National Defence Committee on June 2nd, 2023

[Dr. Andrew P.W. Bennett, Director, Cardus]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank you and the committee members for the opportunity to appear before the standing committee this morning to speak about what I would see as an under-examined aspect of health and transition services provided to Canadian Armed Forces personnel and veterans, and that is their spiritual or pastoral care.

While I am not a chaplain and have not provided pastoral care to veterans or armed forces personnel, as an ordained deacon in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, I regularly provide pastoral care and spiritual direction to men and women from a variety of backgrounds and situations.

I'm also able to speak on these questions given my previous role as Canada's ambassador for religious freedom and my ongoing work in this area.

In the Christian tradition, as well as in the Jewish, Muslim and certain other traditions, we understand that the human being has a tripartite nature composed of a body, mind and soul. Each part works in concert with the other two to ensure a healthy and thriving person.

When the body is weakened by injury or disease, it can impact the psychological well-being of the person. Various forms of psychological distress and mental illness can have impacts on the physical body. Likewise, when a person is experiencing existential crises related to their search for meaning and truth, it can impact the physical and mental aspects of the person as well.

We all confront in our lives certain existential questions such as, who am I? Who am I in relationship to others? Who am I in relationship to the world? Who am I in relationship to God or to an ultimate truth according to a given philosophical tradition? The ongoing wrestling with these questions is part of our humanity.

These questions often come particularly to the fore in times of personal crisis or in times when we place ourselves in harm's way, in conflict, as do the members of the Canadian Armed Forces on a daily basis. All of us are hard-wired to seek meaning, to discover what is true and then to govern our lives according to that truth. In short, we cannot separate out our rational and physical selves from our spiritual self.

Given this reality, it is critical that, in addition to services and treatments that support the physical and mental health of Canadian Armed Forces' personnel and veterans, they also be given access to high-quality care for their spiritual health. The skilled personnel of the Royal Canadian Chaplain Service are at the forefront of providing this care, as well as reflecting the growing religious diversity of the armed forces.

These men and women, both clerical and lay, collectively play an indispensable role in the ongoing spiritual health of our men and women in uniform and after they have left service. Pastoral care is also indispensable to aid in spiritual healing, healing that has beneficial outcomes for the whole person.

In providing essential spiritual care to CAF personnel and veterans, chaplains must be able to provide that care and counsel fully informed by the teachings and beliefs of their particular faith. They must be fully able to exercise their freedom of religion in doing so and thus minister to others in a way that is integrated and authentic, bearing faithful witness to what they confess to be true. This freedom must not be unduly hindered such as through a mandated requirement to adhere to a prevailing secular creed or to conform to a political ideology of any stripe. These religious truths are timeless.

The essential work of armed forces' chaplains of all religious and philosophical traditions must be protected and encouraged, all while upholding freedom of religion and conscience for chaplains and those whom they serve.

As such, I'd like to recommend that this committee and its report on this study call upon the Minister of National Defence to firmly and publicly reject the discriminatory sections of recommendation 6, “Re-Defining Chaplaincy”, contained in the April 25, 2022, final report of the Minister of National Defence’s advisory panel on systemic racism and discrimination.

Further, this standing committee could recommend that all Canadians, regardless of their religious or philosophical tradition, whether that be theistic, secular humanist or atheistic, be supported through the pastoral services of CAF chaplains as they serve our country.

I would also recommend the establishment of a permanent committee of religious leaders who report jointly to the Minister of National Defence and to the chaplain general on an annual basis regarding the integrity of the Royal Canadian Chaplain Service. Among its principal roles, the permanent committee would serve as a consultative body to ensure and promote ways of advancing and maintaining the religious diversity with the service, serve as an arm's-length representative body of religious leaders and investigate and report on violations of the freedom of religion or conscience within the service.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Dr. Bennett.

We'll go to Dr. McDaniel for the final five minutes, please.

[Matthew McDaniel, National Clinical Director, Veterans Transition Network]

Hello and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I'd like to acknowledge that I'm on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

My name is Dr. Matthew McDaniel. I'm the clinical director at the Veterans Transition Network, or VTN. We are a registered charity that provides counselling and transition programs for veterans and service members of the Canadian Armed Forces across Canada.

I have 20 years of experience working with people facing under-supported mental health disorders, with a focus on frontline workers, first responders and veterans. I see first-hand the cost of these groups falling through the cracks. When that happens, the first responder or the veteran pays a heavy cost and so do their families and their communities. This impact spreads across our society.

