Veterans Affairs Committee on June 12th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I now call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 57 of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on Monday, October 3, 2022, the committee is resuming its study on the experience of women veterans.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the order made on June 23, 2022. Witnesses and members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

For interpretation for those on Zoom, I would like to remind you that you have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. All comments should be addressed through the chair.

In accordance with our routine motion on connection tests, I wish to inform the committee that the witnesses have completed the required tests before the meeting.

Before welcoming our witnesses, I'd like to give you a warning. We will be discussing experiences related to mental health. This can be a trigger for people here with us, the viewers, members of the committee and their staff who have had similar experiences. If you feel distressed or if you need assistance, please let the clerk know.

I would like to provide you this trigger warning. We may be discussing experiences related to general health and mental health. This may be triggering to viewers and members or staff with similar experiences, so do not hesitate to advise the clerk.

Before I welcome our witnesses for this meeting, I would like to hear what the committee members think about how this meeting will unfold, given that we have had to take part in several votes in the House.

On the first panel of witnesses, Godfrey Jerry, from Manulife Financial, has to leave at 5 p.m. On the second panel, Steven Harris, who is here in person, has to leave at 6 p.m. at the latest. In addition, I know that members of the committee, including Mr. Desilets and Mr. Miao, wish to leave the meeting at 5:45 p.m.

I propose to committee members that we invite all the witnesses in one panel. That way, when Mr. Jerry leaves, there shouldn't be too many problems. We could direct our first questions to Mr. Jerry and then to Mr. Harris.

So I would like to hear what the members have to say before inviting the witnesses. What do you think?

Go ahead, Mr. Desilets.

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

I see no problem with your proposal.

It is truly unfortunate. I don't want to leave at 5 p.m., but I have to leave at 5:45 p.m.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay. Thank you.

Are there any other comments?

I invite the witnesses from the second panel, then. Since the others are online, I will invite Mr. Harris in particular to join us and take his seat.

We have all the witnesses before us. They will make their three presentations of five minutes each.

I would like to officially welcome our witnesses.

First of all, I have to say that Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services and Manulife were invited for May 29, but we cancelled that meeting. I have to thank them for being here today to participate in this session.

We will begin with the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, represented by Phil Marcus, vice-president of operations, SISIP Financial, by videoconference.

From Manulife, also by video conference, we have Mr. Godfrey Jerry, assistant vice-president, life and disability operations; and Maureen McGrath, manager, Canadian Armed Forces long-term disability vocational rehabilitation program.

From the Department of Veterans Affairs, we have Steven Harris, assistant deputy minister, Service Delivery Branch; Trudie MacKinnon, acting director general, Centralized Operations Division, by videoconference; and Melanie MacDonald, team lead, Disability Benefits Entitlement Eligibility Guidelines Modernization Initiative.

We will begin with opening statements.

Since Godfrey Jerry, assistant vice-president of Manulife, will have to leave us, I invite him to make his opening statement.

Mr. Jerry, I'll let you know when your five minutes are up.

[Godfrey Jerry, Assistant Vice President, Life and Disability Operations, Manulife Financial]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, all members of the committee.

My name is Godfrey Jerry, and I'm the assistant vice-president of group disability operations at Manulife. I'm responsible for the delivery of the Canadian Armed Forces long-term disability plan, where Manulife is the life insurer and the administrator for long-term disability benefits, along with the vocational rehabilitation program.

I'm located in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia, and oversee 230-plus employees nationally, with the bulk of our employees in Nova Scotia who support the CAF long-term disability plan. I have been with Manulife for over 21 years.

I would also like to thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee today. I apologize that I have to leave early, but I have some parental duties that I must attend to.

Joining me today is my colleague, Maureen McGrath. Maureen is the national manager of the Canadian Armed Forces long-term disability vocational rehabilitation program. Maureen has been involved with this program for the past 34 years.

I just want to share with you that 53% of all Manulife employees who support the Canadian Armed Forces long-term disability vocational rehabilitation program are bilingual. Forty per cent of our vocational rehabilitation counsellors are veterans themselves, and 54% of our counsellors are women.

Manulife is Canada's largest life insurance company. We have over 26,000 Canadian businesses and organizations that entrust us with their group insurance needs. We appreciate the trust and partnership we have with the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces when it comes to this plan.

The CAF LTD plan is a key component of the Canadian Armed Forces' suite of group benefits. It provides ill and injured veterans with income and vocational rehabilitation support after their release. It provides up to 75% of the member's salary at the release from the Canadian Armed Forces for both service-related and non-service-related illnesses and injuries. It is a disability insurance program that provides financial benefits, including vocational rehabilitation, to medically releasing members and to members who take a voluntary release and qualify as totally disabled.

