Good afternoon, Chairman Anders and committee members.
I would like to thank you for inviting NAVA to be here today. l am honoured to be here beside Claude Petit, a Métis veteran, who at 16 years of age was in combat in Korea as a member of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry. It just stuns me when I read that, because at 16 most of us were looking forward to a driver's licence, not combat.
In considering the veterans health care review and the veterans independence program, the first and central need is to develop a trusting relationship between Veterans Affairs Canada and aboriginal veterans. A legacy of poor relations and broken promises forms the backdrop to contemporary initiatives. When aboriginal veterans return to civilian life, they face racism, discrimination, and federal policies driven by the Indian Act administration.
These veterans were never effectively informed of what was available for them, and this is well described in the Senate report you all have a copy of, “Aboriginal Soldiers After the Wars”. These experiences are the backdrop you must consider when you're thinking about health programs and other initiatives that involve aboriginal veterans. On a personal basis I want to tell you that I think it's shameful that aboriginal veterans, Métis, and non-status Indians were excluded from compensation. I also think it's another shameful thing that the aboriginal veterans monument remains unfinished.
We've heard from the Royal Canadian Legion about the veterans independence program and its complex eligibility criteria. For aboriginal veterans this complexity is further compounded because aboriginal veterans face a lack of sensitivity to their culture, low literacy and numeracy skills, alienation from benefits and programs, lack of support networks, and lack of community helpers.
Back in 1996 the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples reported that the aboriginal veterans received little or no information concerning benefits and services. In 2002 aboriginal veterans petitioned the United Nations Human Rights Committee as a consequence of the denial of available financial and statutory benefits following their military service. The supporting documents in the NAVA package describe in detail the systemic barriers that inhibited the ability of aboriginal veterans to take advantage of benefits and services. Today these remain unresolved issues for aboriginal veterans who are Métis and non-status Indians.
We would like to advise you, in your work as committee members, to give specific consideration to the needs of aboriginal veterans. I think it's important to emphasize that when you are undertaking your considerations and recommendations, you are speaking and listening to aboriginal veterans.
In 2003 the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs released a report entitled called “Honouring the Pledge: Ensuring Long Term Care for Veterans”. This report made no references whatsoever to aboriginal veterans.
Last year the special Senate committee released a report called “Embracing the Challenge of Aging”. This report was also weak on the needs of aboriginal veterans. The needs of aboriginal veterans have been sidestepped by many committees of the House and the Senate. The sober reality of this is that it has increased the uncertainties and anxieties in the minds of many aboriginal veterans.
We need a determined, measured, and sustained approach that's going to produce results. NAVA has provided you with 20 recommendations for your consideration. Most of them are focused on long-term care needs of aboriginal veterans, and these recommendations come from aboriginal veterans.
The call for national standards for long-term care of veterans, including care, benefits, and services, is a very important initiative. These standards can underpin the development of intelligent strategies, policies, and programs. NAVA supports the Canadian Legion in its efforts to see these standards in place. We need to underscore that an aboriginal component should be part of these national standards, as well as all the concomitant strategies, policies, and programs. Aboriginal veterans want to have the capacity to be engaged in the development and implementation of legislation, policies, and programs that have a bearing on aboriginal veterans, but without the resources and capacity, they'll just be pushed to the side.
From a practical perspective, there needs to be aboriginal representation on councils, committees, and subcommittees dealing with the health care needs of veterans.
For example, NAVA is not a member of the Gerontology Advisory Council, which was put together by Veterans Affairs. It's important that there be aboriginal representation on this council and similar bodies, because there are specific health issues and understandings that need to be present in the health promotion programs for aboriginal veterans. Any intervention model for veterans with high-care needs requires an aboriginal component to ensure that there is credibility and commitment to all aboriginal veterans.
Parallel to participation on these bodies, there needs to be long-term capacity so that NAVA can effectively participate. Currently, our capacity is almost nil. NAVA requires the dedication of volunteers such as me to keep the issues alive.
This standing committee needs to send a recommendation that NAVA requires core funding to undertake its activities. This is not a new recommendation; it's the same recommendation that was put forward to the Senate standing committee in 1996, in the document “The Aboriginal Soldier After the Wars”.
I want to draw to your attention and tell you about some interesting things. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that one out of three senior citizens doesn't have the literacy skills to understand prescriptions, medical forms, doctors' instructions, etc. Everyone knows there's low literacy and low numeracy skills among aboriginal veterans, and they don't have health literacy skills. As a result, they're less likely to understand what programs they're entitled to receive support from. They have difficulty following instructions for filling out application forms and all the other paper work associated with this.
The subject has received little attention in Canada. In 2002, the Canadian Public Health Association reported that there was very little knowledge of the link between literacy and health. Perhaps even more worrying is the fact that the CPHA reported that practitioners still do not realize how many people are affected by low literacy skills. Even if an aboriginal veteran can read and comprehend materials from Veterans Affairs, he or she will still have difficulty comprehending the unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts. Literacy needs to be combined with problem-solving ability.
What needs to be done? There needs to be training and educational aids, and communication needs to be undertaken in a culturally sensitive manner and be seen to be part of the existing aboriginal community. Direct input and participation from NAVA will ensure that aboriginal veterans and eligible dependants and survivors are fully benefiting from the existing programs and services. Aboriginal veterans want their cultural experience and traditional roots taken into account when services are designed, communicated, and delivered. Aboriginal veterans need to be engaged in the design and delivery of program initiatives.
As aboriginal veterans age, the sensory changes that come with this stage all have their impact: visual acuity, hearing, agility, mobility, as well as the social and emotional changes. Interpersonal contact needs to take place between trusting individuals. Face-to-face meetings are the preferred source of information exchange for aboriginal veterans, because it's part of the oral tradition of aboriginal people. In many aboriginal communities, veterans will seek understanding and assistance by turning to home care workers, traditional knowledge holders, and community leaders.
To assist your work, NAVA has given you 20 recommendations for the long-term care of aboriginal veterans. In closing, I would like to thank the committee members for your interest and attention to the needs of NAVA.
Thank you.