Evidence of meeting #11 for Veterans Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was recommendations.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
As an Individual
We know there's patronization going on. A blind man would see the patronization going on. The people filling the slots in high authority positions within the VA are coming from patronization.
You get a man who was a news reporter or an actor or a big-time lawyer filling in these positions of authority, making final decisions on my quality of life. They don't understand the military. They don't understand the afflictions we're going through, and I think personally they don't give a goddamn what goes on with the veterans, because we can't get hold of them. We can't touch them. If you ask who authorized something, they're not allowed to tell you. Then they say they trust their veterans.
If you go into any VAC, first of all, you have to go through more security than you do at the airport, just to get in the door. Then the receptionist sits behind a bullet-proof glass. You need passes to get from one area to the other area. Then you're escorted. This all builds on us. We're in a position now where a veteran who suffers from PTSD doesn't trust anybody, and then you put him into an environment like that and say, “Oh, you can trust me.” Who the hell are you? “Well, this one here said he's going to help me.” Well, how are you going to help me?
What is your third question?
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
I think you perhaps touched on it as well. I probably have to cede my time, but it had to do with how things are run as a business rather than with consideration for the veterans.
As an Individual
I am not going to say any names. There's an old saying in the army that if you start giving out names, you start doing pack drill, and I'm getting too old to do pack drill.
I'll give you an example. A case manager is married to a veteran. The case manager takes her job very seriously. She comes home and tells the veteran--which is her right, even though she's not supposed to do it because everything is confidential--“Today I walked into the coffee shop at Veterans Affairs and there they were, all laughing about who they could screw today, who was getting this claim and who was getting that claim.”
There were two similar cases. Everything was the same. The case manager was going to pass them both up the food chain. A finger comes over a shoulder and says, “Pass that one, deny that one.” How? They're both the same. “You've put in too many claims this month.” Then we find out, through the grapevine again--now this is all second- and third-hand information I'm getting here, but I do know the names of some of the people, and I will not divulge those names. I promised them I would not ever give out their names, because if I did, they'd lose their jobs. If a supervisor doesn't spend all his moneys that are awarded to that area, then he is given a bonus. Is that a business?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Thank you, Mr. Maguire. I just need to make sure we have some questioning time for the other parties.
Monsieur André, go ahead, please. We'll have to probably bring it down to five minutes, Mr. André.
Bloc
Guy André Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
You gave the Liberals nearly 10 minutes, Mr. Chair. I think we can take our time.
Ms. MacKinnon, I am delighted to meet you. I would like to congratulate you, and also Mr. Maguire, on your important military mission.
In terms of medical services, you talked about long-term care for aging veterans and what I call front-line services. Those services are provided for veterans returning from Afghanistan, in particular, who need services. There is an entire reorganization going on in terms of hospitals. The federal government has divested itself of some hospitals and long-term care. Given that seniors always prefer to stay close to their families, the department can't provide long-term care for all veterans. However, specialized services have been developed, for example to treat post-traumatic stress syndrome. It is important that these services be continued.
Ms. MacKinnon, I would first like you to tell me what specialized medical services have to be provided by Veterans Affairs Canada because they are particular cases unique to the military or they need time for rehabilitation or reintegration afterward. I would like to know which services are not offered at present and which are provided but could be delivered in health care institutions other than Veterans Affairs Canada hospitals.
Medical Doctor, Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia
Right.
Medical Doctor, Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia
Oui.
First of all, Veterans Affairs Canada does not treat people medically. You must look at Veterans Affairs Canada as--
Medical Doctor, Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia
--an insurance company. All Veterans Affairs Canada can do for patients is to get doctors like me to treat them. We're not paid by Veterans Affairs Canada; we're paid by the provincial government to treat them. So Veterans Affairs Canada does not pay any doctors to treat any patients.
But what they can do is support me when I say a patient needs physical therapy, occupational therapy, or message therapy. Veterans Affairs will pay for so many episodes, 20 sessions a year or something like that, but that's all they do. They will pay for somebody, a nurse or a worker—usually an occupational therapist—to come out and assess a patient in the house and recommend some changes, maybe in the patient's house, to make life more comfortable. But Veterans Affairs doesn't treat them.
The real problem here is that there is really no medical interaction with Veterans Affairs Canada. They are a business; they supply business things. Think about any insurance company that you deal with. They deal the same way that an insurance does with their clients. It's run the same way.
The medical care is something that has to be not contracted outside, because you don't contract a doctor to treat patients; you find a doctor. You find a doctor through the regular provincial heath care systems to treat these patients. Some doctors are better than others at finding help for their patients.
As far as the long-term care facilities go—because I think it is just terribly serious—there is no long-term care any more for veterans. All they can do is pay for some of the support services that veterans would get in their home or something, but they don't offer long-term care facilities any more for our modern veterans.
Thank you.
Bloc
Guy André Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
You said that after the age of 65, you were no longer covered by your drug plan for certain drugs. Did I understand correctly?
Bloc
Bloc
Guy André Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
I'm asking you the question because I don't have the answer. When you were...
As an Individual
Okay, I'm going to give you the answer. I, for one, need drugs, a lot of drugs--
As an Individual
--and sometimes the provincial health care will not cover those drugs. DVA does not cover these drugs.
As an Individual
So DVA tells me to go to the doctors' offices in town to ask if they have any free samples.
Bloc
Guy André Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Would those drugs be covered by your insurance if you were in the military?