My doctoral research centred on supporting these at-risk populations. I joined VTN to try to address and mitigate systemic risk. I oversee our highly effective transition programming as we continue to expand services. We're attempting to reduce the rippling personal and societal impacts of impeded transition.

The Veterans Transition Network was initially developed at the University of British Columbia in 1998 and was refined over 15 years. We were established as a charity in 2012 in order to expand our services free of charge. We offer specialized transition services for both men and women in English and French. Last year, 20% of our programs were in French and 40% were for women.

My testimony will focus on recommendations for the in-house transition programming developed by the Canadian Armed Forces transition group. These recommendations are based on our years of experience helping veterans and service members resolve trauma, improve family relationships and transition into civilian life.

I have three major recommendations to make.

The first is that transition services must be specialized. Research indicates that most veterans transition relatively successfully into civilian life. However, between 25% and 38% of veterans report difficulty transitioning. This struggle is correlated with some specific service factors. These are medical release from the military, including release for mental health conditions, longer service history and service in the junior ranks, the regular forces, the army and combat arms.

In addition, women veterans often struggle more significantly in their transition because of the high rate of military sexual trauma that they experience. Women are a minority in the military and this affects their service experience and transition. Women often experience something called “sanctuary trauma”, which is a traumatic injury from a person or institution that's believed to be safe. This requires specialized programming to address.

If transition services are going to be successful, they must be built with the needs of these groups specifically in mind.

The second recommendation is that transition services must be involved and proactive. One of our program founders, Dr. Marv Westwood, says that you don't talk your way into PTSD, and you can't talk your way out of it. The same is true of military service and transition. Veterans did not talk their way into military service skills. They engaged with practical behavioural training. They need the same as they transition into civilian life.

Transition is not simply a change in employment. It's a deeply significant psychological and social process. Helping someone who is struggling with that process requires an involved approach.PowerPoint alone is not enough. Active skills rehearsal in a connected social environment is necessary. For transition services to be valuable for those groups who need it most, it must involve a hands-on approach that includes active, socially situated skills rehearsal.

Third, transition needs social support. The common factor for all psychological treatments is social support. The relationship with the veteran's therapist is pivotal and veteran relationships with the supportive people in their lives are also pivotal. When service members leave the military, they often leave behind their dominant social support network. This hinders their ability to cope with transition challenges. Building social support outside the military community becomes crucial for successful transition. Group-based programs address this need by jump-starting social support skills and connection outside of a military context.

A successful transition service must also incorporate components designed to enhance veteran social support.

Thank you for your time. I welcome your questions here.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Dr. McDaniel.

We have a six-minute round, but I think that, in light of the time, we're going to have to make it a five-minute round, starting with Mr. Kelly.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Thank you, witnesses.

Dr. McDaniel, one of the initiatives of your organization was to financially support Afghan interpreters.

There were media reports that, after your initiative wound down, the federal government was taking steps to reduce its support and reduce its relocation program. Is there a need for the federal government to reverse this decision and increase efforts to ensure the safety of these individuals?

[Matthew McDaniel]

Despite the shift in the landscape around this, we are continuing to do that work. We would love to continue doing that work, and any support that the government or other groups could give us in doing that would be fantastic.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

You're to be commended for the work, to be sure.

Would you not agree that it's really the responsibility of government to support this work and ensure that the work is undertaken and that we protect those whose lives continue to be at risk for their support of Canadians?

[Matthew McDaniel]

I think that for all of the people in Canada who are making sacrifices for the country and the people involved with supporting Canada, we have a responsibility to be supporting all those groups. That goes for our veterans as well as the folks we are supporting around the transition out of Afghanistan.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

During our last meeting on this study, the veterans ombudsman, Mr. Lick said, “In 2016 we released reports on three investigations: one on operational stress injuries in the primary reserves and two focusing on the process of transition from military to civilian life.” He also went on to say that these reports between them contained eight recommendations, seven of which were accepted by the minister, but none were fully implemented.

First of all, would you agree with that assessment?

Do you want to comment on the importance of implementing the recommendations of our ombudsman, and also, indeed, those from parliamentary committees that have also made recommendations to the government in support of veterans in transition?

[Matthew McDaniel]

I and a lot of people would love it if all of those recommendations were fully followed through. I am aware that these things take time, and sometimes there are complications involved. All I can say is that I'm in full support of our continuing to work on those recommendations.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

These recommendations were made in 2016 and are not implemented. Does that concern you, that seven years after these recommendations were made, none have been implemented?

