Veterans Affairs Committee on Nov. 28th, 2012

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Thank you for your question and your comment.

In fact, you are right. The Department of Veterans Affairs has maintained a steady rhythm over a certain number of decades and it has developed specific expertise.

Yesterday, I was in Kingston where the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research conducts studies. We released the results of a study that lasted over 60 years. That means that we were able to combine data and conduct geriatric research on our veterans who participated in the Second World Ward and the Korean War. We have developed significant expertise in this area.

Other countries have participated in medium-sized conflicts. I am thinking for example of our American neighbours who fought in the Vietnam War. They experienced other, larger arrivals of groups of veterans. We did not experience that situation before being involved in peacekeeping missions. That is why our department is undergoing a full transformation. We must adapt to this reality. Moreover, Ms. Chaput was associate deputy minister before becoming deputy minister and is actively participating in the department's transformation. In other words, the department we know today is different from what it was four years ago and from what it will be in four years. We are adapting to the needs of modern veterans.

To answer your question, our finance minister, Mr. Flaherty, included that in his last economic statement.

I may go on in English.

The 2012 economic update includes $1.2 billion for the next six years in cash for new investments for the Canadian Forces and for veterans' benefits. Actually, this money has already begun to flow. As you know, it's because we are going to stop deducting the veterans' pension benefit from the earnings loss benefit and the Canadian Forces income support benefit. I made an announcement this summer that this would be $177 million over the next five years.

That's why I need your support this afternoon to increase the supplementary estimates by an amount of $16 million, so that we can begin to put this money back into the pockets of veterans.

[Dick Harris, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

You have 10 seconds left to get a question in, and I hope the minister can answer it fairly quickly.

[Dick Harris, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

I guess that begs the question, Minister, whether you believe there is any possibility that the NDP will support our supplementary estimates.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

I hope so. When I appeared on March 5, they opposed them. I hope we can count on the unanimous support of NDP members today and that they won't oppose additional money for our veterans.

[Dick Harris, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you both for that.

Now we will move on to Mr. Chicoine, for five minutes, please.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would also like to thank the minister for appearing to discuss supplementary estimates (B) 2012-2013.

Since he is asking for our support for these supplementary estimates, I think it would be very relevant to obtain all of the information that has been requested, especially by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, regarding the cuts within his department. I would like to ask the minister if he is able to provide to us the information requested by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

It would be my pleasure to answer all of your questions. I await them. What do you want to know? We are an open book. I am ready to take your questions.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Where were the budget cuts made? What positions are slated for elimination, and so on? In short, could you provide everything the Parliamentary Budget Officer requested?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

I think the budget was very clear. As you know, the goal of Budget 2012 is to improve the services provided to veterans and to adapt to their needs. In certain cases, we need more staff. In certain cases, we have less staff. In total, about 250 jobs are affected by the measures found in the budget. They are spread evenly within our structure. We plan to implement these measures over the three years set out in the budget year.

As you know, a good example is the simplification of the Veterans Independence Program. In the past, when veterans lived at home and were entitled to housekeeping services, they had to ask for a bill and send it to the department every time. We had to have staff to process the hundreds of thousands of transactions to provide reimbursement. It was like that year after year.

You will surely agree with me that, from one year to the next, we can estimate the costs of those housekeeping services. That is therefore what we do. That is why we now send lump sums to veterans twice a year. We tell them to keep their receipts, a bit like when we receive receipts for tax purposes for charitable gifts. Thousands of hours of administrative and routine tasks have been eliminated. That allows us to redirect our staff and to allow them to provide front-line services, such as case management by customer service agents.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

The Parliamentary Budget Officer asked for more information from you. How do you explain the fact that he has to go to the courts to obtain more specific information, information that was requested from you?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

I think I already answered your question about the number of jobs. If you have other questions, I will be happy to answer them.

If you would like to know the amount of savings, they total approximately $36 million per year.

