Veterans Affairs Committee on June 3rd, 2009

[Ron Herbert]

In real terms they will be less. Exactly, yes.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

So do you have any idea, at this point, for Canada Remembers, what you would cut back in 2011-12?

[Keith Hillier]

I can speak to that. There are actually a number of things I think are important to get on the table there, because another member has raised the question.

As the program owner of Canada Remembers, I can assure you there has been no reduction in those services. The discussion that went on earlier at this committee was really around what I will call accounting entries. You would have capital projects like Vimy; we were moving money around to base the project. We had the Vimy ceremony, etc. But in real terms, there has been no reduction in the number of people we have working in Canada Remembers programs from coast to coast in this country.

In fact, as we look forward to the future, some of the areas where we see a saving are in really getting out of the paper business and getting into the electronic business. We feel that, as we become electronic, there are savings to be had by basically developing everything for an Internet-based format, so that everything is available on the web. Those people who want the material can download it, or if they don't want to download it, they can call our 1-800 number and we'd be happy to send them a copy of the material that's on the site.

We are basically not reducing the program, but we're looking at—as my colleague has mentioned—what I would call a smarter delivery and also changing to the reality of our client out there, who is much more electronic-media-centric as opposed to paper-centric.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Hillier. Thank you, Mr. Julian.

We'll now go on to Mr. McColeman for five minutes.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Thank you again, gentlemen, for coming here today and being patient with our getting here.

Certainly I commend you on your fiscal management, and in fact, as a fiscal conservative and business owner for my whole life, I know there are always better ways to do things, and you can improve at all times. The thinking that just because you add more money means you provide more is totally not in my vocabulary of how you operate efficiently and effectively. So thank you for doing a fine job in dealing with this and also delivering—as we saw when we were in Charlottetown—the superb service to our veterans, making sure no one falls between the cracks and everyone gets the level of service you're committed to.

My question really revolves around the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman, because as you know, we've talked about this in past meetings recently. I just want to know what effects the creation of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman may have in terms of the goals as you have outlined them. Has that office had any effect on these objectives?

[Keith Hillier]

I'll take that question. Certainly the ombudsman has been in place for a very short period of time. At this point in time, the goals and strategic outcomes you see there are very department-centric. As you see, there is a separate outcome for the ombudsman, which is his independent outcome, and also for the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, which is his separate outcome.

As the ombudsman's office is around for a longer period of time—it has only been around for a short period of time—and as they identify systemic issues, then one might expect to see the results of his inputs, his systemic reviews, having an impact. But at this point in time, given the short period of time, if you look at when this document was actually created—it's for this current fiscal year—you'll see it was actually drafted late in the last fiscal year, the last quarter. It's an early 2009-based document. The ombudsman's office would have only been in place for about 14 months at that point in time.

What you're seeing is the department's view of where we see the strategic issues.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Thank you for that.

In your report, you also mentioned that the Afghanistan mission has reached a high operational tempo, the highest since the Korean conflict. As such, our men and women in uniform returning from Afghanistan are at great risk of psychiatric conditions as well as physical conditions. Will the existing and soon-to-be-opened OSI clinics be sufficient to provide adequate services to the veterans, traditional and modern veterans?

[Keith Hillier]

The short answer is yes. There are a number that have been operating for some time. There are number that have been identified. As the minister has often said, there's never too much you can do for a veteran. In a perfect world, it might be nice to have one in every town and every community from coast to coast in the country, but there's a certain pragmatism to that. In order to have one of these clinics, you actually have to have professionals who are available to staff them.

I feel we have to look at it on a broader basis. It's not just the OSISS clinics; it's the peer support and the other services. It's all part of an integral network, and I feel confident we can provide the services we need both to modern-day veterans and to the traditional veterans. It's very important to point out that many of the people who are going to these clinics are veterans of the Second World War and veterans of the Korean War. It is not just the modern-day veterans who are the clients of these clinics.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. McColeman.

We have 10 minutes left. I will follow the traditional rotation—and I'll have to be pretty disciplined on the time for answers, as well. So we will go to the Liberal Party for a two-minute round, if you have any more questions.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

I have just one question. The government has announced a review of all assets as part of its budget in trying to find some income from selling of assets. Has your department been asked to review its assets?

[Ron Herbert]

Not to this point in time, not in terms of selling any assets.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you. That was a brief intervention.

Two minutes now for the Conservative Party. Madam O'Neill-Gordon.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you for being here. It's certainly great, and I'm even happier to have Ron Herbert here, because he tells me he has Miramichi roots and that means a lot to me.

First of all, I want to reiterate what you said about schools. Because of the great service you guys provide, I know, as a former teacher, that schools are enjoying the opportunity to get material and that children are becoming more and more aware and more involved. They're really focused on this, and I appreciate that. On behalf of the teachers back home, I certainly have to say thank you for all of what you have put into this.

The other thing is that my constituency includes quite a lot of rural areas. I'm wondering what plans or current arrangements VAC has to facilitate access to services by rural veterans. I feel they're getting good service, but are there special things being done for them?

[Keith Hillier]

Canada is a vast country, and providing services to what one might call rural veterans is a challenge. I would just like to highlight a number of things.

First of all, we have our national call centres to provide services in both official languages. We have our 24-hour hotline for those who are in distress, manned by professional counsellors. We also have our website. As we move forward, we would like to enhance that website to be able to move to a more transactional-based website, so that Canadians, wherever they may live, will have equal access.

Also, of course, many of our area counsellors visit. They don't stay in their offices, but they're actually out there. So when we are working in various communities, we work through the various veterans organizations so that veterans know we're in the area. So if somebody wants to make an appointment, then we're quite happy to see them when we're in a particular geographical area.

But other than that, the only areas where we're actually making some changes, if I might say, are in what has been previously announced by the government, jointly by Minister MacKay and our minister, with regards to the integrated personnel support centres on Canadian Forces bases. And of course we are moving aggressively in that area. There are no plans to create more offices across the country, but rather to try other means, such as electronic ones.

Finally, I might say we are working with some provinces in terms of telemedicine in order to be able to do diagnoses from a distance by the Internet.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

I certainly want to congratulate you for a great job.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Ms. Gordon, that's all you get for this.

Monsieur Roy pour deux minutes.

[Jean-Yves Roy, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will try to be brief. I will ask you a very specific question. About three weeks ago I was informed about a case involving a veteran of the Korean War.

I would like to know if you have evaluated the procedures of appeal to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. How long can that take? How long does it take, on the average, for a veteran to go through all the stages of the procedure?

[Keith Hillier]

I think that it is very difficult to give any figures or opinions about the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, because we are here as members of the department.

[Jean-Yves Roy, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

I did not ask you for your opinion. I asked you if you have evaluated the time that it takes for a veteran to get through all the stages of the appeal process.

This case involves a sick veteran. He feels that the process is far too long to complete. He will be dead by the time any results come about, this is very simply what it means.

[Darragh Mogan]

There are, of course, as we say in English, turnaround time standards for first applications for appeals, and they're met most of the time. I don't know exactly what the percentage is. It's very high. Where there's an urgent circumstance, where an individual is in grave trouble, we call that a red zone decision and we can move that through very quickly. If we're aware of anyone who's in a situation of the kind you describe, we'll move that through the red zone process that Keith manages, and we can get a response very quickly.

[Jean-Yves Roy, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

What is the normal procedure?

[Darragh Mogan]

What's the first decision? Is it twenty-four?

For the first decision, it takes 80 weeks.

[Jean-Yves Roy, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.