Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 7th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We have representatives from the Department of National Defence with us today. We are continuing our study of health issues and service provision.

Welcome to Rear-Admiral Andrew Smith, Brigadier-General Fred Bigelow, and Colonel Gerry Blais. Thank you for joining us today. We look forward to your presentation.

I think you know the format. You get your say, we ask questions, and we all go home happy. That's the way we like to run it.

We will wrap up at five o'clock. We have some business matters to deal with.

I understand, General, that you're going to open the presentation.

Thank you. Welcome.

[Rear-Admiral Andrew Smith, Chief Military Personnel, Department of National Defence]

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.

It is indeed a pleasure to be here today to discuss the various Canadian Forces programs and policies that facilitate transition from a career in uniform to life after service. With me today are Brigadier-General Fred Bigelow, Director General, Personal and Family Support Services, and Colonel Gerry Blais, Director, Casualty Support Management.

The Canadian Forces is fully cognizant of the commitment of its personnel and the extraordinary demands and challenges of the military lifestyle on members and their families. The institution also understands that in order for a fluid transition to occur, departing Regular Force members, full-time Reservists, and in certain cases their spouses or common-law partners, require timely assistance and compassionate support in order to meet their needs, depending on each individual's personal circumstances.

For some their last job interview was over 20 years ago. For others, life has thrown them an unanticipated curve ball for which they need help in adjusting their swing accordingly. Transition needs to cover a wide spectrum and in many cases, is different for those leaving due to medical limitations than for those moving on to civilian life voluntarily or at the completion of a military career.

Those leaving upon retirement or to pursue a second career are encouraged to attend the Canadian Forces-sponsored second career assistance network seminars. During these seminars, they receive assistance and advice in various areas, such as financial and estate planning, adjusting to their new reality, and resumé writing. They also participate in a transition interview with Veterans Affairs Canada and are eligible to participate in the Veterans Affairs career transition program.

The programs available to those leaving because of medical employment limitations are more extensive in order to meet their specific needs. The integrated personnel support centre staff meet with each departing member to develop a transition plan. This plan is multi-faceted and includes input and advice from Canadian Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada case managers, SISIP vocational rehabilitation counsellors, and others as may be required.

In lieu of the second career assistance network sessions, the ill and injured leaving the Canadian Forces are encouraged to attend medical release information sessions that contain content similar to the second career assistance network seminars, but that also include presentations tailored to their specific needs. Family members are invited to attend the meetings and the information sessions, as their support and understanding are key components of a successful transition.

The Canadian Forces have also recently announced a transition policy for seriously ill and injured personnel with complex transition needs. It allows them to be retained for up to three years in order to ensure that their needs are met and all of the required safeguards are in place to ensure a seamless, well-managed, and planned transition.

For many in this group, the long-term disability insurance from the service income security insurance plan, or SISIP, is a key enabling component to their successful transition. Since 1969, SISIP financial service has been the provider of a Government of Canada-sponsored long-term disability plan that allows Canadian Forces members to receive income replacement of up to 75% of pre-release salary, in combination with other specified sources of income, namely CPP, Canadian Forces pension, earned income, and the monthly Pension Act disability pension, as may be applicable. It is the first payer for disability monthly income and vocational financial support.

The Government of Canada pays 100% of the SISIP long-term disability premiums for service-related injuries and illnesses, and 85% of the premium for non-service related injuries and illnesses, with the balance of 15% being borne by the member.

If a member is released for medical reasons, SISIP LTD provides an automatic entitlement for an initial benefit period of 24 months. If a member's release is for non-medical reasons, the claimant must be deemed to be totally disabled to qualify for benefits.

Whether or not a member is released medically, if they are deemed totally disabled, coverage can continue up to age 65. The Vocational Rehabilitation Program (VRP), also administered by SISIP FS, is a component of the LTD plan allowing members an opportunity to obtain gainful employment within the civilian workforce. It builds on the member's existing education, skills, training and experience at time of release. Benefits under the Vocational Rehabilitation Program can begin as early as six months prior to release.

The Vocational Rehabilitation Program for Serving Members allows personnel leaving the Canadian Forces for medical reasons to pursue their Vocational Rehabilitation training or a job placement opportunity in the private sector for the six months prior to release.

The Canadian Forces also actively assist those leaving for medical reasons with their search for employment. The transition assistance program is a Workopolis-type website that links prospective employers with medically releasing personnel through a password-protected website. Approximately 300 employers are registered with this transition assistance program.

The program staff also assist personnel who wish to apply for priority placement within the public service. Although the Canadian Forces are very active in the area of transition, we continue to pursue additional avenues to attempt to secure employment for all military personnel as they transition to civilian life.

