Evidence of meeting #172 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was military.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
Thank you for getting that on the record. I certainly hope we cite that in our report to the government.
Mr. Perry, before I became a member of Parliament, I spent seven years doing casework with all manner of constituents who had problems with various federal departments. A large number of them were veterans, so your testimony about DND and the hand-off to VAC is not new. It's existed for many years and still, for the life of me, I can't figure out why we have not simplified the system yet.
I hosted a town hall for veterans a couple of years ago. Every person who came to the mike complained about the fact that once you leave DND, you have to pick it up, run with it yourself and organize everything with VAC. I'm just astounded we're still having this problem.
I don't have much time, but you said in your opening statement that you're concerned that we might be approaching this as a one-size-fits-all, but we need individual approaches. Is there anything you can add about what that means in practical terms, maintaining a need to take that individual approach to veterans?
As an Individual
Slow the whole thing down. I had five months from the time I found out my release date to the time I'd be in school. In that five months, I had so many life-changing things to decide on with no or very little support doing it. I was just another face, another number. I was just somebody else the person I was sitting in front of had to deal with.
They need a more personalized approach. Hold on to that case manager. I only met with my DND case manager three or four times, and she was the biggest help I had. Without her, I can't imagine where I would have been.
Conservative
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Thank you everyone for coming.
Mr. Perry, what is your job now?
As an Individual
Now I am a full-time student, semi-retired.
I've done all the paperwork up to activating my priority hiring. I'm going to university because I need the degree that is required of me, and I'm going to have to activate my priority hiring before I've finished my schooling because of the five-year limit that's imposed. If that were extended to 10 years, I wouldn't have any issues.
As an Individual
Right now, I'm not happy with the services I've received from VAC so I've cut them off from doing what I need to do. While I was there on my placement, I believe I learned all the skills I needed to take care of myself. I'm doing a better job than they did in the year prior.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
I know there was frustration between the two different departments. At any time did you think about approaching the veterans ombudsperson?
As an Individual
The first time was to do with my disability benefits. It took 18 months to receive approval, and that was far exceeding their 16-week goal they had at the time. The second time was when I wasn't happy with the services, and they just said that I needed more details to sort out the problem. Other than that, again, I just feel like it's a forum to complain and nothing actually happens.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Other than the things you mentioned, is there anything that maybe...? When you're getting your education, maybe with Veterans Affairs there could be some sort of matching, like a career or skills approach.
As an Individual
It would be great if they had somebody in the military who would look at the courses you've accrued through your career and say, “This is the civilian equivalent of it.”
For instance, I had to take an ethics class in college. I was deployed overseas twice. I carried live rounds in my weapon at all times, and I still had to sit there and do Ethics 101. The government paid for that. If you take out all those redundant courses that we're forced to do over again, that would pay for these people who are writing off the courses. You would save money. It wouldn't cost the government anything else.
As an Individual
There isn't anything. It was up to me. I had to go and get a PLAR as part of one of my optional credits. I ended up finding a teacher who was willing to just write off my military experience and give me that credit. Without that, I wouldn't have graduated.
Thank you.
Liberal
As an Individual
No.
Well, there are a lot of courses. Anything that says “leadership” in the military should just have the wording changed to “management” for the civilian sector. Other than that, there are not too many courses that we do in the military, especially for my trade—the infantry—that are applicable to the civilian world. It's just the way it is, I know that, but I know there's still something that can be done. Right now, nothing's being done.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
All right. Thank you.
This is a question for Mr. Harrison.
You talked about judgment testing and said something about screen testing. Can you elaborate on that?
As an Individual
Yes. When you get screened for an employment opportunity with the Government of Canada, they put you through some other tests. It will either be a writing comprehension test or what they call a judgment test. A judgment test is 300 scenarios at the office—it could be conflict, ethics—and they give you five multiple-choice answers and they ask you which is the best one to pursue.
I've taken two of these judgment tests. I passed; however, I find the judgment test actually quite difficult because, again, we are a very direct organization. We are trained—I was in for 34 years—so we handle things firm, fair and friendly. We call it the three Fs. We handle it quickly. Sometimes, yes, you need to go to your boss, but most of the time you can handle it at your level, or one level higher. The way they word things, it's “Janet has done something very bad”—
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Mr. Harrison, could I get you to wrap up very quickly? It's only because we have very limited time before we have to conclude the meeting.
Is that it?
As an Individual
Yes. I would just say that most of the questions are civilian-based within a civilian office state. Sometimes they don't correlate to us, that's all.