Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 16th, 2023

[Kathleen Kilgour]

Thank you.

That's a really important question because peer-reviewed research and also our own personal experience say that we need to engage people before they release. It is too late after. The horse has left the barn for some people. Veterans Affairs has a hard time keeping track of people, which is fine because veterans don't have to check in, obviously. But people also need time before they release to get excited about the future, get comfortable with the idea, start building a new community, and all that happens in the year or two years beforehand.

That's why we do most of our work on bases, because we want to get them there.

That is really, I would say, the number one most important thing that you could do. Start transition training or any sort of career training earlier and give people something to look forward to and be excited and positive about.

Also, there's one other thing that is so important to me. Veterans are often unaware of the supports that are available to them and they don't believe that people are willing to help them. There's a real attitude of, “why would somebody want to help me?” There are millions of Canadians out there who desperately would love to volunteer and help a veteran, and they need to know that.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I think that's important as well.

I want to thank you for mentioning that 25% of the people you're working with are women. It's awesome to see such a good number, especially considering the fact that we don't have 25% of women serving in this country.

I am curious about something. You talked about speed networking and networking events. I'm wondering what that looks like and how people become involved.

[Kathleen Kilgour]

Our program model takes an ecosystem approach. Nothing we do is linear. Nothing we do is...you can take just once, because starting a business really is holistic.

We also engage hundreds of volunteers. One of the ways we do that is through networking events and speed networking events that pair mentors, business professionals and experienced entrepreneurs for one-on-one round robin mentoring. We started the online mentoring after COVID took away the in-person networking events that we used to do.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Awesome.

I'll turn to you, Ms. Copeland. You talked about participating in a six-month mentorship program. Could you just talk to us about what that looked like and why that was so helpful?

[Erin Copeland]

I'll be honest that this was my first opportunity to participate in the mentorship program, but I was recently matched. I am the mentor, and I've recently been matched with a mentee who has transitioned from the military to the world of entrepreneurship. We were just matched actually about a month ago, so it's quite a new process for us both.

What it looks like, I think, is a six-month, semi-guided mentorship program where we set up a timeline, set up goals. My job is to help and mentor my mentee with his transition and the business he is hoping to start. That's my role, and I'm very excited to impart any of my skills and experiences I have learned through Operation Entrepreneur, and my experience owning my own business.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you for that.

Perhaps I can come to you, Mr. Lamothe. You talked also about participating in the training boot camp, I think you said, in Halifax. You also mentioned in your testimony having an honest broker. I'm just wondering if you could talk about what that means and also what the benefit was of the boot camp.

[Patrick Lamothe]

First of all, I would say that veterans have lots of strengths. Many times we see our skills and management skills. There are also our attributes. We are mission-driven and also we have that will to fight at every cost. But we're missing something. When we look at veterans, we see many people who have spent their life in the public sector. It's not a weakness, but I can say one thing for me and for the 20 people seated with me. Where we benefited was with the management of finances. When you are born and raised in a system where finance is in the public sector, you have to raise your awareness, your understanding, so that's why it takes on another dimension.

At the seminars we had mentors who were prolific in business, people with success, and you could see they just caught our attention. We listened to them, and we gained from that. I went back to my drawing board so many times. I said, “This was my belief, but now with what I've just learned, I'm going to modify my approach.” All 20 of us said, “That networking that just happened was great.” That's one of the benefits from that boot camp.

Also, like I said in an earlier statement, they're small words, but when you start wearing the hat, the scope is different, because some people also have to balance life and work. There's a danger to people who are mission-driven. Many times if they're not under control, they don't understand the dangers and they're going to lose balance in their personal life. Those mentors are there to support you and say, “Even if success is there, don't drop your guard. You still have a life, a family and people around you.” These are people who are experienced with life.

That's why I would say that when we look at veterans, people who have many skills and attributes have a higher chance of success, but they need that little push.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you for your answer, Mr. Lamothe.

Members of the committee, I had promised each party two minutes to ask questions, but in the end I am only going to allow one. So I suggest you ask the question that you think is most important.

First I give the floor to Mr. Terry Dowdall for one minute.

[Terry Dowdall, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a quick question for Mr. Booth.

I understand your organization has a strong relationship with my home province of Ontario. I'm just wondering if you'd let us know how the provinces or territories could perhaps partner with these veterans employment programs.

[Nick Booth]

Yes, we are delighted with the partnership we have. It falls into two strands, firstly around mental health and supporting programs specifically looking at veterans' mental health and that of their families, but specifically for this discussion this evening, there is a second program, through the Ministry of Labour, Training, Immigration and Skills Development, that is looking at supporting veteran transition employment. It's categorized into three layers and is working with 10 major companies on developing best practices and case studies that we can then share, both in Ontario and across Canada.

Secondly, on small to medium-sized enterprises, many of which of course will not have the big HR departments that the larger firms have, it's about how we make hiring veterans easy for them by creating tool kits and other partnerships with terms-of-commerce examples to focus on that sector.

Thirdly, a new initiative is focusing on rebuilding the health sector. The United Kingdom has a very big program on hiring veterans into the National Health Service. We are looking at piloting in Ontario a program called “Step into Health”, which recruits transitioning members and veterans into health to help us rebuild postpandemic. We're hoping through that partnership to create some best practices, which we would be then delighted to work out across other provinces.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

Now we have Mr. Wilson Miao for one minute, please.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Booth, I'm very excited and looking forward to the Invictus Games that are coming to Vancouver and Whistler in 2025. Do you see this as an opportunity to also employ veterans? If so, what is the plan to recruit?