A number of initiatives are currently being pursued with corporate Canada to take advantage of the numerous qualities and skill sets--including, but not limited to, leadership and organizational skills, technical qualifications, and communication skills--that the men and women of the Canadian Forces bring to the table, and to secure employment for them in rewarding jobs that offer opportunities for advancement and career fulfillment. The re-engineering and modernization of transition services falls perfectly into my number one priority as the Chief of Military Personnel, which is providing care to the ill and injured and support to their families.

The senior leadership of the Canadian Forces will continue to make every possible effort to ensure that transition of its members is as seamless as possible and that departing personnel are provided with all of the tools required to ensure a successful and fruitful transition to civilian life.

We would be happy to answer any questions you may have, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much, Admiral, for your very clear presentation.

We'll now turn to the members of the committee for questions.

First will be Ms. Mathyssen, from the official opposition.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much for being here, Rear-Admiral, and thank you for your presentation.

I have a couple of questions. First of all, when a person releases from the military, do all of their medical files go with them? What's the process there? How can you ensure that these files are going to be available for the person leaving the military?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

I'll ask Colonel Blais. Colonel Blais is the director of casualty support management, and from a service delivery perspective he is one of the links, if not the primary link, that I have with Veterans Affairs. He deals with issues such as this one on a daily basis. He is also the commanding officer of the joint personnel support unit, with 24 sites across the country. I'll ask him to respond to that specific question related to medical files.

[Colonel Gerry Blais, Director, Casualty Support Management, Department of National Defence]

When a person releases, both their personnel files and their medical files go to Archives Canada.

However, before individuals leave the forces, they have the right to have a copy of their medical files. All they have to do is make that request. Especially for people with medical problems, we ensure through the integrated personnel support centre that a copy of their medical file is made and handed to them so that when they transition to their civilian caregiver, they can bring their file with them for good continuity there.

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

Thank you.

Would the same be true for reservists when they leave the military?

[Col Gerry Blais]

No, in most cases it would not, because for the vast majority of reservists, unless they're on full-time service, medical care is provided by their civilian caregivers; therefore, the military doesn't have a medical file on them.

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

Thank you.

There was a great deal of discussion about transition. I have a significant number of veterans—modern-day vets and a few World War II vets—in my riding, and the whole issue of a smooth and positive transition comes up over and over again. I hear that sometimes it's very difficult for veterans, particularly for modern-day veterans who have served as peacekeepers in very difficult areas of the world, to come back into civilian life.

What family support services do DND and VAC offer during that transition process? Could you provide some examples?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

Certainly.

I can't and won't speak to the part of your question dealing with Veterans Affairs, but we have military family resource centres in every base and every wing across the country and in the joint personnel support unit, where a lot of these medically releasing personnel will go to enable their transition. There is a social worker, called a “military family liaison officer”, embedded in each one of those integrated personnel support centres; these military family liaison officers have a specific mandate to assist with family support and with family transition aspects in order to help the member.

Also, the second career assistance network briefings that I mentioned in my opening comments are open to family members. These briefings cover a whole host of things, including benefits issues, resocialization, and transition issues. They are really beneficial for families, so we very much encourage families to attend.

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

In your view, is there more that needs to be done to enhance that support?

I know that in London, Ontario, we have a military family support system, and they're always doing fundraising and trying to elicit the resources in order to do their work. Is there something that we should be doing to enhance that operation and to support military personnel and their families better?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

I spend $20 million a year supporting the military family support centres across the country. They are also free, in the governance construct under which they operate, to fundraise as they may see fit in order to address specific regional or local needs. I provide money for a national baseline of services across the country; that funding can be supplemented, based on regional or local needs.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much, Ms. Mathyssen, and Admiral.

We'll now go to Mr. Storseth for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, gentlemen, for coming. It's very important that we have an opportunity to talk to you about these issues.

The first question I have is for Rear-Admiral Smith.

You commented on the service-related injuries or illnesses and how they're documented in the medical system and the files. Obviously that has gotten better over the last couple of years. I wonder how far back that goes, because obviously, as you would know better than I, when guys in field jump off the back of a truck and get injured, or something like that happens, they don't necessarily just stop, document it, and move on. A lot of these long-term injuries often seem to go undocumented, sometimes for years, and then it becomes a problem for these people to access their benefits afterwards or to access help for their injury.

Has that issue been resolved for the most part?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

Mr. Chair, it's a great question, and it comes up often.

