Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 7th, 2012

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

It's an interesting question. Do I see value in it? We don't really have a mandate to track that type of information following release. Is there value in it? I suspect there's value in it.

Who should do it? I suspect that's the question that may stem from it. Is that a Veterans Affairs Canada issue? Everybody who releases from the Canadian Forces will be a veteran, by definition. That doesn't mean they'll necessarily be a client of Veterans Affairs.

Is there value in it? I suppose so, but I don't know how much value there would be. From a comparative standpoint, as people today increasingly seek maybe two or three careers, there may be value in knowing what percentage of Canadian Forces members successfully go on to a second career with private industry.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Okay.

In the area you've specialized in and are working with, obviously you work very closely with Veterans Affairs. You have seen many men and women in recent years transition into Veterans Affairs and likely be entered into the earnings loss benefit program.

Last week in Oshawa, we visited Wayne Johnston from the Wounded Warriors. His comment was that it is virtually impossible for veterans to qualify for the earnings loss benefit. Did he misspeak there, or is there a problem in Veterans Affairs with regard to veterans qualifying for the earnings loss benefit?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

I know Mr. Johnston very well. He's a wonderfully charismatic individual, as I'm sure you will have noted.

I think the earnings loss benefit is a wonderful expression of how the government has provided an extra safety net for those people who are ill and injured due to service and unable to work. Their first safety net is the SISIP long-term disability vocational rehabilitation program that I spoke about, which is government sponsored. All members of the public service and the RCMP and the Canadian Forces have a general Government of Canada insurance disability program in some form; what people in the RCMP and the public service do not have is the second safety net, which is the earnings loss benefit.

If people complete the SISIP long-term disability program and go back to work and subsequently are proven unable to work, that's when they qualify for the earnings loss benefit. That happens as a matter of course every year. I don't have the statistics here about how many people qualify for the earnings loss benefit in that situation, but Veterans Affairs could certainly provide that information to you.

The other way people qualify for the earnings loss benefit occurs when people who voluntarily release are found, subsequent to release, to have a service-related illness or injury that causes them to be unable to work. They would no longer be eligible for the SISIP long-term disability insurance program. They automatically get caught by the Veterans Affairs earnings loss benefit piece, which from a benefits earnings support perspective is an identical parallel with the SISIP long-term disability piece.

I have full confidence that the earnings loss benefit is a useful tool for those people who have problems.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Please be very brief, Mr. Lobb.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Right.

I'm sure that Canadian Forces have done a number of projections. I was wondering if you would share with this committee what your projections are for the number of men and women who have served in Afghanistan over the past decade having an OSI or suffering from PTSD, as a percentage of all those who have served? What are your current projections telling you?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

It's a very good question, Mr. Chair. Prediction is not exact science, primarily because, as we have come to appreciate, operational stress injuries have a latent effect and will often present 12, 24, or 36 months after someone returns from Afghanistan. We track those rates very closely. There's a lot of research going on to try to get a better handle on the number of people who have OSIs.

I think it would stand to reason that those numbers are likely to go up. Our experience in Bosnia has shown that. I think the latent effect of Afghanistan, from a mental health perspective, will not be fully known for two or three or four years, and I think it would be speculative to answer that question now.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

As an estimate, though, would it be 5% or 50%?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

Oh, it's closer to 5% than 50%.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much. That completes our rounds.

We're a little bit early, so I'm going to use the chairman's prerogative to ask a question. That doesn't often happen, because usually we run out of time.

First I want to say that I hope you noticed the plaques and engravings around the walls. We like to think that this is our committee room; others share it on occasion, but we are very pleased that we show some recognition and support for our services. Of course the RCMP have been added as well.

I just wanted to point that out. I noticed you had noticed it.

Speaking of the medical aspect, I hope you'll be in Greenwood this summer for the opening of the new medical centre. I know the forces are extremely excited about bringing it from three separate old buildings into one and having collaborative practice there. They're looking forward to that very much.

My question is on peer support. We had witnesses here a couple of years ago, during a previous Parliament, who I think really intrigued all of us. One of them talked about decompression, and those in Montreal this last week also heard about peer support. Former military people are really getting involved in connecting, whether it's on homelessness or whatever.

Could you would speak to how peer support is working out? Decompression was one of the things we heard quite a bit about. Do you see that working well? Do you see it improving? How do you see that unfolding?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

Mr. Chair, I'll give you a general answer and I'll ask Colonel Blais to amplify my remarks when I'm finished.

In my estimation, I think we are leading Canadian society in many respects on peer support.

Two programs leap to mind. One is the OSSIS peer coordinators and the joint speakers bureau, which Colonel Blais can expand on momentarily. The other is what we call the HOPE program, part of the shoulder-to-shoulder bereavement program that we now offer, HOPE standing for helping our peers by providing empathy.

There are people, often spouses or parents, who have lost a son or a spouse, have gone through that terrible grieving process of premature loss, and have come out the other side wishing to reach out and help people who have recently gone through that terrible experience. It is proving increasingly popular. We have a lot of people who are willing and able to get involved and to help people through that time, and we are facilitating that program through web access and putting people in contact with other people.

That program has paid huge dividends. I've been to several seminars and conferences where I've seen people with first-hand testimonials of just how much peer support meant to them. Some people just didn't know where to turn. They couldn't get out of bed because of the grief they were dealing with. For them, to be able to talk to somebody who has gone through that and come out the other side has proven to be invaluable.

I'll ask Colonel Blais to speak to the OSSIS program. I think it's another real success story that continues to grow.

[Col Gerry Blais]

As the admiral says, in a lot of cases peer support is, first and most importantly, the key to getting people to treatment. As the admiral said earlier in his presentation, it's the nature of our business that a lot of the fellows who need help do not want to step forward and say so, but when one of your peers tells you that it's really important to see the doctor and tells you to take your medicine, etc., it goes a long way towards helping the person find the proper balance they need.

It's been so successful, in fact, that we've launched another network for physically injured soldiers, especially amputees, those with spinal cord injuries, and loss of sight. We have the injured soldiers network for some of our seriously injured; we've incorporated veterans into it to deal with some of our more recent amputees, and we've even partnered with the Canadian Paralympic Association to bring paralympic athletes in to show the fellows that there's something ahead for them and that there are still a lot of things they can do. The programs are invaluable from that perspective.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much.

On behalf of the committee, thank you very much for being here and providing very clear answers and outlining what you do. We want to thank you for what you do for Canada.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

We're going to suspend for a few minutes, and then we'll go into business.

[Proceedings continue in camera]