Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 26th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much.

Now we have two witnesses with us and we'll have three more in one hour.

Let me introduce the witnesses—

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

Chair, I have a point of order.

I've made the point of order. I'd like a ruling on the point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Yes, but I just told you that I will come back with my decision on that—

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

When will you come back?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

As soon as possible.

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

Chair, it's important that we have a ruling on this point of order, because I would like to see these motions dealt with. Please, I would ask for a ruling.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I've said that you're going to have a ruling, but Ms. Blaney just tabled a motion. We are not discussing this motion. I have plenty of time to come back to the committee and give my decision. You're not going to have my decision today.

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

Chair, I would ask that you provide a decision today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I will provide one, but not today.

Members of the committee, we have witnesses who we have—

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

Who do you think you are?

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

Bryan, a point of order is—

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Excuse me, guys. Come on.

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

Stop it, Brian.

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

You first. Clearly your training didn't stick.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. May and Mr. Richards, this is the last time. We have three witnesses in front of us. They have made arrangements to be here with us, so please be responsible and let them talk, because they have a lot to say.

Now I will introduce our three witnesses for the first hour.

We have, as individuals, Ms. Vicky-Lynn Cox, an aircraft structural technician, and Mr. Steve Turpin, who is by video conference. We also have, from the True Patriot Love Foundation, Mr. Nick Booth, chief executive officer.

You will each have five minutes for your opening remarks. After that, members of the committee will ask you questions.

Ms. Cox, I'd like to start with you. You have five minutes for your opening statement.

[Vicky-Lynn Cox, Aircraft Structural Technician, As an Individual]

Mr. Chair, before I begin, I'd like to address the fact that Mr. Richards has done this a few times. He has taken witnesses' time to debate his own personal agenda.

Apart from that, hello everyone and thank you for having me.

Members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to present my recommendations regarding this parliamentary study on transition. As a veteran air force sergeant of the Canadian Armed Forces, a military spouse and a mother of three, I aim to draw from my personal experiences to assist others in navigating the challenges of transition.

In 1996, I enlisted as an aircraft structural technician in the Canadian Armed Forces. Shortly after commencing my recruit course in 1997, I endured a traumatic incident of sexual assault perpetrated by another recruit. Despite this and other similar adversities, I persevered, driven by a deep love for my job and a commitment to serving my country.

Throughout my years of service, I faced harassment, sexual assault and discrimination. Despite sustaining injuries from a runway aircraft incident in 2003 and being subsequently diagnosed with PTSD and fibromyalgia, I remained dedicated to my duties.

It was not until the announcement of Operation Honour in 2015 that I finally felt empowered to come forward and report the incidents I had endured. After reporting four cases, instead of receiving individual support for my recovery, I was abruptly pushed toward a transition out of the military, all while my perpetrators remained unpunished. Overall, the transition unit provided inadequate support, leaving me ill-prepared for civilian life and exacerbating the toll on my physical and mental health and that of my family.

Despite my efforts to raise awareness about the lack of support for victims of sexual misconduct, I encountered resistance from senior military officials, including General Jonathan Vance. His signature on my certificate symbolized the institutional failure to address the systemic issues within the military. It made me sick to look at, because he had already been fired and charged.

Following my release in 2020, I experienced a profound decline in both my physical and mental well-being, compounded by the financial burden of accessing private health care services. The absence of dedicated support services for veterans and their families further exacerbated our struggles.

In light of these challenges, I propose the following recommendations to enhance the reintegration of military personnel into civilian life.

One, establish dedicated sexual misconduct services and supports at transition centres, accessible to both members and their families.

Two, provide comprehensive legal and mental health supports, particularly for individuals navigating ongoing legal cases and mental health challenges.

Three, allocate funds for education and skills training programs tailored to the diverse needs of veterans, including non-traditional avenues such as acting and improv training.

Four, expand support services offered by Veterans Affairs and align them with those provided by comparable international agencies such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Five, implement long-term support programs addressing various aspects of post-military life, with medical oversight to ensure safety and effectiveness.

Six, enhance access to essential resources during transition, including DWAN computers, civilian lawyers, finance specialists and female veteran-specific job preparation resources.

Seven, establish mentorship programs to guide transitioning members and their families through the challenges of civilian life.

These recommendations aim to address the systemic gaps in support services for military personnel and their families, ensuring a smoother transition to civilian life and mitigating the adverse effects of military service. By prioritizing the well-being of veterans and acknowledging their contributions, we can honour their service and uphold the values of equity, dignity and respect within our armed forces.

I would like to underline the importance of programs geared toward supporting children and spouses through this transition.

The Couples Overcoming PTSD Everyday program, COPE, was extremely beneficial for my husband and me, as well as for our children. The post-program follow-through with six months of couples coaching laid down the foundation that my husband and I needed to start recovering.

Camp Maple Leaf for the kids of heroes is another great program. It has been extremely beneficial for my family.

Personally, I've participated in a program offered at Project Trauma Support run by Manuela Joannou, and the lifeshop at The Pepper Pod run by Sandra Perron, both of which are potentially dangerous and I would not recommend.

Apart from that, I would like to underline that I have been working with one of the previous witnesses, Marie-Ève Doucet. I remember us taking down engines and working together on the flight line.