As for the other part of your question, as I pointed out this afternoon, not only are we maintaining benefits, but we are increasing them significantly. Earlier I gave the example of a $750 million increase in our budget since 2006, that is to say since our government took office.

Let's take a look at how we've improved the New Veterans Charter over the last two years. It has cost $189 million. If you take into account the harmonization of our programs that goes beyond the decision handed down by the court, which I announced together with Minister MacKay, veterans will receive nearly half a billion dollars in additional investments.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

I'd like you to shed some light on the transfer of the Ste. Anne Hospital that you mentioned. Six hundred and seventy-two thousand dollars was also set aside in your budget.

I would also like you to explain why you are requesting this amount and what the money will be used for. Is it for renovations? Will this work on the hospital be done at the request of the Government of Quebec?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Thank you for your question.

Tens of millions of dollars have been invested in renovating the Ste. Anne Hospital. These renovations were carried out over a number of years and they are almost finished. We are talking about more than $100 million. The amount referred to is a contingency fund for the hospital's renovations. This is a residual amount.

To give you an update on the transfer agreement, I can tell you that it was signed by the Minister of Health last spring, if I'm not mistaken. The process is underway and the negotiator is continuing talks with the Government of Quebec. I think this is a win-win situation. This is good news for our veterans. We are committed to maintaining service to our veterans in both official languages. This is also good for the Government of Quebec because it will eventually be able to use certain floors of this building. As you know, beds are becoming available. It will now be possible to offer these floors to the community. This is a modern and newly renovated facility that will be available to the Government of Quebec.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Now we go to Mr. Hayes, for five minutes, please.

[Bryan Hayes, Conservative, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to tell all my veterans that I am so proud to be on this committee. When I was back home during my riding week I met with the executive of the Legion—with a purpose. I wanted to speak with them to see if I could get a better understanding of their problems and concerns so that I could set an agenda for a town hall meeting I want to have with all Legion members in my riding in January. They initially didn't really have a lot of concerns.

They had great praise for you, Mr. Minister. I just want you to know that.

One of the things that a few of them did say is that Canada, as far as they're concerned, and to their knowledge, does a much better job comparatively, in their understanding, than other countries. I would just like to get a sense from you—so I can speak with confidence in January when I go back there—of the Canadian approach to the delivery of veterans' benefits and to the range of veterans' benefits in comparison with our international partners. If we had to compare ourselves to our allies, in terms of what it is we provide, how would you say we compare? Has that study been done, a sort of side-by-side look at how we're doing? I think we're doing fairly well.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

There are always ways in which we can improve our program. That's what we're striving to do. This very committee has clearly demonstrated that Canada is leading among other countries for providing services to our veterans. That's the way it should be. They have put their lives on the front line for us. That's the reason we need to give them the best we can.

Regarding the Royal Canadian Legion, I want to mention a very interesting initiative that was undertaken not so long ago by the Royal Canadian Legion. They sponsored a pilot project that was jointly led with the University of British Columbia. This project is to help veterans returning from Afghanistan, those really young veterans who may experience some mental health issues or depression following a mission, related to stress they might have endured during this mission.

This pilot project was driven over a number of years in conjunction with the University of British Columbia. It has proven, very outstanding results. Of the more than 250 veterans who took part in that soldier-to-soldier program, which goes over a two- to three-month period, only one has not completed the program. The evidence-based results have proven that this program is really efficient and that it is helping to improve the quality of life of those specific veterans.

We have been informed of this program, and as of a month ago we have identified what they call the veterans transition program as an official service provider for our government. It means that now we are partnering not only with the veterans transition program, but also with the Royal Canadian Legion, which has also decided that it would support this kind of soldier-to-soldier approach for addressing mental health issues for modern veterans. It is complementary to the services we are providing. We are actually very proud of the work they have done. We are looking forward to the expansion of this project in a timely manner. I might also add that some charities have also joined this project, namely, in this case, True Patriot Love.

