Government Operations Committee on Sept. 22nd, 2026

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Freeman. I have a short time, and I want to allow a colleague to ask a question as well.

Were you consulted? Was Veterans Affairs Canada consulted on this decision, which impacts veterans and military families? It is a building that was dedicated for years to serving those families. Were you consulted about this decision, yes or no?

[Mitch Freeman]

I can say that to the best of my knowledge, I am not personally aware of a conversation. The question should be redirected to our CAF colleagues, who are responsible for their real property.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

I'll turn it over to Ms. Cobena for the remainder of my time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Go ahead, Ms. Cobena.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

Veterans Affairs Canada created the women veterans council to ensure that women veterans had a meaningful voice in shaping policy. We have since learned that five of its 12 members have resigned, citing a lack of conditions necessary to achieve meaningful outcomes. This is nearly half the council. Could you tell us what went wrong?

[Mitch Freeman]

Thank you so much.

With respect to the women veterans council, that council was put in place.... I believe you're making reference to the change in membership earlier this year. A number of members decided they would not resubmit or volunteer for continued participation in the committee.

As such, the current committee is functioning quite well at this time. There are six members—

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

There was an article in which they explained why they were walking away. They walked away from the council. Are you aware of what the issues were that caused them to walk away?

[Mitch Freeman]

As mentioned earlier, the committee has a foundational aspect to provide advice and guidance to the Minister of Veterans Affairs. My understanding is that a number of members did not feel they would continue forward with the committee and therefore made decisions to move on. The committee continues today. There are six active members providing advice to the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I'm sorry. Just to be clear, you are not aware of the issues and there were no changes subsequent to these five members walking away.

[Mitch Freeman]

As I mentioned, the women veterans council remains in place today. There are six members. They provide advice and guidance to the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I'm going to interrupt you, Mr. Freeman. I don't do this often, but it was a very direct question: Are you aware of the issues or the reasons for this? I think the committee would appreciate a direct answer instead of just hearing that the committee still exists.

[Mitch Freeman]

Absolutely, Mr. Chair.

In this time frame, I am not aware. I was not involved in the process. I was not the ADM responsible at that point in time.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Chair, just quickly, I would simply request—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

We're past our time.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

We're quite a bit past our time.

I'll now go to Mr. Gasparro and then Ms. Fancy.

I'm sure we'll have a bit of extra time for you two as well.

[Vince Gasparro, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Great. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll yield the first portion of my time to Ms. Fancy.

[Jessica Fancy-Landry, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Nice. Thank you very much.

Once again, I am bringing the topic back to housing, which is the purpose of the motion today.

I'd like to do a follow-up question from my last round, Ms. Pham. This is in regard to how you measure the success of a housing initiative. Previously, you had talked about some of these wraparound services, couch surfing, what is homelessness and different indicators. Let's look at how we measure the success of a program. Is it simply whether someone is housed, or do you also look at long-term outcomes, such as employment, education and independent living?

Thank you.

[Nathalie Pham]

The outcomes really depend on the veteran. Each veteran may have different outcomes, depending on what they desire. As you talked about, some will seek housing and some will seek vocational aspects. We start with where the veteran is, at point A, and then we work with the veteran to achieve their highest level of independence. Their highest level of independence is very different. We have people with a lot of outcomes they want to achieve. We will support them throughout the journey.

Again, when you think about it, when you engage with Veterans Affairs, it's not that you start and when you reach an outcome we say goodbye. It's a very long journey. The level of commitment from the veteran can fluctuate over time. You may have outcomes you've reached so that you don't need to engage with Veterans Affairs as much. Maybe a couple of months later you have new needs. We're there throughout the rest of your life and to support you on whatever the outcome is.

We measure the outcomes based on the seven domains of well-being. Each veteran goes through a different journey. We look at their physical health, their mental health, their environment and their social environment. All of those domains may have different outcomes for each veteran.

[Jessica Fancy-Landry, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Gasparro.

[Vince Gasparro, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

That's great. Thank you.

I'd like to pivot from that line of questioning on wraparound services.

You previously mentioned, Mr. Freeman, that there are currently about 461,000 veterans in our country. If I recall correctly, a significant percentage of those are members of the RCMP as well. Is that correct?

[Mitch Freeman]

The 2021 census question asked for military service.

[Vince Gasparro, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

That's great. Thank you.

There are 461,000 veterans in our country, and there are about 1,700 who have experienced homelessness over the past 12 months, according to your stats. I think we can all agree that one homeless veteran is one too many.

I'd like to talk about the wraparound services, because homelessness and the causes of homelessness are complex issues. I'd like to refer back to a May 2019 Veterans Affairs report, entitled “Moving Towards Ending Homelessness Among Veterans”. Can you talk about some of the findings from that report and some of the programmatic support being provided to our veterans to try to mitigate their experiences with regard to homelessness?

[Mitch Freeman]

I can speak to a number of programs that are in place post the 2019 conversation.

First, the veteran homelessness program is the most significant aspect, which came online a number of years ago in order to address veteran homelessness, as I mentioned earlier, through our colleagues at HICC.

Second, we have the veterans emergency fund. We spoke about that a bit earlier as well. This is a fund available to veterans who are facing immediate financial crisis. They may be fully capable. They may just be dealing with a time when the furnace needs a significant repair or replacement and they don't have the funds to do that, and without solving that particular problem, it would lead into some other situation around the risk of homelessness or homelessness itself. The veterans emergency fund is there to assist veterans in this immediate financial crisis situation.

Finally, subsequent to that, there's also the veteran and family well-being fund. This is another fund that we have, and it supports organizations across the country to do innovative things. A significant portion of the fund, over the last number of years, has been allocated to organizations that are assisting with veteran homelessness.

Those coming together have provided actions, since the 2019 report, to enhance support and reduce and diminish veteran homelessness. From the data we're seeing from Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, the number is getting smaller.

[Vince Gasparro, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

That's great.

I'm good. Thanks, Chair.