[Matthew McDaniel]

I don't know if “concern” is the right word, but it certainly requires a lot of patience. As I said, I'm in support of continuing to work on those, even though this much time has passed,

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Do I have any time left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

You have two minutes.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Wow.

The transition process, let's us talk about that for CAF members. What would you say, on behalf of your organization, are the most important or the major issues facing CAF members transitioning?

[Matthew McDaniel]

We see two major categories of concern in transitioning. The first has to do with the context and culture change between working with the armed forces and working with civilian populations. There are norms around communications, around presentation and around a mission-critical attitude that requires some assistance with communication skills and with presenting themselves—these very skilled, knowledgeable people who exit our armed forces—to a civilian population. I would call this transition challenges.

The second category, which we see most often, has to do with occupational stress injuries, mental health concerns and physical health concerns that require ongoing support, and sometimes, in the case of something like PTSD, some targeted interventions that can help reduce the effects of those occupational stress injuries, so that these folks are able to function better once they're released.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Do you have a specific process fix that you would like to get on the record as a potential recommendation from this committee?

[Matthew McDaniel]

Of the three recommendations that I made, they're all quite important, but I think the one I really want to drive home is that transition services really do need to be integrated. They need to involve active skills rehearsal, and they need to involve social support. It can't just be some kind of online workshop. It can't just be some kind of PowerPoint situation. Actually, much like entering the military with practical behavioural training in order to learn the skills to enter the military, they need practical behavioural training in order to transition out of the military.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Kelly.

Mr. Sousa, you have five minutes, please.

[Charles Sousa, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for their testimony.

Dr. Azad, you and I had a chance to speak last week. I appreciated your comments and your delivery today.

My questions are to Mr. McDaniel. I was really taken by your recommendations. I thought they were excellent. I really appreciated your notion of integrated care and proactive care. It's almost as though you're advising us to take preventative measures in the support of the transition.

Are the trends of mental health over the past year consistent, or are they expanded in CAF and in the transition relative to the general population? Do you see that changing? Explain to us where we're at here.

[Matthew McDaniel]

It's really hard to address mental health concerns if society writ large does not acknowledge that those mental health concerns exist. We've seen over the years more and more acknowledgement of some of the mental health challenges that not only people in the civilian populations but in the military populations struggle with. The biggest example is PTSD, which used to be shell shock and which was nothing before that. We are similarly seeing certain things now starting to be acknowledged so that we can help with them. I named something called “sanctuary trauma”. That's not something that I would bet most of the people here have heard as a term before, but it's quite apt for what some people experience with the military.

The other thing that we're looking at much more now is moral injury, which has to do with when people participate in an action or behaviour that goes against their ideals, their values or their deeply held beliefs about how life should be. When something happens that contradicts those, a person can go through an identity crisis and, in fact, a crisis about whether they can live life in the same way anymore.

You mentioned preventative care. If we can get in and address some of those mental health concerns I just named, including PTSD, moral injury and sanctuary trauma, before they fester, we can prevent a whole tail of other challenges that happen, including relationship and family breakups and unemployment. Homelessness can be connected to a lack of preventative care in some situations.

I think I'm kind of running with this answer, so I'm going to stop myself right now.

[Charles Sousa, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

I'm very interested in it, because, by what you've identified, it seems that there are more at-risk situations in CAF and in the transition than there are in the general population. You're talking about cases of 25% to 30%. How do you then manage that preventative or that proactive measure, like your recommendation number two? That's a big piece. How do you do that?

[Matthew McDaniel]

Yes, I would love to see this integrated on a policy level, where programs such as the ones that VTN offer are something that's available every time, including screenings, whether just for transition challenges or more occupational stress challenges, to make sure of hitting each member as they leave the service rather than waiting until that member expresses a distress to the point where more intensive and expensive interventions are necessary.

[Charles Sousa, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Your recommendation number two helps with regard to the social support and building of relationships, because people gather through your sanctuary care or the fact that they're feeling neglected or lost as a result of moving out of that network and support systems.

[Matthew McDaniel]

If all of us think about the things that make it easier for us to meet the challenges in our lives, I would bet that we're all thinking about the important people in our lives and how they make it okay for us to face those challenges. Similarly, armed forces members are going from a very socially integrated, tight community to a place where that's not guaranteed for them anymore, and we can do a lot of good by helping them, as I say, jump-start that social connection in a non-military context.