Evidence of meeting #4 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 person.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Robert Vincent Bloc Shefford, QC
If the claim has already been submitted and the doctor reviews the medical notes provided by the client's doctor and decides that the claim should be rejected, how long will the process take?
President, Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP), Department of National Defence
It normally takes a month or two, not too long... It always depends on the claimant and how long it takes to receive the information we need.
President, Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP), Department of National Defence
No.
President, Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP), Department of National Defence
No, if the medical information we have received does not support the reason—say that we are talking about post-traumatic stress syndrome—if the doctor has decided that there is not enough justification to support the claim, we will contact the claimant and ask him for additional information. He will have to go back to his doctor in order to have the additional information sent to us.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
Monsieur Vincent, you're over time now.
I know that Colonel Blais wants to add something to this conversation.
Col Gerry Blais
I just wanted to add... It seems to me that your question deals with benefits for veterans, but that is not our responsibility. We are not in a position to answer those questions: Mr. Bouchard looks after the SISIP. Benefits for veterans, applications and the review process do not come under us.
Conservative
Conservative
Colin Mayes Conservative Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to direct my question to Brigadier-General Kettle if I could.
We talk about financial support, and I know how important it is to show that support so they can carry on their lives, but it's the support of the whole person that I'm considering. The whole person, to me, means the physical, emotional, and the spiritual.
The physical actually is the easy part, but the emotional, psychological, and spiritual challenges of a person going through some of those maybe horrific issues are what I'm considering. I just want to give you an example. My father was a Bren gunner in the Canadian Scottish in the Second World War and was one of the soldiers who liberated Holland. It was interesting, through all of those horrific conditions that he went through, the thing that bothers him the most is that he had taken a life and made wives widows and children fatherless. It was a guilt, and I'm proud that he does have that guilt. That shows his humanity.
Is there a trend in the mental health, the psychological, challenges that you're dealing with among our veterans coming out of these theatres that you see as a common thread? What is your approach to addressing some of those issues?
BGen D.C. Kettle
Everybody coming out of theatre has been affected by stress. They're all changed to a certain extent. You're talking about the small proportion who will be suffering from long-term effects of that stress.
I'm going to go back the fact that within the Canadian Forces the training is much better. Having an OSI today no longer has the stigma attached to it that it once had in the past. There's no question about a person's courage, etc. It is a health problem. With that mindset, people are much more willing to come forward to get the treatment they require.
I don't have an answer to the trends. People come out of theatre with a sense of guilt for all sorts of reasons that may or may not be easy for them to live with. We certainly have psychologists. We certainly have chaplains who are trained to address those problems with members if they are proactive or if they have family members who are proactive enough to bring them to those resources to get the help they require.
The problem is when they don't have the support networks, when they don't have the loving next of kin, when they are not capable of being proactive to come forward to get the treatment they require. Those are the people we're attempting to track and to make sure they get the care they require.
Conservative
Colin Mayes Conservative Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
That's great. That's part of your network in terms of speaking to people in a faith community so that maybe if a person doesn't have a family, you can bring people to support that individual and administer to them. Is that correct?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Sweet
There's another round as well. Have you exhausted the questions or do you have...?
Conservative
Conservative
Greg Kerr Conservative West Nova, NS
I think we talked, certainly, about the mental stress and what's goes on and how difficult it is. One of the areas we have heard some comment about is on how somebody, particularly the new vet, comes out with multiple physical injuries and there's frustration expressed. There's going to be frustration anyway; I don't care how good it goes. This is not an easy thing for people. There's an expressed frustration.
Some feel they have to go through a process many times instead of there being one kick at the can. They think, I'm a veteran and I've been injured, or maybe they're still active military but they're going to be veteran and they've been injured, and they think there should be one-stop shopping, or whatever way they look at it.
How difficult is that to deal with? I'm speaking specifically of multiple physical injuries. How difficult is it to deal with their concerns and their assessment?
Col Gerry Blais
It's never easy. A young man's or woman's life has been changed forever; therefore your perspective is certainly not what it was before you left for your theatre of operations or before you had your accident. That being said, all of them still definitely have the courage they had, and the approach is to look forward.
I can honestly say I don't know of one of the young men or women who is pitying themselves. They're all looking forward and looking to move on. How can I get through rehab? How can things get better? It's very inspirational for us to watch them go.
Conservative
Greg Kerr Conservative West Nova, NS
Right, and I think we'd all agree with their desire and dedication to move forward. The comments seem to be about the concern about how difficult it is and how long the process takes to get their full assessment done. I think they want to get through it as well. Are ways being looked at that can streamline it or deal with it differently, or is it as good as it can be right now?
Col Gerry Blais
I think we're building on that through, again, the stand-up of the joint personnel support unit. Now that Veterans Affairs is in the same building with us and we're looking at the files at the same time, we're able to get things processed more quickly.
Again, nine of them have been stood up for a year, 11 have been stood up for approximately six months or so, and we have another 11 to stand up. So once that full network is in place, things are going to change dramatically across the country.
Conservative
Greg Kerr Conservative West Nova, NS
I would end on that by saying that the fact they're under way is encouraging, because there have been comments about these facilities being something they're looking forward to getting involved in. So your sense is once they're fully engaged in the process, it will simplify the assessment period.
Col Gerry Blais
We've already seen the difference in those we have established; we're monitoring success stories. There's a comprehensive performance measurement framework, and we are seeing the results already.