I'm sorry. When I read the guidelines, I thought that it was remarks over 10 pages that needed translation. I apologize.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. I'm Marlowe Fraser, Executive Director of Advocacy for the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association and a member of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group. I'm also a representative on the Gerontological Advisory Council.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the committee for allowing me to testify today and provide my view and experience as a disabled veteran who has a family that has been through the system under the Pension Act and the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act, hereafter referred to as the new Veterans Charter.
I would like to extend my thanks to the chair of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group, Professor Westmorland, for her excellent leadership and guidance. From Veterans Affairs Canada, I would like to acknowledge and thank Mr. Darragh Mogan, general director of the policy and programs division. Lastly, I would like to thank my fellow colleagues of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group for their friendship and support.
By way of an introduction, I would like to provide you with a bit of my military background, injury history, and resulting medical release from the Canadian armed forces so that you may know a little more about me before questions begin. Next I would like to explain how I became a member of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group and what I have tried to provide to the debate and discussion around the new Veterans Charter. Mainly, being a veteran myself, I would like to provide you with a veteran's perspective, as have Louise and others, on the issues and problems in respect of the new Veterans Charter.
I would like to touch on the three indicated gaps in the report--families, economic needs, and rehabilitation--not specifically with regard to the recommendations in the report, which I am sure you will have questions on, but with regard to the concerns that Canadians, along with veterans and their families, have raised to me over the years since I've been involved with the new Veterans Charter and its coming into force.
The report does provide background and information to support our decision-making towards developing the recommendations. However, I want the committee to hear today about some of the key points CPVA put forth in developing the report. Additionally, I would like to state some of the positive steps VAC has already taken since the committee formed in 2007. It is fair to suggest that VAC has been working hard alongside the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group by acting on facts as they have become available.
In closing, I would like to comment on why the recommendations of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group need to be acted on now by government.
I joined the navy in 1982 and was medically released in 2002 as a petty officer first class marine engineering artificer. I was 17 when I joined and 38 when I was released medically. I broke my neck in the Gulf War in 1991 while working on board HMCS Protecteur in the Persian Gulf. The CF was my family and my life: I knew nothing else.
As you have already heard in earlier testimony, being injured and released medically from the CF is nothing close to being injured in a car accident. In fact, I would say they are diametrically opposite, other than the physical injury.
At that time in my life, I did not even know about VAC. My life was operational while I was serving my country at sea on a ship. In my case, someone was labelled sick, lame, or lazy and sent to shore to be dealt with by the medical system before release. Over the next few years, my family and I learned the hard way about applying for pensions and becoming a civilian. I wanted to give up after the second appeal; however, luckily for me, I had a mentor who came to my rescue. And yes, I mean rescue.
Several years later, I went back to school and re-entered the workforce with help from VAC. In the course of all this, I made myself a promise, which was to take what I had learned and use it to help others. As a result, I became involved with the veterans issues through the Gulf War Veterans Association as vice-president and now am involved in my current position in the CPVA.
I was recommended to the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group by retired Brigadier-General Larry Gollner, whose seat I took over in CPVA. Over the last two years in the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group, I have tried to provide the perspective of the veterans and the families of CPVA members, as well as my own experience, so that others would see the issues from what we in the navy call the coal face. I think I have accomplished that.
However, I am here today to try to do the same, because I know you have heard from our chair, VAC senior staff, and other more distinguished members of our group, who I know have already provided you with clear insight into our reasoning and rationale for the report recommendations. I know this because I have listened to the webcasts and have read the transcripts available on your website to date.
I would like to move on to the three major gaps that were identified in the report: families, economic needs, and rehabilitation. Each has a supporting subcommittee that took an in-depth look at the issues of all stakeholders while consulting past research and research ongoing at the time.
I was on the economic needs subcommittee. Numerous presentations were given from experts, the CF, veterans, other committees such as the special needs advisory group, and VA staff working on areas such as case management. I want to highlight some of the concerns CPVA brought to the table, along with the other members, to augment the work done by the group on the three gaps.
Families are fully impacted by veterans' disabilities. My disability is my family's disability. Being released from the CF was as big a shock for my family as it was for me as a serving member. They lost the support of the military family resource centre and their social network. In some cases, families lose their home if they are living in military housing, which was my case.
Economic support is key to the successful transition from the CF for disabled veterans and their families. It is an imperative, which is reduced to a level substantially below what members are used to having towards supporting their monthly costs, not to mention that the majority of CF members have allowances as part of their normal pay, which they lose because the income they receive is based on 75% of their base salary, taxable. For example, there are the sea duty allowance, the air crew allowance, and the living differential allowance, just to name a few. These allowances can be substantial in augmenting your income.
For rehabilitation, change is paramount. You're trying to manage your disability and at the same time you're leaving the world you know, with no job and an unclear future. If you have a psychological injury, everything just gets more difficult for you and your family, which in some cases leads to drug abuse and divorce.
I know that a lot needs to be done and that's why we were brought together to form the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group by VAC. However, a lot has already been started by VAC. Currently, they have completed a major redo of case management and are working on a VAP and a long-term case strategy. I worked on the reworking for the case management and was part of that group.
Moreover, from research completed, a review of highly disabled veterans and their families is also under way. The auditing and evaluation department of VAC is also now getting involved to provide clear measures and goals under the new Veterans Charter, another area that we identified for improvement.
My point is that since I became a member of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group there has been great improvement by VAC for veterans and their families. We are making progress.
Finally, in my opinion, I can say that during the time I have spent working with VAC staff, I certainly observed the decisions and the commitment towards veterans and their families. As a veteran, I would like to acknowledge it and thank them for that. The main problem is government and not VAC staff.
But as we all know, our work is not done. There is a lot of catching up to be done for the years of inaction. All the recommendations are important. For that reason, the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group did not prioritize them. They all should be implemented. As I said in my introduction, the recommendations of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group need to be acted on now by government.
As CPVA's executive director of advocacy and a member of the New Veterans Charter Advisory Group, I'll do what is requested of me to help this committee move forward on the report and recommendations. There was a clear commitment from the government and all parties that the new Veterans Charter would be a living document, which was one of the reasons it received full support from the veterans organizations that were consulted at the time, CPVA being one of them.
Government inaction cannot be justified by stating that there's no money or that it's because of the economic state of the country. Government can find and has found money for other things of lesser importance in the past. It has to be about doing what is right and reasonable for veterans and their families, not money. What veterans and their families want is a hand up, not a handout. The government needs to look at the Veterans Bill of Rights and read carefully the part about providing veterans and their families with dignity and respect.
Thank you once again for this opportunity to come before you, give testimony, and answer questions on this very important subject.