This is the kind of initiative that shows that all of Canadian society is moving forward, is showing support. This is also a very good example of the typical Korean veteran, let's say, or those who may have had a longer experience, helping the modern veteran. This is very inspiring in the way we are moving forward and adapting to the needs and realities of modern veterans.

[Bryan Hayes, Conservative, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

This is one program. If we were to compare the total number of programs we offer with perhaps the U.K. or the United States...how do we compare with other countries in terms of what we're providing to our veterans?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

I am going to invite our deputy minister to comment on this one.

[Mary Chaput, Deputy Minister, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister.

Indeed we do compare quite favourably. As you probably know, the U.S. has a very comprehensive system wherein they not only provide the care for the veteran through the course of his career and then on through his life as a post-military veteran, but they also provide their hospital care directly and much of their health care directly.

We had a lot of talk with the U.S. just last week, and they were remarking on how much further ahead they feel we are in terms of the use of information technology and the manner in which we serve veterans. Their own estimate was that we are likely two years ahead of them in that regard, and indeed they have asked us to come to them and give them a bit of our lessons learned and some insights into the advancements we've made.

In terms of other jurisdictions, it's harder to compare; the systems become less similar. But the U.K., as an example, is quite different from us, in that in the U.K.—and I think it's actually a disadvantage—a veteran cannot go to one door and get the services they need. They must go to many different doors. So I think that's yet another advantage that we offer to the veterans here in Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much for that. I'm sure you'll get more questions here a little later on. I appreciate that.

Mr. Lizon, for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Madam Chaput, and thank you for coming to the committee.

Minister, you mentioned several times already the initiative you introduced of cutting red tape, an initiative that is aimed at making veterans' interaction with Veterans Affairs Canada better. Could you expand on that and tell the committee what specific measures you have introduced to cut the red tape, and could you explain how that has helped veterans?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Absolutely. I thank you for the question.

Actually, not only did the veterans community ask for cutting red tape, but the Auditor General also asked us, so that our processes can be streamlined and our wait times reduced. That's why we are moving forward with a busy agenda.

The ombudsman has also asked—and this has been implemented for more than a year—that we communicate clearly with veterans. That may sound trivial, but if a military veteran gets a letter from the government that is unclear and is written in a bureaucratic way, it might be difficult for the veteran, who is used to having clear direction, to understand the meaning of the content of this letter. That's why the Veterans Ombudsman recommended—and we have implemented this measure—that we communicate in what we call plain and clear language. So now when we communicate with a veteran, we break the letter we're sending into pieces, so that there's a clear identification of the veteran's needs, his claim. There's also a reasoning for what is behind the decision. There is the decision, the criteria that have led to the decision, the facts that were used, the rules and guidelines that have helped to render this decision, and the result in terms of impact—programs or services that can be provided. As well, there will be a way the veteran can get more information or get us to revisit the decision. This initiative comes from a recommendation of the Veterans Ombudsman, and it is part of our initiative to cut red tape. It is called a plain and clear language initiative.

I have also mentioned that we strive to reduce wait times. Our deputy minister mentioned that some other countries are facing some challenges with wait times. We strive to reduce our wait times, and when people call us through our 1-800 VAC line, we strive to answer them in a timely manner. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but we've seen significant improvement.

The other part of cutting red tape is in simplifying forms, such as the ones that were required for privacy. There used to be many forms for privacy, for veterans who were applying, so we are eliminating duplication of those forms, and we've reduced this number.

Those are some of the initiatives. I've also touched on the web initiative.

In a nutshell, that's what our cutting red tape initiative is, and we are not done yet.

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

Mr. Minister, another program you introduced last January was Helmets to Hardhats Canada. It's almost a year since the program has been in place. Can you point out to the committee how this effort is assisting veterans who leave the armed forces as they transition to civilian life? Are they able to find meaningful employment thanks to the program? How is the program working?