Manulife takes great pride in serving those who have served our country. We work closely and coordinate with the CAF to ensure a smooth transition for ill and injured members. Over the past five years, 84.6% of plan members were pre-approved for long-term disability benefits and were referred to a vocational rehabilitation program prior to their medical release from the CAF. Within five days of the receipt of the final claim requirements, 95.5% of plan members received their long-term disability benefits. Each month, over 12,000 veterans receive a benefit payment from Manulife under this program.

This also includes 2,000 new claims that we receive each year for benefits and vocational assistance. One out of five of those claims is for a woman, and 97.5% of veterans are contacted by our in-house vocational rehabilitation counsellor at Manulife within five business days of a referral. Manulife works very closely with SISIP Financial, the director general compensation and benefits with the Department of National Defence, and the CAF transition group to ensure open communication and collaboration. Our employees take great pride in our service delivery, and I can confirm that there are no backlogs or service issues when it comes to the Canadian Armed Forces long-term disability program, as well as the vocational rehabilitation program.

We understand that the focus today is on the experience of women veterans.

Women veterans who are in receipt of Canadian Armed Forces long-term disability benefits do not have the option to return to work with their former employer. After their release, they will be preparing to make the transition to employment as a civilian in an entirely new work environment with new colleagues. Their transition will require them to successfully adapt to a new workplace culture while navigating the potential complexity and impact of their illness and injury.

As part of their transition, like all veterans, women veterans leaving the forces experience a mix of emotions. For many members, if not most, being in the Canadian Armed Forces is central to the way they have lived for many years. It is unlike other professions and careers. They have to leave their place of work and, in many cases, the supports and the structure that being in the forces provides. They're also leaving their friends and colleagues.

Depending on members' ranks, trades and injuries, their transferable skills may or may not easily carry over to civilian employment. There may be an upgrading of skills required, such as securing civilian certifications and, in some cases, training towards an entirely new field to acquire new skill sets that will allow them to be competitive in the work marketplace.

Helping women veterans transition to civilian careers is one of the many ways in which Manulife provides support. Through the CAF LTD vocational rehabilitation program, women veterans have early access to education funding to help develop skills that will make them competitive in the marketplace. The voluntary program is available to all members who have been approved for LTD benefits. It does not distinguish whether the illness or injury is service-related or causing a barrier to re-establishment.

Members may begin active participation in the Canadian Armed Forces long-term disability vocational rehabilitation program in the six months prior to their medical release. They have access to funds for tuition, books, allowances to travel to school, school supplies and other program-required equipment and dependent care. Through our plan and program, our dedicated case manager team and vocational rehabilitation specialists provide support to releasing veterans to help guide them through their transition needs.

More broadly, Manulife supports Soldier On, the Canadian Armed Forces program that is contributing to the recovery of ill and injured women soldiers and veterans through grants towards improving health outcomes. In 2022 we contributed to over 130 Soldier On grants. In the past four years, we've helped with 500 grants that have been given to those women soldier veterans.

Thank you for your invitation for us to speak with you today. Maureen and I appreciate the opportunity to support the work of your committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Mr. Jerry.

Now I'd like to invite Mr. Phil Marcus from Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services to go ahead, please, for five minutes.

[Phil Marcus, Vice-President of Operations, SISIP Financial, Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services]

Good afternoon and thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Phil Marcus. I am vice-president of operations, policy and product management at SISIP Financial. We are a division of the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services.

Our organization directly supports the Canadian Armed Forces operational readiness by contributing to the strengthening of the mental, social, familial, physical and financial well-being of CAF members, veterans and their respective families. More specifically, SISIP Financial provides tailored advice and product solutions that enhance the financial health and security of members of the CAF community and their families.

Canadian Armed Forces community members have trusted SISIP Financial for expert advice and solutions across pensions, investing, life insurance and disability insurance, and budgeting and borrowing for over 50 years now. SISIP Financial is the administrator of both group life insurance and the long-term disability plan for the Canadian Armed Forces. These are part of their employee group benefits. Manulife is the underwriter of group life and the insurer for the long-term disability plan.

All Canadian Armed Forces members are automatically enrolled in the Canadian long-term disability insurance plan and are eligible for benefits starting from their first day of service. Personnel who leave the Canadian Armed Forces because of medical limitations receive income support for up to 24 months or to age 65 if they're unable to return to work. In addition, all those who are eligible for long-term disability benefits are also eligible for the vocational rehabilitation program managed by Manulife.

Understanding that the committee is undertaking a comprehensive study on women veterans and the support they are provided, we will do our best to assist. SISIP Financial and Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services operate on the principle of one veteran, one standard. As such, we treat all members and their families equally when it comes to the support and services we provide.