[Nick Booth]

I'm delighted that you're looking forward to the games. We welcome everybody to be with us.

We certainly do see it as an opportunity. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we've created seven legacy programs for the games, one of which is employment and transition. In addition to hiring veterans into the games organizing team, we're asking all of our sponsors and our corporate partners through the games to consider veteran hiring.

For example, we're soon to announce who the title sponsor will be, which is a major Canadian employer. They don't currently have a veteran hiring program or an employee resource group. Part of that new sponsorship arrangement with the games will be also looking at their own internal practices around hiring.

We hope to use the lens of the games to then bring a focus on the importance of hiring veterans in the sport industry, in the communications world and into a range of partner and supplier businesses into the games.

I hope that's a brief answer to what will be an exciting journey in the couple of years ahead.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

Mr. Desilets, you have the floor for one minute.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for Mr. Riel.

What is the biggest challenge facing your organization?

[Guy Riel]

The Pendulum Foundation has signed an agreement with Veterans House Canada to create a multi-service centre in the greater Quebec City area, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region.

We have the partners we need to be able to open the centre in September 2023. We want all services to be offered to veterans from this house. We do need to coordinate our efforts, because a lot of work is done in isolation and that creates a lot of confusion in the process.

A lieutenant colonel has been selected to work with us on this project. I am working with the Canadian Forces Surgeon General and the Veterans Affairs Canada Surgeon General to put this project together, which is really focused on the family and the member. The goal is to equip the family with the tools they need and really work towards the member having a new passion, whether it is volunteering or paid work.

Some members will never be able to return to the labour market, we realize that, but these members can still make a contribution.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Riel.

Ms. Blaney, the floor is yours for one minute, please.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

My last question is going to come back to you, Ms. Kilgour.

I'm really curious to know if you could talk to us about the website that hosts all the veterans' businesses. How do veterans connect with that? How do people in Canada who want to support veterans connect with that?

[Kathleen Kilgour]

It's called BuyVeteran.CA. It is a listing of hundreds of veteran-owned businesses. The magic of the directory is that it does come alive during Remembrance Week, when we have the Buy Veteran campaign, which we use to change the narrative and provide an alternate way to talk about veterans. They're not victims. They're not all suffering from PTSD. They're phenomenally interesting individuals who have had phenomenally interesting careers.

It's also a place for veterans to find each other. A big part of our work is talking to veterans. We would go to the directory, for example, using Erin's business or Altitude Gym here in Ottawa, and say, “Hey, you want to open a gym? Let's go and look at the directory and see who we can find.” Then we make an introduction. They have a little coffee chat and their community starts growing and their network starts building.

Also, you all and all the veterans we work with are so eager to make the road easier for those people who are coming behind them. This directory is a wonderful resource for them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you so much. That's the end of our panel.

I'd like to thank all of our witnesses on behalf of members of the committee. Thank you for your input on this study.

From Prince's Trust Canada, we had Ms. Kathleen Kilgour, senior program manager, operation entrepreneur; Ms. Erin Copeland, captain (retired), program ambassador; and Mr. Patrick Lamothe, sergeant (retired), program ambassador.

From the Pendulum Foundation, we had Mr. Guy Riel, founding president.

From the True Patriot Love Foundation, we had Mr. Nick Booth, chief executive officer.

Once again, thank you so much.

Members, please stay online. We have six minutes left.

We have two break weeks, and we're going back to work in our constituencies. I'd like to know what we're going to do next.

We've already had six meetings on that study, but we still have other witnesses. There are about 12 witnesses, if you want to continue to work on that.

When we're back, we can give instructions to our analysts to prepare a report on that study. We also have the rehabilitation report. It's ready, so we can discuss that in committee business. We also have to discuss the supplementary estimates and the main estimates.

I know we don't have a lot of time, but in six minutes, I'm proposing that when we come back on Monday, we have committee business for one hour, so we can discuss all of those things. We also have some motions we can discuss. In the second hour, we would start the report on rehabilitation contracts.

Is there any discussion?

Go ahead, Mr. Tolmie.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I apologize that Mr. Richards couldn't be with us tonight. I'm filling in.

We're probably parallelling your idea here. We would like to meet in the first hour on Monday with the subcommittee to discuss the schedule, and then the second hour could be for drafting instructions.

With the supplementary (C)'s being out, we would also like to meet with the minister at the Thursday meeting, and have him present to the panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Perfect.

You said the subcommittee for the first hour, but you have to know that in the next hour the committee has to adopt the report of the subcommittee.

Next, we have Ms. Blaney.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you.

If I heard that correctly, the first hour of the Monday meeting would be for the subcommittee and the second hour would be in camera, but back to the whole committee to review what the subcommittee proposed. We can then identify which studies we're doing next.

For the next one, if we can get the minister.... The minister's pretty good to us, let's be honest. That's on the public record, so there you go. If we can get him to come in on that Thursday, that would be fantastic. If he can't, my recommendation would be to do a first overview of the report in camera, so that it gives the clerk enough time to contact witnesses for the next study.

From my perspective, we've done enough on this current study. I'm ready to be done with it, but interested to hear what other people have to say.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. Desilets, you have the floor.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

I totally agree with Mrs. Blaney.