Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 20th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

My BlackBerry says that it's nine o'clock, despite what the clock on the wall says, so we'll start on time our 27th meeting. This is the first meeting of our review of the new Veterans Charter. You know that over and over again we've heard not only members of this committee but also witnesses talk about the fact that it's a living document.

We have as witnesses today Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Mogan from Veterans Affairs Canada.

I understand that you have a deck you're going to be going through. Was it e-mailed to the members?

[Brian Ferguson, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Programs and Partnerships, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Yes, it was, but I have extra copies.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Anybody who needs a copy can signal to the clerk, and he'll make sure he gives you a copy.

Without any further ado, we'll begin.

Mr. Ferguson, do both you and Mr. Mogan have comments?

[Brian Ferguson]

I'll be delivering the comments this morning, Mr. Chair, but both Mr. Mogan and I will be engaged in the follow-up discussion.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Very good then, Mr. Ferguson; the floor is yours.

[Brian Ferguson]

I might clarify that the deck was provided for your information. I'm not going to go through it in detail. I will have opening remarks and cover some of the content there.

Mr. Chair and committee members, it's a pleasure to appear before you today with my colleague, Darragh Mogan, who is director general of policy and research, in order to provide an update on the new Veterans Charter. We are committed to keeping you informed on how well the charter is meeting the unique needs of our modern-day veterans and their families. It's hard to believe, but it's already more than three years since we implemented this very important suite of programs and services.

As I mentioned, I provided you with a document that contains detailed information about the development of the new Veterans Charter and the progress since implementation in 2006. The document also contains a couple of case scenarios that, although they are not intended to be a representation of all our client cases, illustrate how the programs of the new Veterans Charter can and do make positive changes in the lives of modern-day veterans and their families.

The charter's programs can be summed up in one word: wellness. They give modern-day veterans the tools and opportunities they need to build better lives for themselves and their families after their career in the military has ended. The charter offers personalized case management, access to health services and health insurance, rehabilitation, job placement, financial support, and a lump sum disability award. In short, it offers opportunity with security.

The new Veterans Charter has laid an excellent foundation for meeting the needs of our modern-day veterans, and in fact was recently described as follows in a review carried out for the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs:

The New Veterans Charter in Canada is the closest to a “wellness approach” of the systems we reviewed. It is based on enabling and rewarding a return to the best life possible.

Having said that, the new Veterans Charter has always been described, as you mentioned earlier, Mr. Chair, as a living charter. Plainly put, this means the new Veterans Charter is not set in stone. Our programs and services have evolved and will continue to evolve to meet our CF clients' ever-changing needs as they arise.

Over the past three years, VAC has made changes to maximize efficiency within its existing authority and has been exploring and analyzing the potential gaps that were identified through various sources. In addition to the Veterans Affairs Canada internal assessments of the programs, we have collaborated with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces through various forums, have consulted with stakeholders, including veterans organizations, and worked with advisory groups, including the new Veterans Charter advisory group and a special needs advisory group. Additionally, the department has examined other sources, including information on best practices of other countries.

We know that approximately 6,200 CF regular force members were released in 2008-09, and of these, 1,060 were medical releases. Additionally, we are cognizant of the fact that Canada's combat role in Afghanistan will end in 2011, and it is anticipated that there will be an increased number of VAC clients at that time.

As of October 1, 2009, the new Veterans Charter advisory group report has been received by Veterans Affairs Canada. It has as a major theme early introduction to rehabilitation services as key to a successful transition. Indeed, the National Institute of Disability Management and Research reports that an injured worker has only a 50% likelihood of going back to work after being laid off for six months, with this percentage dropping dramatically to 20% after one year.

In addition to considering amendments to the programs of the new Veterans Charter, it will be imperative that VAC work with DND to ensure that potential VAC clients receive the necessary intervention as early as possible, to ensure that clients are able to achieve optimal outcomes and make a successful transition to civilian life. In other words, intervention must occur as soon as possible, prior to an individual's release from military service after injury or illness.

Let me review some of the points contained in the handout you have received.

