Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 11th, 2009

[Suzanne Tining]

Not that I am aware of.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

On page 10, where you talk about the number of veterans who are availing of service, I think you said it's based on income. Was that one of the qualifiers? I'm wondering what the parameters are there.

[Suzanne Tining]

We have a great number of programs and services. The main entry to these programs and services is that you have to be a veteran and the disability or illness that you are asking benefits for is related to your service. That becomes a pension condition, if I'm looking at the traditional war veterans.

We also have some programs that are available to veterans where the entryway is low income. If you are a low-income veteran, you have some of these programs available to you. Because there's such an array of programs, there are different entryways, if I can use that word, for a veteran. The basis is that for any benefits and services you have to be a veteran and it has to be related to your service.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

I understand that clearly, that it has to be a veteran. I'm wondering what do you determine to be low income? Is there an entry figure?

[Keith Hillier]

Generally, with regard to the war veterans allowance--I can use that as an example--which is available to traditional veterans, people who are in receipt of the guaranteed income supplement would be people who would be eligible for the war veterans allowance. That's the income--

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

That's the base.

[Keith Hillier]

That's the range we're in.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

On page 15, where you talk about benefits and services for clients, modern veterans, one of the things you mention you're doing is providing more support to families. Could you elaborate on that?

[Suzanne Tining]

First, on the family side, I referred to the transition interview with the serving member before he comes to be a veteran. That I think is the first place where the family gets in touch with all the programs and services that could be available to them. We also have, in our OSISS, operational stress injury social support network or system, peer coordinators who will be family members who have gone through some of the experiences that a new generation of veterans are going through, and they, as a network, are supporting other family members.

I'm looking for the list of services available to families. I just can't put my hand on it.

Okay. They are involved in case management together with their partner. A family could also have access to the veterans independence program--VIP is a term you will use more and more--for housekeeping and grounds maintenance, in support of them while their partner is unable to do that. They can also have education assistance for themselves, for the partner, or for the children in the case of deceased veterans. Also, if the veteran is not able to go and get some education, there are some cases where the education benefit could flow to his or her partner.

They have survivor benefits, of course, when a person has died. They have health benefits coverage, child care assistance.

As I said before, the families are included in all the discussions on rehabilitation, case planning, and counselling. So they can hear...and they can also voice comments and be able to support their spouse. They have free legal service to dependants, and of course they can always access the veterans ombudsman if they feel they're not getting the support they need from the department.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

That's all your time. This is a quick round, only five minutes.

Now we go to the Conservative Party, Mr. Lobb.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you very much for coming today, Madam Tining, and to your colleagues as well. It is appreciated. This is a very satisfactory overall briefing on the department. It really is a success story, in my estimation.

I know we have a number of legions throughout our riding of Huron--Bruce, and I know the veterans independence program has been a tremendous support for those veterans, for hearing aids and the basic requirements for people as they get older, as well as for the basic fundamentals of groundskeeping and snow removal. It has been a tremendous asset and assistance to them in being able to stay in their homes. I have a relative who is 89 years old and he and his wife are still in their home in Goderich and getting by quite well.

My first question for you here is about two major funding programs your department has, the cenotaph/monument restoration program and the community engagement partnership fund. Could you provide a little more detail regarding those programs?

[Keith Hillier]

First of all, with regard to the cenotaph restoration program, this is a program whereby the Government of Canada will cost share on a 50% basis with organizations, municipalities, etc., for the repair of existing monuments or cenotaphs. It does not include the construction of any new cenotaphs. It's in reaction to a need across Canada, because some of the monuments and cenotaphs that had been constructed many years ago were falling into a state of disrepair. So working together with community groups, we're able to fund a number of projects. I think the numbers of projects that we approve are in the deck.

It goes through a committee process for approval, with some outside experts in monuments included, for example, so that when the proposal comes in, we actually look at it to make sure it's a good idea from an engineering standpoint.

