Veterans Affairs Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2010

[Greg Kerr, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

No.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Yes, he said so in the beginning.

[Greg Kerr, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

No. Absolutely not. We cannot play that game--

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Yes, he asked four times.

[Greg Kerr, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

That's irresponsible.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

We have witnesses here. I'm not getting into...

This is getting out of order. I want to treat our witnesses with some respect. They're here today. We're dealing with them today.

I'm going on with the list. I'm going to Mr. McColeman. Mr. Vincent has used his five minutes. I said that the time was going on.

Mr. McColeman, please go ahead.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Chairman, is it possible to have five minutes before the conclusion of our meeting? At that point we could possibly discuss what Mr. Vincent wants to discuss. We also have another issue to raise.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

We've already lost over five minutes with our witnesses here, and now Mr. André wants to take a little more time.

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

Mr. Chair, Mr. Vincent did specify, before taking the floor, that he was introducing a motion, which should not interfere with his floor time. You let him speak under those terms.

I would like to remind those before me that, towards the end of the last meeting when Mr. Lacoste was here, we had a bit of a situation that prevented me from asking a question. That happened at the last meeting, this past Tuesday.

I believe Mr. Vincent should have the floor.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

I will explain what happened at the last meeting. It's the same thing as has happened right now. People were on the list, and there was a motion brought forward that was dealt with. That's why you never had your opportunity to speak. In fact, the last person to speak to it, instead of having five minutes, had three minutes. Right now we've cut even more time down. I'm going to deal—

[Robert Vincent, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

So they have a right to introduce a motion and we don't, is that it?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

—with our witnesses and I'm going to ask Mr. McColeman to please ask his question.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to use my time to clarify your comments, Staff Sergeant Brown. We have a copy of your remarks here, and I appreciate your both providing those.

I think it was off the notes that you said something to the effect—I didn't get a chance to jot it down—that when a member retired, there was some kind of health gap, and they no longer had a certain coverage. I think it was in some of the examples you were giving.

Maybe the way to clarify, if you would, is to tell us about what happens when you or any individual retires from the RCMP. It doesn't matter who it is. What are the steps? What falls into place for health care for that member upon retirement?

[S/Sgt Murray Brown]

The member will receive a package dealing with his discharge. In that package there will be a number of provisions or options for the member, both under insurance and under health care. In a normal discharge, if the member is in possession of any Veterans Affairs disability pension, he or she would take that with them. What most members do is to elect to enter into the public service health care program as a supplement program to provincial health care. That's what most of us do. In my province it's MSI, so I'll make an application for an MSI card within three months of my departure. That will allow me to enrol into provincial health care at home.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

You fall under the provincial health care. I think that's standard for most police services across Canada. I'm talking about municipal and regional police services, with which I have a lot of familiarity. You fall into the provincial health care program, but there's an additional optional program that you can put in place--

[S/Sgt Murray Brown]

Yes.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

--through your RCMP insurance plans or connections. Again, I want to make sure. Are there any significant gaps in that for the member in terms of not being able to access services? If they're in need of health care services--in this case we're studying mental health care services--are there gaps in the system that other people have that the RCMP member would not?

[S/Sgt Murray Brown]

VIP and chronic care would be two examples of those gaps. They're not medical, but they're clearly two examples. Members may be in need of in-home assistance as they get older and leave the force, but there is no in-home care for any member of the Mounted Police as it currently stands. We are the only agency in government that has no such program.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Okay.

[S/Sgt Murray Brown]

From a medical point of view, the gaps would be that if you had ongoing dental or medical care not completed prior to your departure, you have three months after departure to have that looked after. If you don't, then the force, as a serving force, doesn't cover any other things for you in your next life. It comes either from Veterans Affairs, from provincial health care, or from the public service health care program.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

There are three kinds of envelopes of health care available to you, then, as a retired member of the RCMP, and depending on the type of health needs you have, you could be covered by one of those three envelopes.

[S/Sgt Murray Brown]

That's correct.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Now, because we are studying PTSD--

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

You have to wind up. You're at five minutes.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Perhaps I could come back to it, then.