First, it is clear that prior to the introduction of the new Veterans Charter on April 1, 2006, programs existing at that time were not responding to Canadian Forces veterans' needs for recovery and rehabilitation. These needs arose from both physical and operational stress injuries. At that time, the only gateway to VAC services was by obtaining a pension. Most pensions were awarded for amounts insufficient to provide an adequate income, as they were constructed to provide compensation for pain and suffering received in service to Canada and not as income replacement. Thus, we could offer a disability pension and associated treatment benefits, but we could not offer an income stream into the future. In addition, no rehabilitation was available. Real needs were not being met, as too many pensioned and non-pensioned CF veterans were not successfully transitioning from military to civilian life. We recognized that a new wellness model based on modern disability management principles was required.

The details of the program that came into effect as the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act are described in the handout provided to you.

A key feature of this package of services is that there is direct access to rehabilitation services—physical, psycho-social, and vocational—without the requirement to apply for and receive a disability award.

Let me discuss briefly the introduction of a disability award, which has replaced the pension. The disability award is one part of a dual award system aimed at providing both a payment for pain and suffering and an economic payment to cover any employment earnings loss incurred while undertaking a rehabilitation program. The earnings loss is calculated at 75% of the veteran's pre-release income and is indexed. If the member is incapacitated, the payment continues until the member turns 65. Seriously wounded veterans are also eligible for a permanent incapacity allowance, which recognizes that there are challenges in seeking stable, continuing employment. If the member is killed in service, the surviving spouse receives the earnings loss payment until the member would have turned 65.

While the main focus of the new Veterans Charter is its wellness programs, the financial payment scheme is heavily weighted to provide the most financial support to those most seriously injured, while providing a safety net of rehabilitation services should injuries be missed upon release from the Canadian Forces.

We, at Veterans Affairs Canada, are going to continue our efforts to develop our services for veterans.

We feel that the charter is making a difference. We also feel that it needs to be continually reviewed as a living charter. We at Veterans Affairs Canada are continuing our work to ensure that the charter evolves to meet the changing needs of our clients and to develop approaches that result in positive client outcomes.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this update. I would be pleased to take any questions now with my colleague Darragh.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Ferguson.

We will go first to the Liberal Party, and Mr. Oliphant.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you for your comments.

I'm a new member of the committee, so my questions may show some naïveté or lack of knowledge. I have three areas I want to check on.

One is essentially the schedule for implementing phase one, phase two, and phase three of the new Veterans Charter. What remains to be done on phase one is to be completed by December 2009. Then, by 2010, we would have phase three completed. I'm not sure exactly what phase one, phase two, and phase three include and whether we're on track for phase one, and then phases two and three.

[Brian Ferguson]

If I could clarify, that refers to the program evaluation being conducted on the charter. One of the commitments the department made was that there would be a formal program evaluation undertaken. Those three phases are really timelines within that evaluation framework.

With that, perhaps Darragh might indicate what the targets are.

[Darragh Mogan, Director General, Policy and Programs Division, Department of Veterans Affairs]

I don't have the exact aims for the second and third phases, but the first phase is to size up whether the new Veterans Charter is doing what it is supposed to do. In other words, is it changing the trajectory of transition for people leaving the military and going into civilian life? That's a very large generalization. It is meant to be done by December, as you know. The other two phases follow on that in terms of the effectiveness of each element.

Concerning the third phase, I think the best thing would be for the director general of audit and evaluation to submit to you a little summary of what it is, so that I don't misrepresent it here.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

It would be helpful for me to know what role the veterans, as direct recipients of benefits from the programs, are playing in the evaluation of the charter: who is being surveyed, how are they being surveyed, who is in and who is left out, how are you contacting them, what is the sample size, things like that.

[Darragh Mogan]

There is certainly a consultation element to it. As part of the summary of the phases, I'll ensure that it's recorded for you.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

It would be helpful to get that in writing, just to see exactly who is being consulted and how.

The second area I want to talk about is the career transition portion of the program and whether it is considered successful. I read in the package that enhancements to it are being planned. It has the lowest uptake of any of the portions of the charter, yet it's one I have been hearing more about from some veterans. Maybe they are not understanding or they are not able to access the programs, or they're not quite sure how to do that. What is your experience on that portion of the program?

