Government Operations Committee on Dec. 7th, 2023

[Ryan Weiss]

An important point of clarification is that the plan is the Government of Canada's plan. We are simply administering it as the contract holder.

I do think it might be better to document those full outlines of the improvements. I do know, just for reference and for context, that there was some addition made specifically to gender-affirming care—this is the first time this has been introduced under this plan—and Treasury Board spoke a little bit about the consultation they had with various groups in the community to support that.

I do know as well that there were increases to some other benefits amounts. For example, we talked a little bit about physiotherapy, but there have been increases in other paramedical amounts to modernize the plan and to bring—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Mr. Weiss, I'm afraid that is our time, but perhaps we can get back to it in the next round.

Mrs. Vignola, go ahead, please, for six minutes.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Weiss and Ms. Vu, thank you for being here today.

You said you encountered surprises during the transition, and you had to hire more people.

How many employees were assigned to administer the plan on July 1, and how many employees do you have doing that now?

[Thi Vu]

I'm going to ask Mr. Weiss to answer that. He'll be able to give you more information about staffing.

[Ryan Weiss]

Thank you very much, Ms. Vu.

To answer the honourable member's question, by January 1 we project that we will have increased by several hundred the number of people who were supporting this plan on July 1. That includes primarily additional agents to process claims more efficiently and additional agents to answer calls in a more expeditious fashion.

Again, several hundred more people have been recruited to support the plan since we started on July 1.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

It's well and good to say that you hired several hundred more people, but you could say that if you had started with two employees processing claims and you were now up to 702.

I asked you how many employees you started with and how many you have now.

[Thi Vu]

I just want to say that Canada Life is committed to providing excellent service to plan members in the official language of their choice. I can tell you today that the service we provide to francophones—

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Sorry to cut you off. I don't mean to be rude, but I asked you for specific numbers. If you don't have them, you can tell me you don't have them right now, and I will ask you to get back to the committee with the information, plain and simple. Let's avoid the bowing and scraping, shall we?

[Thi Vu]

Of course.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you.

Since you brought up francophones, you both know that francophones have had a lot of trouble with Canada Life. They weren't getting answers to their questions. When people have questions about their health, they really prefer asking them in the official language of their choice.

Can you tell me how many of your current staff are able to serve francophones properly? If you can't tell me now, could you please provide the information later?

[Thi Vu]

We will, of course, get back to you with that information after the meeting.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you very much.

You talked about encountering challenges you didn't anticipate, challenges that still exist. Can you name one or two of the challenges that led to such a huge number of calls? This also caused delays in claims processing.

[Thi Vu]

As we mentioned, certain factors contributed to longer wait times. I can tell you that the many changes to the plan taking place at the same time as the transition to Canada Life is the reason.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I was talking about unforeseen events. The multiple changes you are talking about were not unexpected. They were negotiated.

What unforeseen challenges did you encounter during the transition period?

[Thi Vu]

I'll give you an example. The high call volumes we experienced in July were unexpected. On July 1, we were receiving eight times as many calls as the previous provider, so I would say it was the number of calls that took us by surprise.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you.

Personally, I don't understand how that came as a surprise. With the switchover to a new administrator and the changes in coverage all at the same time, you should have anticipated calls were going to come in. Maybe I just think differently. That's possible.

Mr. Weiss, you said earlier that physiotherapy benefits had not been reduced. Rather, they had been adjusted. Many families need physiotherapy on a weekly basis, such as workers injured on the job. To them, it doesn't matter whether you call it an adjustment or a reduction—it's the same thing. Would you agree?

[Ryan Weiss]

To the honourable member's question, we are just administering the program as per the planned directive and the negotiated changes. I probably wouldn't be in the best position to comment on whether that was perceived positively or negatively, but we do know that some members are frustrated with the changes.

Certainly, we have been working collaboratively with the government not only to increase the level of understanding of those changes in communication but also to give people avenues and escalated support if they have continued questions so that we can help them understand the new planned provisions and how they may work through that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you, Mr. Weiss.

Mr. Johns, please go ahead for six minutes.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

It's a question I also had for the earlier panel. Can you confirm that there are no gaps in benefits and that you're equal to or better than the previous plan under Sun Life?

[Ryan Weiss]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's an important question from the member. [Technical difficulty—Editor]

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

I'm sorry. I can't hear you.

[Ryan Weiss]

[Technical difficulty—Editor] to ours. I think that's been talked about a little bit, but again, to reiterate—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Can I interrupt you, Mr. Weiss? We lost you there for a few seconds. Can you just start the sentence from the beginning?

[Ryan Weiss]

My apologies. Can you hear me okay now?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

It's loud and clear.