I want to emphasize that there needs to be a study on hazardous material and the effects on our unborn children, especially on microparticles and how they affect our brains. Currently, I have a list of friends who are already dead, who are dying or who will die specifically because of this. Other countries have recognized the haz-mat risk. I'm just waiting for my number, and it pains me to think that after being sick this long, I will potentially not make it.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Ms. Cox, for sharing your story with us. We'll ask you some questions.

Mr. Booth, you have five minutes for your opening statement.

[Nick Booth, Chief Executive Officer, True Patriot Love Foundation]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to contribute to your mandate through this study on transition to civilian life.

As Canada’s national foundation for the military community, much of True Patriot Love’s work contributes in a range of ways to support military and veteran transition. I am going to focus my brief remarks today on four of these: employment, recovery from injury, the maintenance of purpose and the provision of information.

First is employment. True Patriot Love welcomed the committee’s recent report “National Strategy for Veterans Employment”. Specifically, we were pleased to see recommendation 18 noting that the Government of Canada should implement the outcomes from the 2017 True Patriot Love veterans transition advisory council report.

We are proud of our strategic collaboration with the Canadian Armed Forces transition group, Veterans Affairs Canada, military family services and our relationship with the chief of reserves and employer support.

It is important that this ecosystem of agencies finds ways to work together collaboratively. We have been piloting this through our ongoing partnership with the Government of Ontario. This includes our recent event Ecosystem Connect, where agencies came together with private sector employers to look at how to improve best practices and promote veteran hiring across large organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises, with a specific focus on recruiting veteran talent into the health sector.

We would also flag the importance of considering the needs of veteran families, as we heard so powerfully this morning, as essential in every discussion about transition to civilian life. We all know that when someone signs up to serve, their families sign up too. This does not stop when the serving member takes their uniform off, and the ongoing health and transition impacts can affect the whole family.

Second is recovery from injury. While most of those who leave our armed forces do so healthy and well and are just in need of some assistance finding their direction post-service, there are, of course, a subset who are released for medical reasons and for whom issues linger into the future. For those who may be injured or become ill, opportunities for rehabilitation as part of a successful transition are vital, and the foundation contributes to this through funding programs using adaptive sport, expeditions and the creative arts, among others.

Just recently, along with some others in the room, I had the pleasure to attend the “one year to go” events for the 2025 winter Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler that True Patriot Love is leading. It was inspiring to see the impact of participation and international camaraderie shared among veterans from nearly 20 nations. The transition from military to civilian life plays an important role in the vision of Invictus by inspiring recovery from injury, celebrating the role of families and building a connection with community. I would like to thank the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia for their significant support of these unique games.

Third is maintaining purpose. We often hear that upon leaving the armed forces, veterans can feel disconnected from their civil community and separated from a previously well-defined sense of purpose. With support from Veterans Affairs, the foundation is working with seven program partners to do the first Canadian study to research the relationship between service and well-being. This links directly to recommendation 30 of the “National Strategy for Veteran Employment”. Once this research is complete, we intend to develop a national action plan that will offer tools and communication strategies to find, recruit, screen and harness veteran volunteers.

Finally, there's how we gather information and provide it to the veteran community. From our vantage point as a national funder, we know that many organizations across the sector are attempting to tackle the challenge of military to civilian transition, and there is a growing interest in the field. This creates a landscape with the potential for duplication and overlap.

The knowledge we have gained by listening to the community has led to the creation of our new veteran hub. This is a national online platform, launched in the fall of last year, that helps connect veterans, serving members and their families with programs, volunteer opportunities and local events. Users can visit our interactive map and easily see what is available to them in their home communities.

We are thrilled that almost 400 organizations have joined the site, fostering a supportive ecosystem for veterans and their families. We hope that members of the committee will promote it within their own networks.

Relatedly, there are a number of organizations that provide support for homeless veterans through different models. However, there is an absence of concise data on the scale of the veteran homeless population or lack of measurable outcomes from the limited funding available. We strongly support a data-driven approach based on local needs and solutions drawn together into a national framework.

We were pleased to see the committee's recent recommendation recognizing the importance of providing veterans with control over their medical records, which allows them to be shared with family doctors, service providers and Veterans Affairs. We remain in discussion of this through our mental health technology initiative and believe it will be a significant contributor to easing the transition to civilian life.

In closing, Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I look forward to any questions or discussion with the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Mr. Booth.

Now we will go to Mr. Steve Turpin, who is here as an individual by video conference.

Please go ahead. You have five minutes.

[Steve Turpin, As an Individual]

Can you hear me?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Hold on one minute, Mr. Turpin. The sound is not good at all. It could be really bad for our interpreters.

We're going to suspend for 30 seconds to give our technician time to connect Mr. Turpin. Remain seated, please, and in 30 seconds we will come back.

The meeting is suspended.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

We are back.

We are having technical difficulties with Mr. Turpin's connection, so he will join us for the second panel. We will carry on with the witnesses who are here. Given the time, we will have a six-minute round. Each party will have six minutes. After that, we will suspend to bring in the second panel.

Mr. Desilets, you have something to say. Go ahead.

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

I'll be quick.

Were the sound checks done before the meeting?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Yes, the sound checks were done.

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

Great. It wasn't mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, so I was wondering.

Thank you.