Separate from that is the community engagement program. This program is used very, very extensively by community organizations and some smaller veterans organizations—and I don't mean organizations such as the Royal Canadian...but I mean small groups in small communities—to do commemorative events. Basically, there is an application process, where a project is proposed by a community group who would like to do something in remembrance in their particular area. We look at the merits of the proposal to see if it is consistent with where we want to move forward in the area of commemoration. In fact, the vast majority of these projects are approved, but they tend to be of varying dollar values, from as low as $250 in some cases to tens of thousands of dollars when national organizations are looking at holding a very large commemorative event in every provincial capital, for example. So it's fairly wide-ranging—but it's actually to inject some funds into communities to help them commemorate the sacrifices of our veterans.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Speaking in general terms, which programs and services are utilized most by our veterans—let's say by our traditional veterans?

[Suzanne Tining]

When you look at the amounts of money we spend, because of the structure of the services and benefits for veterans, disability pensions are a big part of the budget. The disability pension program is the one that is most used because it is the gateway. You have to start there, as every veteran who has access to health care will have a disability pension.

As far as the numbers go—

[Keith Hillier]

Just to give you a sense of the clients, there are approximately 800,000 people in Canada potentially eligible for our benefits and services. The most used program today is the disability pension program, with 178,000 Canadians in receipt of a disability pension. As for the disability awards, which are part of the new Veterans Charter, there are currently 10,400 clients in receipt of those. In terms of the war veterans allowance, the low income...that we talked about a few minutes ago, there are approximately 27,000 recipients. There are 103,000 Canadians in receipt of VIP. And in terms of medical services, whether they be prescription drugs, other medical or dental services, hearing aids, and what have you, there are 111,000 clients receiving various types of medical benefits.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Lobb.

Now, Monsieur Gaudet, pour cinq minutes.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Madam Deputy Minister, last year I went to Petawawa and to Quebec City to meet with the soldiers. They spoke of a single-window approach—this may not be your area of responsibility—and the fact that it was extremely cumbersome for them to obtain information. There had been plans to create a single window.

Has that been done on the military bases? It was in order to reduce the administrative problems, the red tape, if you will. Has that been done?

[Suzanne Tining]

Yes. Keith mentioned earlier that he was in Valcartier last week and that we have integrated centres on the bases where members of the armed forces and employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs are working together at a single window to provide information to soldiers serving on the base, as well as to their families. That is called an integrated services centre. Veterans Affairs is present on 17 bases throughout the country, but the integrated centres that I have just mentioned are currently located on five bases: Petawawa, Valcartier, Shilo in Manitoba, Edmonton and Gagetown. We are working closely with the Department of National Defence to establish a presence on all of the country's main military bases. Therefore, this plan should be in place in the coming months and years. We feel very strongly that we must respond to the needs of our client. With respect to the client, it doesn't really matter if the services are provided by Veterans Affairs or the Department of National Defence. What matters to the client is the knowledge of the programs and services that are available.

As I said earlier in my presentation, because this new generation of veterans has specific needs, the two organizations can no longer operate as separate entities. They have to work together to decide what makes the most sense, and whether it will be an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs or a National Defence employee who will be providing the service.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Thank you.

I have another question. I don't know if our veterans are aware of the fact that the armed forces are making use of Yoda. I don't know if you read that in La Presse.

Are Veterans Affairs using Yoda?

[Suzanne Tining]

I did not read the article about Yoda.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

I will see about it tomorrow.

[Suzanne Tining]

I saw the headline, but I did not read the article.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

The army was calling for proposals.

[Suzanne Tining]

We are talking about Star Wars. I really can't answer your question since I have not read the article.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

You can give it some thought and then get back to us.

Now, I will turn to the main estimates for Veterans Affairs, which were included in the document provided to us by the Library of Parliament this week. For 2006-2007, the main estimates totalled $3.2 billion, and the real expenditures were $3.027 billion. For 2007-2008, the planned expenditures were $3.375 billion, with real expenditures totalling $3.196 billion. That means that in 2006-2007, $175 million was not spent, and $189 million in 2007-2008. That is why you mentioned earlier that the budget would have to be realigned.

Can you tell me why this money was not spent? Some veterans would like to have more services, etc. I would like an explanation for that.