Veterans Affairs Committee on Nov. 29th, 2011

[Bernard Butler]

It's an excellent question, sir. It has become apparent to Veterans Affairs over the last few years that notwithstanding the improvements that we believe the new Veterans Charter has brought to Canadian veterans' programming, we were not as effective as we might have been in getting the message out.

Over the last year we've developed an outreach consultation and engagement strategy, and part of that strategy concerns the communication of programming and benefits to veterans. As I noted in my opening remarks, we've just finished a series of 19 visits to all of the major bases in Canada in cooperation and partnership with the Canadian Forces. We've met with the veterans and serving military members and their families for the very purpose of communicating the message about the program.

What we're finding, regrettably, is that there has been some misinformation in the public domain. There has been some lack of understanding by some of our veterans and serving members. Our outreach strategy is designed to get to that audience, and it includes aggressive changes in how we're going to be communicating with veterans and serving members through social media and other means.

We have developed quite a robust plan for that very purpose, which is to communicate messaging around veterans' programming and benefits.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

I want to congratulate you on shortening the timeline from 24 weeks to 16 weeks. That has been noticed in the veterans' community.

What tools do you have in place to measure the satisfaction of your clients?

On top of that, you've given more authority to front-line workers. Could you give us an example of the types of increased authority they have been given to streamline the process?

[Charlotte Stewart]

With respect to measuring the satisfaction level or feedback, we do client satisfaction surveys. That's a key element of our feedback methodology. With respect to front-line decision-making, our case managers now have the ability to make virtually all their own decisions around the rehabilitation case planning needs of an individual client. In the past, some of those decisions had to be escalated either to another level in a region or up to head office. We've changed the authority level for the front-line staff, so they can make those decisions, and we've also made sure they have the training required to do that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much, Ms. Stewart.

We'll now go to Ms. Mathyssen for five minutes.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

And again, thank you.

I want some clarification. Ms. Stewart, you said that in order to mitigate problems in Veterans Affairs, more staff are working on more files. I understand that front-line case managers will be maintained, but I'm having difficulty in understanding how more staff can be working on more files if 500 jobs are going to be cut over the next five years. Now, I understand those are jobs in terms of facilitating the work of Veterans Affairs, but it seems to me that, with 700,000 veterans in Canada, there is a tremendous workload, and I don't see how you can manage it with a reduction in staff.

[Charlotte Stewart]

What we're working on in our transformation plan has many different elements, and they are happening at the same time. With respect to reducing our turnaround time on the disability program, in 2011 we added additional staff to make sure we cleared off any backlogs and moved towards reducing our turnaround time. That was a short-term opportunity we had, and at the same time, as we move forward, we're re-engineering the program. By re-engineering the program, that means we're looking at every step, every aspect in terms of people who work on it and how they work on it, and in the course of 2012, we'll have a redesigned program implemented.

With that redesigned program, we'll at the same time be introducing more technology, so some of our paper-based processes will be eliminated. Right now we have steps in the process that aren't going to be required in the future. We have paper-based processes that are fairly manual and require a lot of staff time. So in some cases, we'll be able to reallocate staff to other functions where they're needed more. And over time, with the transformation program there will be an overall reduction as we move forward from the paper-based system to a more technology-based one.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Okay.

I have been looking through the ombudsman's report, and one of his concerns was the requests for treatment and medication that were denied.

The ombudsman says that the letters sent to veterans to inform them of their request for treatment benefits and medication being denied don't always explain how and why the decision was made. It makes it very difficult for those veterans to gather the documentation they need to appeal the decision.

What steps are you taking to address this? It seems to me that's at the centre of a lot of the complaints I hear.

[Charlotte Stewart]

Yes, and I hear those as well.

The department has been working on two things. One is a plain language system, where all of our correspondence is being reviewed with the view to making the terminology clear. Sometimes we had a tendency to use terms that were government-centric or, frankly, not very user-friendly. Our plain language initiative is about putting things in letters that make sense so that someone understands what happened, and what the decision was based on.

At the same time, we are simplifying some of our procedures around treatment benefits in particular. Until fairly recently, until 2011, people who were receiving treatment benefits for the same condition and needed to receive that benefit over and over again had to apply over and over again. We've eliminated that. Now, if you're receiving a treatment benefit, the first time you apply, you will get your approval and that's all you have to do. You do not need to reapply. So there will be fewer veterans who will be getting those letters with any description at all around the decision.

When there is a decision that individuals are not happy about, they can discuss that further with the department and have a review of that decision. And they can, of course, talk to an employee at Veterans Affairs Canada directly through our national call centre to have an interpretation of the decision and any follow-up action that's needed on it.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

One of the big concerns we hear over and over again is the unfair reduction of veterans disability insurance payments under SISIP. Are steps being taken to address that?

We heard from the government, before they were the government, that they wanted reforms in that area but we haven't seen them. What is happening at this point?

[Bernard Butler]

I think you are referring to the litigation that is currently before the courts. I have two comments. One would be that because it is before the courts, I would obviously want to refrain from commenting one way or the other on it.

