Evidence of meeting #18 for Veterans Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was you're.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's good to see you guys again. It's always interesting, always challenging, and that's the way it should be. I appreciate that.
I guess anybody could answer this, but Mike, I'll probably ask you. With regard to the ombudsman's report, we put a lot of stock into what he does and so on. Do you think we should simply take every one of the ombudsman's recommendations and implement them regardless of anything else?
5:35 p.m.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
No, not at all. I think you should do your job, discuss every one of those options, and come to a reasonable—
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Good. I'm glad to hear you say that, because there are those who think we should just take the ombudsman's—
5:35 p.m.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
No, absolutely. I've never believed in just a sign-off, Laurie.
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Good. That's terrific.
As you know—we've had lots of discussions about it—some of the drums I've been beating are access, burden of proof, transition, and that sort of thing. Just for the record here, one of the things I'm working on, as you know, is a private member's bill to break down the information barrier between DND and VAC.
It's not DND's fault. It's not VAC's fault.
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
It's the Privacy Act that gets in the way.
Would you support anything that breaks down the barriers? In my view, and I think you'd agree, if somebody signs up with a service number, the service number should follow them until they die, and the information should follow them too.
5:35 p.m.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
I would like to answer your question with an affirmative: absolutely.
We're dealing a lot at the advocacy level with DND. We're very engaged on suicide prevention. We're helping many veterans—too many veterans, frankly—going through JPSU, going through transition, going through the issues. One of the problems we're seeing is that we want to provide Veterans Affairs Canada with that information prior to his being released, because he is going there, there's no doubt about it. This would facilitate that problem very well.
So yes, absolutely; go for it, Laurie.
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
This is a repetition from the last witness, but I want to get it on the record as many times as possible. Should the member receive a copy of his or her medical file—
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
—when they're released from the CF, which doesn't happen today?
5:35 p.m.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
It doesn't and it's funny. You mentioned that you had a buddy or whatever and you had an opportunity to photocopy. I did the same thing, believe it or not. I always tell serving members that if you ever get an opportunity to photocopy your medical, do it. It may not be “legal”, but it sure goes a long way when you're retired and those documents are in your possession.
5:40 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
They gave me mine by mistake when I went back from Victoria to Cold Lake. I obviously have a copy of them. I don't need them yet—
5:40 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
—but at some point I may be a customer or a client of VAC.
You've been talking about the Pension Act and so on. You've been around a little while, the same as many of us have. Were there any complaints under the old Pension Act? Were people complaining about things under the old Pension Act?
5:40 p.m.
Director, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
As they are complaining now on service and delivery; the service and delivery problem existed before.
5:40 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
I'm not going to get into the argument that one's better than the other, but the point is that whatever the system, it's never perfect. People are going to complain about it, as they have, forever.
5:40 p.m.
Director, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
People will complain. There's no problem there; we can't satisfy everyone. But the problem is on the service and delivery side.
5:40 p.m.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
I think the largest complaint I've heard has been on the actual level of the disability.
I'm not complaining, but I like to use myself as an example. You had a young man who was in here earlier from my regiment. We were both sergeants. We both wore the red sash. As a matter of fact, the Canadian Veterans Advocacy would not exist were it not for my regimental duty to those to whom I have passed the torch. I'm serious. Before the CVA was conceived, I was at this memorial service for one of the fallen. I was the president of the RCR Association down in Niagara Falls. I was shocked when I was hearing what these young guys were telling me, what they were experiencing, and how they were being treated.
On the old system, I think the two most commons ones are that.... For example, I had to fight for that 30%, by the way. When I got out it was 10%. So I mean, it's a fight. For most of the people I talked to, the major problem on the old system was that the amount of the award did not reflect the sacrifice. Secondly, it was the review, or VRAB.
5:40 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Yes.
I probably won't win this one—not with you, but with people above my pay grade—but there's no question in my mind that VAC has an insurance company mentality. You have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you need the benefit, and there are some legitimate reasons for that.
What I would like to do, frankly, is to turn that around and say that unless somebody's gaming the system.... People obviously game the system. That's just human nature. But unless you're obviously gaming the system, whatever benefit you asking for, if it's reasonable, if it seems reasonable, make it happen. Continue the due diligence, and if, at the end of the day, the man or woman doesn't actually quality for that, then you have to stop it. Don't claw it back, but stop it.
In my view, we'd have a lot more happy people—up front, at least—and long-term happy people. At the end of the day, they'll be told, yes, you deserve that benefit; yes, we did the right thing.
5:40 p.m.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
And the process would start moving quickly.
5:40 p.m.
Conservative
