Evidence of meeting #25 for Veterans Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was national.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:15 p.m.
Chairman, Board of Directors, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping
I would.
They are members of the local chapter, the John Gardam chapter: the president of the local chapter, Major MacCulloch; the Colour Sergeant, Boots Boutilier; and fighting in the corner is Dan Drapeau.
5:15 p.m.
Chairman, Board of Directors, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping
And this poor chap is a member, too.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Brian Storseth Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
I figured you were in concert here. I want to thank you for that. It's important that everybody gets recognized for their service.
I'd like to talk to you briefly about something that's a little off topic. It's about Cold War veterans, as Mr. Jenkins, I'm sure, has researched.
I have 4 Wing Cold Lake in my riding, as well as Edmonton Garrison. The issue of proper recognition of Cold War veterans is something that constantly comes up. Do you feel that this is something that should be done better by the Government of Canada in some way?
5:15 p.m.
President, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
To use Mr. Gravelle's approach, yes.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
5:15 p.m.
Chairman, Board of Directors, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping
No. We don't always agree.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Brian Storseth Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
Well, you are off talking points on that one. I do appreciate your input on that.
On the question of efficiencies.... First of all, I want to say to everybody here who is advocating for veterans, the louder the better. I understand that you've had meetings with ministers; you've had meetings with members of Parliament. As it is our job to do, it is also your job to make sure that you keep the government to task, to not just make promises and use fancy words, but to actually get end results. And I congratulate you for that. It's an important role that we all must play from time to time.
I have to say, in my own area, for certain, the responsiveness that this government has had when it comes to Veterans Affairs has been overwhelmingly positive. There are more front-line workers in Cold Lake than what we had before. It's made accessibility easier. We do have inter-personnel units now. We actually have the resources to move Veterans Affairs right onto 4 Wing, so it's even easier for us to access. We have more personnel to do it. But there are still definitely improvements that have to be made at Veterans Affairs.
One of the things I often get is that the front-line workers are tremendous and the department as a whole does a fairly good job. Most veterans aren't complaining about the level of service they get. But there is that sense in my area that it is still overloaded with bureaucracy and middle managers. If you've ever looked at an organization chart of Veterans Affairs, I think you would get lost in a heartbeat.
If we can find some efficiencies within the department that would enable us to free up funding so that we can have more front-line workers, would that not be a positive?
5:15 p.m.
Chairman, Board of Directors, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping
Absolutely.
5:15 p.m.
President, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
I actually agree with him this time.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Brian Storseth Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
Okay, good.
I just wanted it clarified, because sometimes people will try to spin that we don't want cuts to front-line workers as meaning you shouldn't touch the entire department, period, and we shouldn't be having them.
5:15 p.m.
President, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
I see what you're getting at. Yes, it's a really good point.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Brian Storseth Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
As long as we can find those efficiencies and it's getting better service for our veterans at the end of the day, I think that's the level at which we need to hold the government to account. Would you agree with that?
5:15 p.m.
President, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
Yes, you put your finger right on it.
March 15th, 2012 / 5:15 p.m.
Chairman, Board of Directors, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping
May I respond?
One can't argue against what you're saying. I agree with what you're saying, but as Mr. Leonardo has referred to in the letter that went to the minister from the stakeholders—and this is not new—there are hundreds of recommendations that have been made based on extensive study and work by people like Mr. Zimmermann and many others. What we really want is to implement the recommendations already made, because the living document, the living new Veterans Charter, has been amended once in six years. It's not enough.
5:15 p.m.
President, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
What we're saying—Don and Bob and me—is this...and we've referred to this letter. The letter says, and Don summed it up, there's not just one report out there; there are three reports, up to 500 recommendations. Why have another report?
We've probably talked on each one of these recommendations around the table. They have already been made, sir.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Greg Kerr
Sorry, but we have two slots left.
What I'd like to do is go to a quick question there and then back for a quick question. So if the NDP have another question at this point...?
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I would like to address Mr. Zimmermann first, and then Mr. Chartrand.
I am especially worried about alcoholism and drug addiction among veterans. That is a widespread problem, even among the general population.
What is the quality of the services provided to veterans in terms of that? At times, a difficult return to work can lead to alcoholism, drug dependency, gambling addiction, and so on. What kind of support are veterans being provided with to deal with those issues?
The question is primarily for Mr. Zimmermann.
5:20 p.m.
Executive Director, National Institute of Disability Management and Research
I would actually argue that having individuals go back to work is a huge factor in mitigating the negative consequences. I know from personal experience, if you are sitting at home and you are not fully and gainfully employed, that is when you run into serious challenges, because you say to yourself, “I am challenged financially, I quite often have to deal with chronic pain, and I'm not employed. What's left?” We know from the evidence that if you are gainfully employed, that is, in fact, your best form of rehabilitation moving forward.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
5:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Aboriginal Veterans and Serving Members Association
In our discussions with soldiers who have been disabled, we found that in many cases it's taken two or three years for them to be discharged from the army. The basic problem was that the army itself doesn't really have anything for disabled soldiers. They don't really know what to do with them. They may find themselves on the base sorting paper clips.
What they need to be able to do is some type of immediate assessment, as indicated here, and have jobs they can do within the army, if it's going to take that long to have them released. Or accelerate the release, which is our suggestion here, and provide them with an accelerated pension.