National Defence Committee on March 27th, 2013

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

Would that be a potential solution? I know that civilian doctors frown upon the obligation to serve in a specific province.

However, could that be a solution to the problem in the armed forces? Do you feel that there is no problem in terms of retaining surgeons or physicians?

[Col Homer Tien]

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question.

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

In the civilian world, physicians leave certain provinces for others—and Quebec is one such example. Imposing minimum timeframes for retaining doctors is frowned upon.

Do you think there is a retention problem in the military world? Could increasing or changing the time constraints help resolve that issue, if you think there is a problem?

[Col Homer Tien]

I'm not sure if there's absolutely a retention problem. What I can speak to is that in terms of the size, if there is a retention problem, I believe it's actually improving.

I would use as a metric for that the fact that perhaps ten years ago there were huge signing bonuses for civilian physicians to join the Canadian Forces. We had an obvious problem of retention, and people were getting out. To my understanding, this has now gone by the wayside.

To me, then, that would be an indication that if there is a retention problem, it's much improved compared with ten years ago.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Thank you. Time has expired.

Colonel Tien, I understand that the Canadian team at the Role 3 multinational medical unit in Afghanistan, which you were a part of, was recognized internationally by NATO. Could you just fill us in a little bit about the award you received and why the Canadian team was recognized?

[Col Homer Tien]

I'm actually a little embarrassed—I know we did receive an award—perhaps I could speak to my backbencher here, in terms of the name of the award. I know that General Bernier went to receive this, and it was in recognition of the great care that was provided at the Role 3 by the Canadian Forces Health Services. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't remember the name of it.

[A voice]

It was the Larrey award.

[Col Homer Tien]

It was the Larrey award, named for a French surgeon from Napoleonic times.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Perfect.

On behalf of the committee, I want to thank you for your service to Canada and your service to your fellow soldiers in making sure they receive the proper care and attention in the line of duty, and for all the great work you have done and continue to do for the Canadian armed forces.

With that, we're going to suspend and invite our other witnesses up. Again, we'll try to do that as quickly as possible.

[Col Homer Tien]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

We're suspended.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

I'm going to bring this back to order. We're going to continue moving along.

We're joined now by Colonel Fletcher. Colonel John Fletcher is the acting chaplain general. He's joined by Major Shaun Yaskiw, who is the reserve chaplain at the directorate of chaplain operations.

I'll give you a quick background on Padre Fletcher. He first enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1980. He got his Bachelor of Science degree from the RMC back in 1984, and was commissioned to the rank of second lieutenant. After RMC he went on, in 1987, to get a Master of Divinity degree at Trinity College at the University of Toronto, and was ordained as an Anglican deacon in the diocese of Fredericton. He went into full-time service in the Canadian Forces chaplaincy in 1989. He's been posted to Halifax and Calgary, and was promoted in November to archdeacon of the Anglican Military Ordinariate of Canada, and serves as honorary assistant in the Anglican parish of All Saints' Anglican Church Westboro in the diocese of Ottawa.

Welcome, Padre.

Welcome, Major Yaskiw.

We're looking forward to your opening comments.

[Colonel John Fletcher, Acting Chaplain General, Department of National Defence]

s

Thank you.

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, as it was mentioned, I am Colonel Fletcher. I currently serve as Director of Chaplaincy Strategic Support, which is essentially a chief of staff role within the Office of the Chaplain General.

I'm humbled to have been selected for promotion this summer, and God willing, I will assume the duties and responsibilities of chaplain general in September.

It's an honour and privilege for me to be at this hearing today as a representative of the chaplain general and of our chaplain branch. I want to thank the members of the committee for all the work you have done to study the many issues related to the care of our ill and our injured personnel. This is very important work, and your faithfulness and commitment to it, and your faithfulness and commitment to our men and women in uniform, are deeply appreciated. I sincerely hope that our presence here today will be of some assistance to you in that work.

All of our chaplains are qualified religious professionals who have been endorsed by their faith groups, recruited by the Canadian Forces, and mandated by the chaplain general to provide comprehensive religious and spiritual support, advice, and care to our men and women in uniform and to their families, and to thereby contribute to their spiritual well-being and readiness, which in turn enhance the effectiveness of the Canadian armed forces.

The chaplaincy has approximately 220 Regular Force members, and about 120 Reserve personnel. We come from over 20 different Christian denominations and represent the Jewish and Muslim faith groups, as well. Together, we are committed to providing religious and spiritual services in both official languages, and in all military settings.

