier]

I want to begin by specifying that there are a few initiatives. We have pilot projects in three locations in Canada—one in Vancouver, one in Toronto and one in Montreal.

In addition, there are many initiatives at local offices, such as the district office in Halifax. A week ago, I was in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. We have a small office there we use to try to identify homeless veterans.

It's the same thing in Toronto, but the project is a little different. We work with the Royal Canadian Legion and Shepherds of Good Hope.

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

Have you done anything concrete to help them? I don't understand. I know you have offices.

[Keith Hillier]

Those are our offices, but there are some differences in the initiatives. For instance, in Vancouver, the process is slightly different. In addition to the district office on Robinson Street, we have a small office in the Veterans Memorial Manor, in Downtown Eastside, one of the roughest neighbourhoods in Canada. That is one of the models.

The situation is different in Toronto. We work with Shepherds of Good Hope and the Royal Canadian Legion. We have two case management offices in the Shepherds of Good Hope building, to try to identify homeless veterans and work with them.

In Montreal, the project is once again a little bit different. We spend time in the Montreal neighbourhoods we know have a homeless population.

Also, in Montreal, they're doing some work with the women's shelters.

That's ongoing now; we have already started that.

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

So, you are doing that in partnership with existing organizations?

[Keith Hillier]

Yes, they already exist. There are one or two of them. In Vancouver, the partner is the organization Wounded Warriors. It's the same thing in Montreal—we are also working in partnership with Wounded Warriors.

In addition, each local office works with police officers, homeless organizations and hospitals. There are several initiatives going on. I have mentioned three of them. We actually launched another initiative about six months ago, in partnership with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Once again, we are trying to use that initiative to find people and work with them. Unfortunately, some people are living in the streets and want to remain there at this point in their life. A lot of persuasion is needed. That's one of the reasons we have the peer support program. Soldiers sometimes feel more comfortable discussing their problems—for instance, their illnesses—with other soldiers than with public servants.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much. Our time is up again.

Now we go to Mr. Zimmer, please.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

I want to thank the men and women who have served, and those who still serve and are in the room today. Thanks for being here.

I want to mention a couple of quotes that are in your speeches.

Mr. Hillier, it says:...a main objective of the VAC/CF Steering Committee is to strengthen VAC and CF capacity to serve Veterans, ill and injured CF personnel, and their families.

Mr. Smith, you state:...the VAC-CF Steering Committee is a successful partnership and a model of collaboration that benefits our diverse and deserving clientele of military personnel and veterans.

That's awesome. I think all of us are here for the sake of veterans, and it's good to hear those motives and goals.

Being part of the program the way you are, could you give us four or five examples that stand out for you of topics that were addressed by the committee last year?

[Keith Hillier]

It's really hard to say. I would certainly say it's our work on mental health and the continuing research, the life after service study, and also the very extensive work we've commenced with electronic information transfer. As you know, the Auditor General did raise a concern about consistency of information, and we think the electronic transfer will go a long ways to doing that.

Also, as we look at that and our discussions on some of the things the government has done with respect to reducing and cutting red tape, we have to work with our colleagues at the Canadian Forces to ensure that doing something that may reduce red tape doesn't create more red tape over on that side of the organization.

We've worked in consultation with our colleagues on the initiative, such as the new My VAC Account that's been launched, and My VAC Book. Going to a grant, as opposed to having to submit receipts and what have you, has been very well received in the veterans community. Two and a half million transactions will be saved annually. That's two and a half million fewer transactions that veterans will have to do. Certainly not having to submit receipts for health-related travel and the others are all initiatives that were designed through veterans' lenses to make it easier for veterans to get their services and benefits.

These are the things we have worked on with our colleagues at the Canadian Forces in looking at what some of their business processes are and what some of ours are.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Smith, would you like to comment?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

As I said in my opening comments, I established three priorities, care of the ill and injured and looking after the families of the fallen being the first, and mental health being the second. If you want to be honest about it , they're really priority one alpha and one bravo.

Those two priorities speak squarely to the focus that I and my predecessor have placed on looking after our folks, both in service and after service. With respect to the specifics of your question asking about four or five topics, in preparing to come here today I pulled out the minutes of the steering committee back to 2005, and a non-scientific review of the agenda items shows that there are over 75 agenda items on individual topics that the committee has addressed since 2005 on various issues of transition support, communication between the departments, outreach, second-career assistance, and what have you.

I would note that some of the specifics that I mentioned earlier related to the continuity of care, the continual drive for harmonization, and a synergy between programs and policies. The electronic health records issue has been a vexing problem over time. We're there now. It took us a little while to work through all of the IM/IT, legal, medical, and privacy issues associated with that. We're there now. That is a significant step forward.

In recent times we also have signed memoranda of understanding and program arrangements related to such things as peer support in the operational stress injury and social support network and on the OSI clinics that have enabled those programs to see.... For example, OSI clinics are in a position to be able to see serving members if the OSI clinic is in an area where we might not have a centre ourselves.

Those are some of the tangible examples of how the two departments have come together.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much.

Believe it or not, we're actually a minute over.

I want to thank our witnesses very much today. The time has gone quickly, and I take that as a sign of the committee's deep interest in the issues you have brought up and the information you've provided.

We are now going in camera to discuss committee business.

Again, thank you to our witnesses. Because we're going to go in camera, I would ask all our guests and everybody who is not attached to a department or a member to leave as well.

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you.

[Proceedings continue in camera]