The other issue would be that this is an issue largely within the domain of the Canadian Forces, because it relates to its service income security insurance plan. So you might want to put that question to National Defence the next time you have the opportunity to chat with those folks.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

I would enjoy that. Thank you, Mr. Butler.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you.

Mr. Dykstra.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Mr. Butler, I don't want to interrupt the conversation. I just want to perhaps get a little bit more of an in-depth response to one of the first comments you made:The charter also includes a lump-sum disability award that recognizes and compensates for the non-economic effects of a service-related disability. It provides access to the public service health care plan for those not currently covered, and it provides services to help with career transition.

Could you expand a little bit on exactly what that means?

[Bernard Butler]

Thank you for that.

Those are actually references to three separate benefits provided through the new Veterans Charter. At the time the new charter was developed, we were moving from a monthly payment or pension scheme to a different approach to veteran programming, founded on the principles of wellness and re-establishment. That program design was intended to ensure that rehabilitation services and transition services were provided. While the individual is in rehabilitation, as an example, there are income supports through the earnings loss benefit.

The lump-sum benefit was designed to compensate for the non-economic impact of an injury. So if an individual suffers any type of service-related injury that is permanent, they qualify for this disability lump-sum award. It's not taxable, because it's not considered income. It's simply paid as compensation and in recognition of the loss occasioned by, or as a function of, that service-related injury. It is paid basically up to about $285,000 at current rates, I believe, for an individual is 100% disabled as a function of that condition.

The access to the public service health care plan was another element of the new Veterans Charter. At the time the program design was being done back in the mid-2000s, it was recognized that there were a lot of still-serving members who, along with their families, didn't have access to additional health care benefits when they were released. In the military they were covered for all of their health care through the Canadian Forces' spectrum of care. They were coming out of the military and all of a sudden they were finding themselves without adequate access to a health care plan, such as you and I might benefit from through the public service.

This element of the new Veterans Charter is designed to ensure that these individuals do have access, so that the transition from the military to the civilian context is as painless as possible.

The third issue you raised, sir, was related to career transition services, a program that was designed basically to support members in their transition to civilian life. For a lot of them, they have come to the threshold of release after 10, 15, or 20-year careers in the military, and they are challenged with how to translate those skill sets into the civilian sector and even how to go about finding employment.

The career transition services program was set up basically to provide job-assistance counselling on how to write a resumé or how to look for work etc. There are individual work-counselling elements to it. There are group workshops provided. It is all targeted to try to support that employment base need, which has been recognized as a fundamental factor in the successful transition and health of the veteran and his family, as they move on to the next phase of their lives after service.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

You mentioned the transition in your presentation. One of the programs that has had a lot of discussion is the helmets to hardhats program. I was wondering if you could describe how successful it is. How is that working right now?

[Bernard Butler]

Helmets to hardhats was announced in the spring budget and it's been reaffirmed. It's a commitment of the Government of Canada to partner with this American organization to basically set up a program to ensure assistance to members transitioning from military to civilian life. All I can tell you at this time is that the Department of Veterans Affairs is working with HRSDC and the Canadian Forces with a view to developing an implementation plan. That is progressing well. We anticipate that over the next while our minister may well be in a position to make a formal announcement with respect to the program's implementation.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

I've heard a lot of folks say that we're investing less in our veterans than we were five, six, or seven years ago. Would you agree or disagree with that statement?

[Bernard Butler]

It's always a challenge to respond to a hypothetical observations. What I would say to you is that the Government of Canada is committing a lot of resources to support veterans in their transition from military to civilian life and to their re-establishment.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much, Mr. Butler.

Now to Mr. Lizon for five minutes....

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good morning. Thank you for coming to the committee this morning.

I'll continue on this same topic of veterans returning to civilian life and job opportunities.

Mr. Butler, you mentioned the initiatives for counselling, offering workshops, and different options to the veterans. It would seem logical to me that some of the veterans would be a natural fit for the private businesses that have contracts with the military. Is there a cooperation in that respect, and do they hire veterans that enter civilian life? Maybe you can elaborate on this topic?

[Bernard Butler]

Maybe Charlotte will take that.

[Charlotte Stewart]

Certainly there is a lot of interest among many Canadian companies in assisting veterans in finding a job as they make the transition. The Department of National Defence has done more work in that area at this point, in terms of having conversations and providing information to still serving members who may be looking to transition, giving them information on Canadian corporations or companies that are interested in pursuing that path.

In Veterans Affairs Canada, we're also interested in that model. Bernard mentioned helmets to hardhats, which may be one way that we could also facilitate this.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Would you have any information on this very topic? There are companies and businesses that have contracts with the Canadian military. Would they hire veterans; and if they do, what are the numbers? Can you give some examples?

[Charlotte Stewart]

I don't have that information. It's a question that may be best put to the Department of National Defence.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Okay.

You mentioned in your remarks that it's a big life-changing event for people leaving the military to return to civilian life. They are leaving their career and the lifestyle, etc. Generally speaking, this would be a case for anybody retiring, really, because the work environment is very special, especially for people who work at a certain place for a long time. This would be the case for police officers or firemen, if we're talking about service, and it would, generally speaking, be for civilians as well. How is this different from a general approach?