[Brian Ferguson]

Thank you very much.

You're quite correct that there has been slower-than-anticipated take-up of the job placement program, which is a key part of the charter. I should mention that there are two ways job placement actually takes place within the context of the charter. If someone is going through rehabilitation, as part of the vocational rehabilitation component, job placement efforts are made on behalf of the graduates of the program. The job placement program that is standing out as a program in its own right is the program that was designed for all releasing members to access, regardless of whether they required rehabilitation.

We've done an analysis with our colleagues at the Department of National Defence, and there were some misunderstandings, I think, from people at the beginning of the introduction of the program about its availability to them. With DND, we've been working through means to communicate better, putting articles in the internal magazine that goes out to all military personnel, and making other efforts in that regard.

The other thing is that I think at the time when we introduced it, there was kind of a burgeoning economy and people may not have been aware that this was available to them. So basically what we're doing is implementing a few changes to the program and its accessibility, and we hope to see a greater take-up. For anybody who has gone through it, all of our evidence is that it's an excellent program.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Is it woven into the Department of National Defence's outplacement? It seems to me it needs to start earlier than once one becomes a veteran, whether or not there is a problem of jurisdiction between two departments.

[Brian Ferguson]

It does need to start earlier, and we're working on that together. There's not a problem with jurisdiction, but up until the introduction of the program, DND had taken some efforts on its own to help members. With this program now, there's another tool in the toolbox. We are now working with DND to make sure it's a seamless activity between the two departments. But you're quite correct, we need to get in as early as possible, because some of the thinking about your future career requires that you do that not at the time of release but early on.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

I've wondered whether there's any sense of a stigma attached to that program, that if someone avails himself or herself of the program, they are acknowledging a problem, and whether there's any kind of work being done on that.

[Brian Ferguson]

We haven't actually heard that there's a stigma. We were concerned that there could be a worry that if too many individuals actually were starting to look at job placement, that could be a potential recruitment issue. But we haven't found that actually. In fact, DND personnel have been very supportive, both rank and file and senior members, in trying to help us figure out ways to get the program more accessible. There's actually a strong link to recruitment in this element of the charter, because if you can demonstrate to recruits coming into the forces that government cares enough about them that they'd actually help them with their job placement, it's a good thing.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

My assumption is that we'll get more into the lump sum disability, but I just wanted to open up that question on how it will be increased in the future, what model is being discussed in terms of cost of living, whether it will require legislative changes, how we keep it being monitored to ask is it enough, and when it's not enough, how we increase it.

[Brian Ferguson]

Do you want to take that?

[Darragh Mogan]

The initial amount of lump sum was based on pain-and-suffering court awards in Canada and about double what, for instance, workers' compensation pays. There are now court awards that are beyond the $262,000 or whatever the number is at the moment. They are based on a table of disabilities. It's much more restrictive than our own. Our own is probably the most generous table of disabilities. That's the means by which you calculate how disabled someone is. At the moment, by itself, I think the argument could be made that maybe it needs to be updated. But in the context of that and the dual award system, I think we'd have to have more evidence of the need to raise the rate. If we were to raise it, it would have to be a decision made by the government and the resources would have to be found to do that.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Would it require a legislative change or a government decision?

[Darragh Mogan]

It would have to be a legislative change.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Merci, Monsieur Mogan, Monsieur Oliphant.

Maintenant le Bloc québécois, M. André, pour sept minutes.

[Guy André, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Good morning, Mr. Ferguson. Good morning, Mr. Mogan.

I listened to your presentation on the new charter. I see that you are the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Programs and Partnerships, Mr. Ferguson. My question is a bit beyond the charter debate, but it does pertain to veterans. This subject matter is a concern of mine at present. I don't know if you will be able to give me an answer. I'll go ahead, since we have experts here with us.

I would like to know how the funds allocated to health care programs for veterans are broken down in the provinces. In Quebec, for example, health care is provided for veterans. Most services are delivered by the Department of Veterans Affairs; services are delivered by CLSCs in some regions and by long-term care centres in others.

How are these funds allocated? In what sectors does the Department of Veterans Affairs provide funding? I don't know if you can give me an answer.