The majority of our chaplains work at the unit level and in deploy operations. The relationship that's developed between a chaplain and the members of his or her unit can be profound, spiritually intense, and from our perspective, always deeply privileged.

Our reserve chaplains provide a critical connection between our reservists and the diverse support programs available to them. As trusted faith group leaders within their local communities, and as trained military chaplains, reserve chaplains act as advocates and helping professionals in times of joy and sorrow alike.

Our chaplaincy is recognized internationally for its leadership in multi-faith approaches to military chaplaincy, and we're committed to developing and expanding this expertise.

All of our chaplains are expected to provide a comprehensive ministry by facilitating and accommodating the religious beliefs and spirituality of those entrusted to their care, without compromising our own theological beliefs and without imposing our own religious doctrine or practice on others.

All of our chaplains are professionally trained to the master's degree level, and in some cases of specialization, beyond that level. We are experienced in spiritual leadership within our own faith groups, and we remain professionally accountable to those faith groups, throughout our military service.

In addition to providing ministry on our unit lines, duty chaplains respond to after-hours emergency calls and provide vital spiritual support and referrals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Reserve chaplains provide pastoral care and support to military personnel and their families in parts of our country where there are no regular force assets.

Over the past decade, our military has expanded and enriched its programs aimed at preventing, identifying, and treating mental health issues, and supporting those who face them. Strategically, the chaplaincy supports these programs by employing chaplains in key areas, such as the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Germany, and as part of our third location decompression teams.

Selected chaplains pursue advanced studies in pastoral counselling, equipping them for work as chaplain clinicians within the multidisciplinary care teams serving our operational trauma stress support centres. At the tactical level, chaplains have also been assigned to work closely with the new joint personnel support units and integrated personnel support centres in order to provide care to our injured personnel, and to support the staff of these units in an effort to help mitigate the effects of compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout.

When any one member of our community is hurt, all of us share in the pain. When one member of our community is able to find healing, our entire community finds healing. Part of the woundedness experienced by our soldiers, sailors, and air force personnel is spiritual in nature, and part of their healing is also spiritual.

Working alongside our partners in the mental health community under the direction and leadership of a caring and committed chain of command, and with your support and engagement, we are making a profound difference in the lives of those who have been injured while serving our nation in uniform.

I am grateful for this opportunity to speak with you about the important work that we, as chaplains, do each and every day to support our ill and injured personnel and their families.

If I may beg your indulgence to take just another moment, I would like to acknowledge the other chaplains who are with us today. At the table with me, of course, is Major Shaun Yaskiw. Shaun is a reserve chaplain, an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. Shaun is the member of our staff who is responsible for reserve and cadet chaplaincy. He has a very unique experience and perspective to share.

Also with us today in a supporting role, we have Lieutenant-Colonel Barbara Putnam, who is a Baptist pastor and the deputy director of chaplaincy services, responsible for chaplain recruiting, education, training, and policy. And last, but not least, is Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Gauthier, who is a Roman Catholic pastoral associate and our deputy director of chaplain operations. Andre is also a trained specialist in pastoral counselling. Prior to joining our staff just last month, he was employed in the trauma stress clinic in Valcartier.

All three of these chaplains are veterans of our mission in Afghanistan. They are extremely experienced and capable chaplain leaders. I'm blessed to have them as part of my staff, and grateful for their presence with us today.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Thank you very much, Colonel.

I think it is important that we have you here as witnesses. We've talked about the physical injuries, and we're talking about the mental health stresses, the operational stress injuries that have occurred in the field, and of course there is the spiritual healing that has to occur as well. It's great to have you here as witnesses.

Mr. Harris, you can kick us off with five minutes.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks to both of you for joining us and to your colleagues who have joined as support in identifying the range of services provided. Of course, ill and injured soldiers need spiritual care, as well as physical and mental health care, and thank you for that.

I know that part of your role is that of advocate, and I know that in many cases the chaplain is the first point of call. We've heard a number of times that particularly the people suffering psychological injury are afraid to come forward. They're concerned about their career, about it being a career-ending move, etc., so you and your colleagues are the first point of call. I understand that it would be a difficult situation for you to be in, so I'd like you to comment on that, your role there, and how you get them to get the help they need.

Second, we just heard from Colonel Tien that in studies of deaths in the military over the past 20 years, suicide is I think in the top four. It's very obviously a concern as the cause of death for anyone, and it would be particularly so for faith-based professionals such as yourselves in terms of understanding the despair involved. I'm just wondering whether you share the same concern about the level of suicide amongst our forces.