I'm happy to be here today with our partner Manulife and hope to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Mr. Marcus.

I would now like to invite Steven Harris, who is the assistant deputy minister at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to take the floor.

Mr. Harris, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Steven Harris, Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery Branch, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Good afternoon and thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for inviting us to appear before you today. It is our pleasure to be here to speak about the department's disability adjudication process and our ongoing work to modernize our disability benefits tools. Joining me are Trudie MacKinnon, director general of centralized operations division, and Melanie MacDonald, team lead in disability benefits.

Before we start, I would like to provide an update on the status of the processing times of disability benefit claims. I am pleased to share that we are currently under 6,000 files beyond the 16-week service standard. This is a significant 70% reduction from March 2020, when the number of files beyond the service standard was over 22,000. While we recognize the reduction and the efforts of our staff to reduce wait times for veterans, we acknowledge that there is still progress to be made.

We make progress on these turnaround times by adjudicating claims as efficiently as possible. There are two steps in the decision-making process. In the first step, the adjudicator determines entitlement, which is whether the disability is related to service. In the second step, the adjudicator makes an assessment of the severity of the disability and its effect on the applicant's quality of life.

Veterans Affairs Canada has numerous decision-making tools to help adjudicators determine entitlement and assessment. However, the two primary tools VAC adjudicators use are the entitlement eligibility guidelines and the table of disabilities. We have spoken about these in previous committee appearances.

The entitlement eligibility guidelines are policy statements that ensure the consistency, equity and quality of decisions made on the relationship between a disability and military service. The guidelines are based on evidence from peer reviewed medical research and literature, both in Canada and abroad.

The table of disabilities is a legislated instrument used to assess the extent of a disability. The tool helps the adjudicator establish an assessment based on a medical impairment rating in conjunction with quality of life indicators. This is an assessment of the impact of the impairment on the individual’s lifestyle.

While the guidelines and the table have seen various additions and ad hoc updates since 2005 and 2006, we recognize the need for continuous updates that keep pace with medical research and reflect a sex and gender based analysis plus lens. As a result, we are currently in the midst of a multi-year plan to modernize both tools.

To ensure the modernizations are informed by sex and gender research, we have developed a tailored GBA+ methodology to guide our work. We used documents from Women and Gender Equality Canada, the Veterans Affairs GBA+ strategy, the GBA+ policy, step-by-step guides, and consultation with the Office of Women and LGBTQ2 Veterans.

The application of our GBA+ approach will ensure that our clients see themselves reflected in our tools, because we have considered the varied and diverse health experiences of Canadian military and policing communities.

In addition to modernizing our decision-making processes, we are reducing processing time inequities for francophone and female applicants by modifying our approach to staffing. For example, since 2020, we have hired more bilingual and francophone disability adjudicators to increase our capacity to process French applications. As of September 2022, roughly 30% of our decision-making staff are francophone or bilingual. In September 2021, we added a team dedicated to processing applications from female applicants.

This approach is working, because the gap in processing time between male and female applications has been nearly eliminated, falling from seven weeks in 2019-20 to one week as of the end of March 2023. We have also cut the gap between French and English applications in half over this same period.

Further to these efforts, we aim to simplify and create additional efficiencies in decisions, ensure the veteran is at the forefront, use up-to-date health literature and best practices to support evidence-based decision-making, and support equitable, transparent, and consistent disability benefit decisions.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Mr. Harris.

I would like to remind members that Mr. Godfrey has to leave at five o'clock.

Let's start questioning our witnesses.

I invite the first vice-chair of the committee, Mr. Blake Richards, for six minutes, please.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

It's unfortunate we had to amalgamate. There were many questions here, but we will do what we can with the time we have.

I will start with Veterans Affairs and Mr. Harris, or whoever he would like to have answer. I have a few questions.

There was a Facebook post on May 25 by Veterans Affairs Canada about the public service health care plan coverage and the changeover to Canada Life. It indicated that if veterans had not completed an enrolment package to move over to Canada Life by June 15, their coverage could be cancelled, and if they hadn't done so, they would then have to reapply. They would have to wait three months before their coverage could be reinstated.

Could you give us some sense of why that is, and how many veterans this may be impacting in terms of lost coverage?

[Steven Harris]

There are about 4,000 veterans who are able to access the public service health care plan at this point in time. The transition is one that's going across the entire public service health care plan, so the plan actually covers all public servants, and is extended to veterans in many cases.

We are working directly with the contract holder and Treasury Board Secretariat. The secretariat is leading the transition from the current contract holder to Canada Life. We're targeting veterans specifically to make sure their transition packages are received.

