Evidence of meeting #18 for Veterans Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was you're.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Ted Opitz Conservative Etobicoke Centre, ON
Okay. Can you take some time to explain the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. Are you familiar with that?
Director, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
How does that relate to the new Veterans Charter?
Conservative
Ted Opitz Conservative Etobicoke Centre, ON
It has a role in it. Can you answer the question or not?
Director, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
Yes, I can. Parliamentary sovereignty is the sense that an elected Parliament is sovereign in its field to make decisions on behalf of Canadians.
Conservative
Ted Opitz Conservative Etobicoke Centre, ON
In 2011 this government made changes to the new Veterans Charter after, I think, a rather fulsome review by Parliament.
Did you suggest that this committee should add text to the new Veterans Charter?
Conservative
Ted Opitz Conservative Etobicoke Centre, ON
That's correct. That speaks to the commitment we all have to veterans.
Director, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
The only other time I have appeared before this committee was in October, when the committee talked about the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. I believe it was towards the end of October. I represented the army, navy, and air force veterans association.
Conservative
Ted Opitz Conservative Etobicoke Centre, ON
Very well.
Mike, I wanted to get back to you in terms of your association idea. Can you give that some harder shoulders on how you think that would...?
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
I've read Michel Drapeau's article, and I'm sure you have as well. It planted a bit of a seed. I spoke to him afterwards. Actually I interviewed him for an hour on it on our new television-radio network we're providing for YouTube. To expand on it a little bit, clearly there's a need for hard-serving members to have a voice.
A union seems like a draconian kind of thing for military. Let's face it. We're not union people per se. However, we are a brotherhood. We are a sisterhood. As a brotherhood and a sisterhood, we have rights. When our rights are not being spoken up for due to the military, due to our unwavering allegiance to the military, due to the way we have been brought up in the military not to complain—ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do and die—I and probably 95% of the military have that in our mind.
But we have issues now. We're a compassionate organization, particularly with mental health issues, with transition, and with grievances. There are many things there. I'm just touching the health aspects of it, where it would be beneficial.
You know as well as I do. For example, a guy comes up and says he needs help and he's going to Veterans Affairs Canada. That would be your union rep or your association rep. He would go with you. He would fill out those forms. He would make sure that the BS between the SIN number and the other number was mitigated on site. Then he would follow up so that the soldier could go do his job and focus on getting better, knowing he had a representative that was looking out for his interests.
We have things with summary trials. There's another thing. We would provide the lawyer, not the military.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Greg Kerr
Thank you very much.
Now we go to Mr. Rafferty, please, for six minutes.
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, gentlemen, for being with us here today.
Many of our new veterans won't access services for maybe five, 10, 20, or 25 years. When they do, and they have an issue, one of the things I believe happens now is that Veterans Affairs will only go back so far. They won't go back to when an injury may have occurred, for example, if it was 20 years ago.
I wonder if that's one of the things you have been talking about or one of the things you think need to be addressed in the new Veterans Charter.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
The problem is that...and it's not Veterans Affairs' fault sometimes. I mean, the life of a soldier is not easy. There are times when you see a doctor or a medic in the field and buddy writes it down on the CF 98 form and sticks it in his pad, and it may not make it to your medical files. These are serious issues here, right? Then there's the follow-up. What is the benefit of the doubt?
I'm glad you asked this question, because we've helped so many people with problems that weren't documented. They had the issues; there was no doubt about it. Many were in the hospital. But they couldn't find the documentation. This is where we come to the benefit-of-the-doubt protocols that aren't being applied.
The ombudsman mentioned this as well. The ombudsman before him sure as hell mentioned it, on more than one occasion, right?
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
He was pretty active, right?
But the fact of the matter is that we haven't addressed this yet, and now, we as a committee.... You're right; there is an opportunity.
What is the benefit of the doubt? Well, the benefit of the doubt is based on trust, on trust and on respect for that man's service or that woman's service. When that man or woman comes forward and says, “Listen, I broke my ankle in 1977”, it was broken in 1977. We have to trust these people. It's not their fault that they can't find the medical docs about when the incident happened.
I know there are some people out there and we have to be on guard for fraud, but 99% of the brotherhood is not like that, and 99% of the sisterhood will come forward to you in good faith. Yet we refuse to give them the benefit of the doubt—
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Thank you. I only have six minutes, so....
Now, we've heard a number of witnesses talk about this, and you also mentioned it briefly when you talked about the lack of services for member's spouses and families and what a serious issue it is. I wonder if you'd like to expand on your thoughts on this issue, mainly because I think every other witness we've had before us has talked about that as one of the things that is lacking in the new Veterans Charter.
Some have even gone so far as to say it should be enshrined in the Veterans Charter that spouses and families should be taken care of too. I wonder if you would comment on that.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
Well, prior to 2006, they were taken care of. There were supplements for them, right? But we've been at war now, and the times have changed. We have obligations to those who are taking care of our wounded today. Those obligations are very serious in the sense that they need tools, they need help, and first of all, they need us to listen to their voices.
I have Jenny over here. I brought her to Ottawa a couple of weeks ago. She just wants the tools and says, “Help me help my man, help me make my family whole, help me get away from this cycle of despair, and help me pre-empt this.” Most important is “help me”, period.
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Would extending the war pensioners' allowance past Second World War veterans and Korean veterans be helpful to start moving...? Because to call Second World War veterans and Korean veterans the only wartime veterans...we have other wartime veterans. I wonder if that act should be extended to cover more. Would that be part of a solution, do you think?
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
What was the war pensioners act for? It was designed to provide supplementary care for people who needed it as a consequence of their husband's service or their service and time.
We've become more understanding now, in the sense that there are supplementary pensions that may have been available had we not gone that route. ELB didn't exist for many. As a consequence, they went to the war pensioners' allowance. Now it does exist, and now if they're under 65, perhaps the earnings loss benefit program would be the better solution, because it guarantees the $40,000 poverty level. It guarantees 75%.
I'm not sure on that, in the sense of what benefits it would provide or whether it might become a mechanism that would deny benefits, in the sense that they would go with the war pensioners' allowance when the better alternative would be to go on ELB.
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
I wonder if just very quickly you could tell me if you think that Veterans Affairs could do a better job before members leave the service, a better job in getting them enrolled in Veterans Affairs even if they don't need the services right away and in explaining what Veterans Affairs does—being a little more proactive, in other words.
President and Founder, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
Sure, and there is coordination going on there now, the JPSU units, Veterans Affairs has a place there, and I believe that. I really do. I think that place should be a little bit more heightened but we have issues with privacy again. We have issues of transition wherein the two departments are not in sync yet. That's essential, right? But I also think it's vital that we do something. We just can't sit here anymore.
I got so frustrated yesterday. Lieutenant-General Semianiw—I like the guy, but I was so frustrated when he said, maybe they should consider another advisory.... How many do we need to do and how much time will that waste, and how many people are going to die because of it, and how much discomfort and discord is going to happen? Now we have to have that combination where DND and Veterans Affairs are working together, and when we identify the wounded, we bring in a comprehensive package that includes the wife, that includes the children, and once we start that process, it doesn't stop when they get out. The transition is automatic. The continuance of care is automatic. The continuance of compassion persists until, God willing, we provide that quality of life that they need, so that wound is diminished. It may never go away, like myself, but my God, we can provide a life that's acceptable, that's fulfilling, that's Canadian, that makes you feel proud to be alive.