Also, what needs to be done to improve the situation? What more care do they need? What more attention do they need? What more help do they need?

[Col John Fletcher]

Thank you.

It is my understanding, even though as indicated the number of suicides is one of the leading causes of death within the Canadian Forces, that statistically the number of suicides in our population isn't drastically different from that across the country. That said—

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

If I may interrupt, we have heard of cases where people have tried three, four, and five times and then have succeeded, so they do identify sometimes pretty early.

[Col John Fletcher]

Absolutely, and every instance in which someone is experiencing that level of despair, cannot see another way out, and opts for that as the solution to end their pain is tragic. Across the nation and across our Canadian Forces, anything that we can do to take away the stigma of mental pain, mental anguish, needs to be done.

Certainly, our chaplains, our front-line workers in dealing with military personnel who are suffering any kind of trauma or family crisis, ask how we can assist them in accessing the care that might be available to them, that they might need to mitigate those circumstances, and that they might find to be a more healthy outcome and a more positive outcome to their problems.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Are you satisfied with the help they get?

[Col John Fletcher]

I'm very satisfied that the help is there for them. What troubles me is that, despite very strong efforts on the leadership's part and on the part of peer support, there still remains stigma.

People are afraid to acknowledge their hurt and their need for assistance, so anything that we can do to help encourage them.... We do that primarily by establishing a relationship with them first. Our chaplains are deployed at the unit level, so they're working with these personnel day in and day out. They try to get to know them and to be known by them.

When they're struggling with an issue, it's very difficult for them to leave unit lines, walk across, go into a mental health clinic or a doctor's office, and acknowledge that they have those challenges. That first step is challenging for them. Coming to their chaplain in the unit, whom they know and they work with, is an easier first step. That chaplain often is doing some triage work. You're helping them to see that sharing that concern with the chaplain didn't make it worse and that sharing it with the other caregiving professionals won't make it worse either.

We accompany them. We help to bridge them in their need, to meet them in their need, and we bridge them to the resources that are available to them. Sadly, we are not successful in every instance. Sadly, there are cases where that doesn't happen. We have to continue to strive to make people aware of the resources that are there, to help them find the ability to acknowledge their pain, to seek out the care that is there for them, and to journey with them through that.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Thank you.

Mr. Opitz, it's your turn.

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Padre, it's delightful to have you here today. Padre and I served in LFCA headquarters together back in the day. I know the challenges you faced there, including some of those godless, soulless people we refer to as engineers.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

They're best treated with holy water and a cross.

Thank you so much for being here. I truly know the challenges you face. On a serious note, I know how hard it is to deal with a lot of the troops, especially through all the deployments you've been on, and through the early years especially, as we got into Bosnia, which were some of the more challenging years.

Padre, for the sake of the committee, what is the role of the chaplain? How do you support our men and women in uniform? You might want to describe the chaplaincy on each base—because there's a lot of work to do on each base—whether you're deployed, and especially for the rear party. Speaking of the rear party, what are some of the challenges you face, being among those first approaching the families and notifying them of a fatality? Can you talk about some of those issues?

[Col John Fletcher]

We're structured as teams—that's key—and not just chaplain teams that are multi-confessional, multi-faith ecumenical teams, but interdisciplinary teams. We work hand in hand with the chain of command, which has the responsibility to care for our men and women in uniform, and all aspects of that care, including their spiritual well-being. We're a primary resource for assisting commanders to do that. We work alongside the medical care professionals, the family resource centres, etc. There is a thorough team approach to how chaplain services are structured at the tactical level on our bases and in deployed settings.

You touch on a really significant issue. Obviously, when chaplains prepare and deploy into theatre with our troops, there's a focus on the unique aspects of that deployed ministry we train them for, equip them for, and support them in.

Another whole side of this equation stays on the home front, and those are the families who worry day and night. Every time there's a story on the news or a death or an injury in theatre, that happens to every one of those families, in a sense. They're all caught up in that. I've often felt that, as challenging as the work is for the chaplains who are deployed in theatre, those who are accompanying the families and supporting them on the home front are sometimes even more challenged.

You are absolutely right that chaplains have an integral role to play in one of the most awful parts of this occupation, and that's joining an officer to go to the door, to the home of a family who has lost a son or daughter, husband or wife. To be with the notification officer at that point, as well as with the family, as we begin to deal with the terrible grief and pain and loss is sacred work, demanding work. We wish we didn't ever have to do it, but we know that our presence there can make a difference, and we seek to do that well.