Evidence of meeting #2 for Veterans Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was community.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
With our ability to provide care in the community through community beds, we're certainly becoming increasingly aware of it, as are the veterans organizations. I don't know where this actually began.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
So it's been a decade or two. The VIP program began in the early eighties, correct?
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
That's right. For those people who are eligible only for the larger contract beds, at Shaughnessy, for instance, we've run a couple of pilot projects to provide them with alternative care in their communities while they're on the wait list. All of them prefer that, as far as I know. Some of them are able to stay at home, and they are not eligible for VIP at home. When asked if they wanted to go into a contract bed while we were giving them this care in the pilot project, they said, “No, we prefer to stay at home if we can”.
That's been going on for the last four or five years. It's really proof, as if any more proof was really needed, that if you give individuals choice they'll take the choice that sometimes costs less but makes a lot more sense for keeping them close to their families and their communities.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
So it's fair to say that all veterans and widows are not treated equally with the existing program in place.
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
That's correct.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Do you think our direction from this review will be more to a needs-based model?
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
That's exactly what we propose--to go to a needs-based model. That would be the policy foundation of the change from a largely entitlement and complex eligibility foundation to a needs-based foundation. Ideally, if you have the need and any eligibility, you can be responded to in the same way.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
So we should try to simplify the complex rules that are in place right now and base it on needs and not eligibility or where you served, as you indicated.
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
That's the hope.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
You mentioned there are about 2,000 veterans passing away each month out of 220,000 across Canada.
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
That's the number of war service veterans, yes.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
How many who are eligible are waiting to go into long-term care beds?
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
It's regional in some senses. In some places we have longer wait lists, but on the whole we don't have a wait list for contract beds. We don't have a lot of trouble placing veterans in community beds, where the majority, some 7,000, are now placed.
Conservative
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
The 20% vacancy rate isn't everywhere. There is a bit of a challenge in Ottawa, as some of you will know, and there's a challenge in New Brunswick that we're looking at.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
We're dealing with an aging population dying with dignity. Is there a hospice house for veterans to deal with the palliative care approach?
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
Palliative care can be provided in our contract beds.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
A lot of the regions now have specific hospice houses.
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
We don't have specific hospice settings for veterans, but we can provide that kind of support for individuals who go into palliative care under the veterans independence program. We also provide palliative care support in the home, which is quite unusual in the Canadian health care system.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
That's excellent. I think that will be welcomed by my constituents and all veterans. You mentioned that in the nineties some minor duct-tape reviews took place, and it's just appalling that this has gone on so long. I'm looking forward to the overhaul the minister and this committee are doing at the moment. The sooner it comes the better.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
I think we've exhausted our questioners list. We have a motion and some other business to get to. So thank you very much to our two witnesses this morning, Mr. Mogan and Mr. Miller. Thanks for your time.
We're going to suspend now and go in camera for a motion and a vote.
Director General, Program and Service Policy Division, Department of Veterans Affairs
Thank you very much, on behalf of Ken Miller and myself.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Thank you so much, gentlemen.
[Proceedings continue in camera]
[Public proceedings resume]
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Anders
Order.
Mr. Shipley just said he was going to bring a notice of motion, so I'm going to let him do that.