Evidence of meeting #37 for Veterans Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was report.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Gilles-A. Perron Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Marshall.
I have another question that my colleague, Roger Gaudet, raised. There is a group of war veterans that are especially dear to my heart. They are young people in their 30s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Could your study be broadened in order to determine whether or not the Department of Veterans Affairs is taking adequate care of these young war veterans?
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
It could be extended. Again, the council was formed to give advice on these traditional veterans. There was the other council, the Canadian Forces Advisory Council, established for the Canadian Forces to give advice regarding the Canadian Forces veterans. We give advice when we're asked. We could pursue that issue as well, if asked.
I should say there's a lot of research going on now in the department. One thing our council has done is it's been very supportive of increasing the research capacity of Veterans Affairs Canada. They now have a great research unit there. It's home-based, under Dr. David Pedlar in Charlottetown. But there's a strong research group as well at the hospital at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. A lot of research is going on in PTSD that could be supportive of recommendations similar to those we're making in our report.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Thank you very much.
Now we're on to Mr. Shipley with the Conservative Party, for five minutes.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Marshall, for being with us this morning.
I want to go back a little to the 40% who are eligible at this point in time to have the access to the services we're talking about. You're saying that a vet is a vet is a vet, and I think all of us would agree with that.
In your recommendations, do you see from the discussion around this—and I think the answer might be there when I get an opportunity to go through it—that this is a model that can be used not only for our traditional veterans, but also for our new veterans?
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
Yes, we certainly do outline that. I don't know exactly what page it's on either, but we do explicitly suggest that. For one thing, all veterans are aging. Aging is not just something that happens to people over the age of 80. As I mentioned, not for all Canadian Forces veterans, but for all the Canadian Forces clients, their average age is already 53 and climbing. So that's an aging situation.
We do explicitly say in the report that we think the report could be of great use to the so-called younger veterans, or the Canadian Forces veterans, and moreover that is very well recognized by the other veterans groups that have really been strongly supportive in endorsing this report. They see its principles as useful for the Canadian Forces veterans as well.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
As you heard I think from some others, we've been having some preliminary discussions around our health care, starting with PTSD and some of those issues concerning that, and with what we can do in terms of prevention, access, before, after, all of those things that we can actually do to prevent a complete breakdown of an individual and help that person back before they get to that certain stage.
When we talk about the 40% and their having the access to professional people to expand that health and promotion and to early intervention specialists, if we were to open that up, and the other 60% of the ones you're talking about, plus if we talk about the new veterans, the current veterans, to expand that health to the specialists—There's a concern across the country and in the provinces. Where do we get the specialists?
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
Right. These would be specialists in health promotion and disease prevention. Those are two flip sides of the same coin. If you get health promotion going, you're going to prevent disease.
There are a number of training programs across the country producing people who are expert in the area of health promotion itself, so that would be one possibility, but there are other health specialists you could build this on. For example, in the allied health sciences, such as occupational health or physical health, or from nursing, for that matter, there are strong health promotion components now in those health professions that could be tapped.
What we're talking about in terms of Veterans Affairs Canada personnel is that you'd need probably a few actual specialists trained in health promotion, say to a master's level, but then there could be some training of Veterans Affairs Canada personnel in health promotion to the point where they could make the referrals. We would have screening instruments developed, and then they could make referrals to community-based health promotion programs, which exist in many forms across the country.
Where Veterans Affairs Canada would play a real role is by focusing on the health promotion programs that really have demonstrated benefits, rather than ones that just make people feel good.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
I think, too, there are a number of the preventatives that actually take us right through to the natural orthopedic doctors. I think one of the biggest issues is to try to get the preventative, to keep them, and I guess this is part of your report.
Just before I go any further, actually, I want to raise something that you mentioned. I didn't realize that all of this advisory committee was voluntary, and I just think that we as a committee need to commend you on your busy schedules, when we look at the quality of individuals, for taking the time for our veterans and for other people of Canada, for what you've done on a voluntary basis. That's just a comment.
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
Thank you. I'll pass that on.
Conservative
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
The guy with the clock just put his hand up, so I will maybe get another chance. Thank you, Doctor.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
I'm the evil man with the clock.
We will now go to Mr. Valley of the Liberals, for five minutes.
Liberal
Roger Valley Liberal Kenora, ON
Thank you.
I would agree with you, Mr. Chair, you are the evil man with the clock.
Doctor, the report was issued in November. I assume it was put on a website somewhere.
Liberal
Roger Valley Liberal Kenora, ON
I don't believe, from the reception I see from all my colleagues, that any of us had seen this before. I don't know why we missed it. It's our job to understand what's happening with veterans. For whatever reason, we should have looked at it last November. I know we were busy with other schedules, but that's no excuse; we should have paid attention to this before this fact—and if someone has, I apologize to them.
I'm going to take some of your words and I'm going to make a statement, and then I'd like you to correct me. You've said that 234,000 war veterans are still alive and 40% of them are receiving health benefits. The statement I would make is that from what I gather from your comments, all 234,000 war veterans should receive benefits if they need them. Is that statement fair?
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
Yes, it is. I want to emphasize, “if they need them”. Again, a lot of them won't. A lot of people are robust until they die at the age of 90 or whatever and aren't going to need any. So we want and need criteria; we still want criteria of eligibility, but not based on anything other than need.
Liberal
Roger Valley Liberal Kenora, ON
So when we look, again, at the statement I read out before, there's no time for extensive debate. This whole report can be shaken down to that: “if it needs to be”. If they need it, they should have it, that's the criterion for a veteran.
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
That's what we believe. You hit it right.
Liberal
Roger Valley Liberal Kenora, ON
I echo the comments by my colleagues to thank your volunteers.
Has your organization had a chance to discuss your report or the activity or lack of activity since you released it?
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
Yes, we did have one meeting a few months ago in Charlottetown.
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
Yes. At that meeting, we were asked if we would form two committees to help in moving forward with the report. One of them is going to deal with screening. Again, the academic gerontologists and the health services people are familiar with screening. This committee is going to be meeting in about two weeks in Toronto. It is going to be tackling the issue of exactly how the screening instrument would work for this project. Its mission will be to have that report ready for consideration by the council, which is meeting in the first week of July. It meets twice annually as a full council.
The second committee that was established coming out of our meeting this spring, which was an extra meeting we had of council, is on the health promotion aspects, where we think we need to get more precise. That committee will be reporting to the full council in July.
Liberal
Roger Valley Liberal Kenora, ON
When they report to the full council, if they're public reports, would it be possible to send them to the clerk of our committee? We all acknowledge this is a new committee and maybe we're not on all the mailing lists we should be, but we would like to know if there's any public comment out of those committees or your overall committee when you meet. It would be nice for us to know.
Chair, Gerontological Advisory Council
I agree with you. Since we give our advice, effectively, to the minister through this structure, my job would be to pass that on as a request. I can't release reports myself, but I can recommend that they be released. I'm sure they'd be happy to do so.
Liberal
Roger Valley Liberal Kenora, ON
You could release them if they're public, but I agree with you, you have to go through the channels. We'll make that request to the minister himself too. When it's public we'd like to know about it, and again, we'll have to do a better job of keeping track of your work.
Thank you for all your commitment. Thank your volunteers from us.