Evidence of meeting #22 for Finance in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was affairs.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Éric Lefebvre Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Did she respond to your letter? Did she give you any information?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
She has not responded to my letter. We exchanged pleasantries on her way out the door.
February 5th, 2026 / 9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Éric Lefebvre Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Okay. Was the discussion positive in terms of your requests?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
I have not yet had an opportunity to discuss my letter with the minister. It was only mentioned at a meeting that she acknowledges having received it.
Conservative
Éric Lefebvre Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Then she gave you no information, nor any sign of a positive response to your letter.
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
She has not responded to me in writing. That's all I can say.
Conservative
Éric Lefebvre Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
That says a lot about the respect given to veterans.
You said in your opening statement that veterans were furious, and that they don't trust Veterans Affairs. I'm sad to hear that. In my opening remarks, I expressed all the respect I have for the men and women who have fought to defend our country's rights and freedoms. To thank them, the department treats them this way. It's unacceptable.
Respect is a recurring theme in my life, and the same goes for our witnesses. I always tell people that, in life, there is a mirror effect. If we respect people, they'll respect us. Right now, the minister and the Liberal government have no respect for the men and women who fought for our country. I find that unacceptable. Like my colleague, I'm shocked to hear that.
Earlier, you said that you toured military bases. How do current serving members feel about the respect this Liberal government has for their service?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
Thank you for the question.
I would just like to say that the people at VAC who deliver, the people who are on the phones and who are doing the work, are good people, and they respect our veterans. I would never agree that the people at Veterans Affairs don't respect our veterans. They absolutely do. I am convinced in my heart, as a veteran myself, that they have nothing but the best interest of our veterans at heart.
Do they sometimes make mistakes? Yes, and here is one of those. The fact is that veterans see the bigger picture. While they know that the person on the other end of the phone may have their best interest at heart, these kinds of actions, this retroactivity, to refuse to acknowledge that we made a mistake, are what infuriates them, because this is not the way that we act in the military.
The second half of your question.... I'm sorry; I've lost it.
What was it?
Was it about what people say?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
You asked what they say when I meet with them.
For serving members today, some of them are aware that down the road, when they get out, there are benefits for veterans. They are very well aware of the disability claim, because it goes around the barrack rooms: “Have you put in your claim yet?” They know that.
Do they actively think about what will happen to them when they release? I did not consider the fact that I was releasing until the night before. That is when it struck me. I believe that the majority of our serving members and the RCMP are so focused on their jobs, on doing the mission for Canada and on their service that they're not thinking about that. They just trust that it'll be there when they get there.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair (Jasraj Hallan) Conservative Jasraj Singh Hallan
Thank you, Ms. Jardine.
Next, we have Mr. Fragiskatos for five minutes, please.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Madame Jardine, thank you very much for being here today.
In the comments that you gave to us at the outset of your testimony, you talked about budget 2025 and how you see some promise there. Could you elaborate on that?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
The investments being made that the minister spoke about and that we are aware of.... What I understand is that these are going to go into the adjudication process—getting the disability claims through and getting those wait times down. The service standard that Veterans Affairs publishes is that 80% of the decisions on disability claims will be made within 16 weeks. They have not reached that yet. I hope that this investment, which I'm encouraged by, will work toward achieving those claims decisions within their service standard.
Let's be clear: The disability claim is the gateway to treatment benefits for our veterans. They can't move forward.... They have to pay out of pocket, or they may have a health care plan, but they aren't getting the treatment benefits for their service-related disabilities until that claim is approved—if it's approved. Anything that helps to reduce that wait time, I absolutely applaud.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
You had a spotlight report that came out in 2025. What progress has been made? We can, of course, talk about the challenges, and that is absolutely fair, but I want to look at some of the progress that has been made that you highlighted in that report as well.
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
I don't have it top of mind. We publish the spotlight report every year, certainly in the time that I've been in the office. We've tracked every single recommendation made by our office since 2007, the ones that are still valid.
It takes time, I acknowledge, for the department to implement the recommendations that we've made. The one recommendation that I continue to press on is for mental health supports for family members. This one, I can assure you, would address an acute and unseen need of the family members of our military and RCMP veterans who need that extra support because they were part of our military or RCMP family.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
I believe the report does highlight, though, some advances that have been made in the area of gender equality. Is that correct?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
I believe it's the adjudication of sexual dysfunction, where we pointed out an unfairness in the way certain conditions were not being as well acknowledged by the department. We understand that those changes have in fact been made. Our recommendations have been implemented.
On peer support for survivors of military sexual trauma, we understand that those are under way. I have not done an update. I haven't looked at an update on where those are recently, so I can't tell you more than that.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
With my final question, Ms. Jardine, I want to ask you to build on a point that you just put on the record when my colleague Mr. Lefebvre engaged with you. Your point was about veterans—and you even related it to your own experience—not thinking about the various services. The expectation is there, but the focus is on serving and doing what's expected of them in the moment, naturally. Is there something to be said about the government having to put more into making those members of the Canadian Armed Forces aware of the services? Do we need to promote that message more? Even if the government put greater resources to that end, is it still not going to make an impact because the soldiers are thinking about what's expected of them, as you said, in that moment?
Are there things you can recommend to this committee that should be done to increase awareness of the services so the transition is as smooth as possible?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
The transition group in the Canadian Forces has gone a long way in making that transition...helping members, as they release, understand what benefits and services are available to them on the day after they take off their uniform. This is a huge improvement from years ago.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair (Jasraj Hallan) Conservative Jasraj Singh Hallan
Thank you, Ms. Jardine. That's time.
Next, we have Monsieur Ste-Marie for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Jardine, on the same topic, I'm going to pick up where I left off. Are you concerned that the lack of resources, with the cuts coming in your office, will weaken the real protection of veterans' rights, despite their official recognition?
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
I think you asked me if the reductions to my office are going to have an impact on veterans.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
I would like to know whether that will have an impact on the real protection of their rights.
Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman
As I said before, we are protecting our front line, the part of our office that responds directly to individual complaints. We're protecting them, and we're protecting the analysts who do the work for our systemic reviews. At this point in time, any changes we make to the office will be in the area of administrative support.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
Here's a more philosophical question: How can we ask veterans to be more patient without investing more in the institutions that are supposed to protect them?