At this point, about 2,000 have processed their application packages. We're calling them directly to follow up with them to make sure they have the information they need to be able to submit the package that's required, and we're following up with them on a regular basis.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

At this point, though, we're talking about half, since 2,000 of the 4,000 who are eligible have not yet submitted. We're obviously getting quite close to that June 15 deadline. I hope your outreach efforts will step up to whatever degree they're needed.

I would also ask whether you could provide this committee with the numbers—perhaps on June 16—on where we ended up and how many veterans did in fact lose coverage. That would certainly be appreciated.

Would you be willing to do that?

[Steven Harris]

Yes, absolutely.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Thank you very much.

I want to turn to the departmental plan for 2023-24.

Under the section “Benefits, Services and Support”, there are 17 goals listed that the department has set for itself. Are you able to tell me how many of those goals have a due date and target number attached to them?

[Steven Harris]

Mr. Chair, unfortunately, I don't have that information in front of me. I suspect I could come back to the committee with a readout of the planned targets and priority setting for them.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

I have them here. Only six of those 17 goals have a set due date or target number associated with them. The rest simply say they're to be determined. That includes goals.

I'll give a few examples, such as the percentage of veterans who report that their health is very good or excellent, who report that their mental health is very good or excellent, whose household income is below the low income measure, and who are employed. There are obviously a number of others.

I call it odd that there would be no goal. If it's a goal, we should be able to measure it. What is the target we're shooting for? We should be able to determine by what date we're hoping to achieve that goal. To me, to have a plan that has 11 of the 17 goals without a target or due date set for them.... It doesn't sound like goals at all.

I wonder whether you could speak to that at all. It seems very odd to me. If something is a priority, we should be able to measure it. We should be able to determine when we want to reach the goal.

[Steven Harris]

Mr. Chair, again, I'd be happy to follow up with respect to the question being asked by the member.

We do have targets and goals. They are established as part of the departmental plan and performance metrics that are in place. We obviously hope to increase and ensure the well-being of veterans across all of those metrics. I'm happy to come back to the committee with what those metrics look like. We establish them and monitor them through StatsCan surveys and other things to make sure we can see how the veterans population is doing as a whole—how our veterans population is doing. They may be different, in some cases—

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

You can come back to us, you said, with more detail. To me, “to be determined” isn't a lot of detail, obviously. If you could, in fact, provide us in writing with what the metrics and due dates are for those things, that would certainly be appreciated.

In the past at committee, I asked some questions about the hiring of veterans, and you indicated that you prioritize it. You believe in hiring veterans. I know that's the case, that you really believe in that. The departmental plan is a 53-page document. There was no mention at all that I could find of any efforts to try to recruit more veterans to work at Veterans Affairs Canada.

Can you tell me why that is? If VAC is actually interested in having more veterans, shouldn't it be part of your plan? Shouldn't there be a target set for how many veterans you're looking to hire in the coming year?

[Steven Harris]

Mr. Chair, I'd like to reassure the committee that the department is fully invested in making sure we can hire as many veterans as possible and bring them in. It is part of our standard practice. We use it when screening assets and tools as part of our employment selection processes. That continues.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Why not have a target in the departmental plan? If it's actually a priority, one would think there would be a target or some kind of goal you set for yourselves. Why is that? Why not?

[Steven Harris]

Once again, there's no limit, necessarily, set on how many veterans we would hire. We hire them as part of our processes. As I said, we prioritize the access of—

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

No one is asking you to set a limit. What we're asking you to set is a target to try to achieve.

I'll leave you with this: I certainly hope that in next year's plan we'll see a target set for the hiring of veterans.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Harris.

Let's go to Mr. Sean Casey for six minutes.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Harris, you weren't afforded an opportunity to answer that last question because of the incessant interruptions, so I would ask you to take as much time as you need to outline the department's efforts to increase the number of veterans you hire, and I won't interrupt you.

[Steven Harris]

Thanks very much.

While the overall efforts of the department fall outside my particular area of responsibility, what I would say is that the department undertakes serious efforts to recruit and retain and to provide developmental opportunities for veterans as part of our ongoing activities. We do collect information on the number of veterans in the department based on the number who self-report. We cannot force anybody to report, so while we collect information around individuals who self-report, that can't necessarily be viewed as the full picture of veteran hiring in our department.

We have veterans at all levels of the organization, from the very top and throughout the full range of it, and they contribute a lot in terms of our understanding, our comprehension, of military needs, cultures, the needs of veterans and the way in which we need help to support them going forward. It's an ongoing effort, from our point of view, to make sure we can continue to support their post-military employment needs.

I would also add that as part of one of the minister's mandate commitments, the department is working on an overall veterans' employment strategy, which is expected to be completed in the next while and which will outline the importance of veteran hiring not only in the private sector but also across all aspects of the public sector and the Public Service of Canada.