We have recently completed a series of 25 town halls across the country specifically to get the word out to serving members about how to understand the new Veterans Charter. I sponsored it, but Veterans Affairs did the lion's share of the presentations. They were specifically to deal with issues such as how people, first of all, need to be aware of the requirement to document their injuries or ailments if they have them.

It's always a struggle, because it's not often at the front of people's minds as they're out there doing the business we ask them to do. In regard to formal documentation, inasmuch as that is the preferred approach, we have worked closely with Veterans Affairs to ensure that if the documentation didn't happen during the exercise or the deployment, if that individual could go back and get witnesses who were there at the time, or a note from the commanding officer verifying that he or she did get injured in such and such a fashion, it is helpful to Veterans Affairs as they look to adjudicate the file.

To my mind, your question really goes to the requirement to ensure that men and women going about their training and operational deployments bear in mind the need to document their illnesses or injuries and that they take a longer-term view in making sure their files are complete in case they ever need the services of Veterans Affairs. It's more of an educational and an awareness campaign, and I think we're getting better at that.

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

Thank you.

I commend you for your town hall meetings. In these meetings, do you also bring up the aspect of the rights that members have when they come back from deployment and the things they can expect? Do their families get the proper notification on what to expect?

For instance, I have both Edmonton Garrison and 4 Wing Cold Lake in my riding, and when members come back from deployment, there's a certain time for them to get the reorientation that all members get when they come back. However, sometimes certain members with PTSD are a little bit confused as to how they overlap, or what benefits they have the right to. I think education on that aspect could be very beneficial to our men and women.

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

In the last few years we have been invoking lessons learned from Afghanistan.

First of all, as people come out of theatre, previously from Kandahar and now from Kabul, we take them to Cyprus for a five-day decompression period called third-location decompression. They used to go right home directly from a deployment area. We now take them away into Cyprus, a secluded area, and give them a series of debriefings on what they can expect, including reintegration with family and some of the issues that might come up. They also get some of that training before they deploy.

Then, three to six months after they return home, they have a mandatory follow-up check with the medical staff to see how they're doing. That's been done as a result of some of the lessons learned that we have observed, and it pays big dividends, especially in cases of mental health issues where, let's be honest, western males aren't always the first ones to willingly put their hands up to seek help. We've done a lot in terms of educating people about trying to look at mental health injuries the same way we look at physical health injuries. That again is an awareness campaign that is gaining traction.

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

I would like to---

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you, Mr. Storseth; that's five minutes.

Go ahead, Mr. Casey, for five minutes.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Good afternoon, gentlemen. Thank you for your presentation, Rear-Admiral Smith.

You mentioned the Veterans Affairs career transition program in your remarks. I wonder if you could tell us a bit more about it.

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

Following the introduction of the new Veterans Charter in 2006, Veterans Affairs contracted with a company that I believe is called Right Management. They have a mandate, as I understand it--because, in fairness, it's a Veterans Affairs program--that is open to all members of the Canadian Forces to assist them in seeking out a second career. It's a contracted service that Veterans Affairs has with Right Management.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

There's been some joint research done with DND and Veterans Affairs. A report issued last year, a survey on the transition to civilian life, studied levels of income after release from the forces. It showed that Canadian Forces members typically see a decline in their income. That decline is more pronounced among the females who serve.

Given that the report was released a year ago, Rear-Admiral, what has come of it? As a result of that report, what has been done within DND or within Veterans Affairs, if you know, to address the issues raised?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

The life-after survey study you speak of was a joint study by Veterans Affairs Canada, DND, and Statistics Canada, and you're right that there were some interesting observations about income levels after service.

The Canadian Forces have not, per se, done anything specific with respect to the report, other than to note it with a view to making sure people plan for their retirement productively and think of it six months before they retire.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

From your answer to my first question on the Veterans Affairs career transition program and your opening remarks, it strikes me that there are multiple programs and initiatives that strike at the same thing. Should they or could they be streamlined? Are you tripping over each other? Are you at cross-purposes? If I could boil it down to a fairly simple question, are there areas for improvement?

[RAdm Andrew Smith]

To date, the transition assistance program we run inside the Canadian Forces has primarily been focused on providing assistance in the transition to civilian life for those who are ill and injured, whereas the Veterans Affairs career transition program really assists any and all people releasing. One is, if you would, a subset of, or is nested within, the other.

With respect to working more closely together, I co-chair, with the assistant deputy minister of service delivery for Veterans Affairs, the VAC-DND steering committee, which is a senior strategic-level committee. We meet two to three times a year. One agenda item we always have is areas of synergy and where we could improve services. That is a continual focus of that committee.