Veterans Affairs Committee on April 1st, 2014

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Okay, folks, we'll get under way. As you are aware we're continuing the review of the new Veterans Charter, and looking for recommendations from the witnesses. I would point out being Tuesday and there being a vote we're going to have to work around the bells. Certainly we look forward to Corporal Fuchko's presentation. We'll do questions around the table and hopefully get the presentations from the next group and probably have to break for the vote, then come back and do our questions. We still should be out of here by seven, so if that's agreeable we'll get under way.

Thank you very much for coming. I know you're in this morning and out this evening and you've got a busy schedule yourself so we very much appreciate your coming. We'll ask you to give your presentation then we'll go around with questions, so welcome.

[Cpl Mark Fuchko, As an Individual]

Okay, I'd like to first thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to come here today and represent wounded, ill, and injured veterans.

My name is Corporal Mark Fuchko. I joined the military in 2002. I joined the reserve force while I was still in high school. I had the opportunity to do two tours in Afghanistan. I did a nine-month tour in 2005-06 and I did my second tour in 2008. On March 29, 2008, while conducting Operation Mulki Azad the vehicle I was in struck an improvised explosive device.

Upon striking the bomb I remember seeing a red flash in my episcope and I looked down and my right leg was actually sitting right in my lap. I knew I was in trouble. When that bomb had gone off it also shattered my pelvis into several pieces. I had broken every major bone below my belly button and I didn't actually know it at first. I thought I was paralyzed when the initial blast went off. I tapped my left boot. When I did this my tib-fib came out of my trousers. I knew my leg was broken. At that point I took my C-A-T tourniquets, a really expensive device, it costs around five dollars. I tourniqueted my right and left leg to prevent any bleeding just so I wouldn't die.

Just the nature of the blast and the way our vehicle was I could not be extricated from the vehicle for over an hour. So there I sat bleeding and dying and doing my own first aid. It was probably one of the most horrible experiences of my life. I remember when the blast went off the first thing that kind of went through my head was, if I die here my mom's going to kill me. I have a seven-year-old son and I was really keen on seeing him again, so I was bound and determined to do everything I could to make sure I got out of there alive.

After I was able to successfully, or I guess unsuccessfully, apply first aid, my gunner who could actually get his hand down to me told me, “Mark you've got to get the vehicle off because we're starting to smoke, we could start on fire and explode”. So not only did I have to deal with these horrible injuries, I had to deal with a vehicle that could potentially cause other casualties. So after being stranded in the vehicle I was pretty sure I was going to die. I just wanted to get out in the fresh air and die in the fresh air because there I was in this hole, I was bleeding, I was dying, and I was in a lot of pain.

So after roughly about 45 minutes the guys in my combat team were able to bring another tank over that ripped the hatch off the tank and they were able to extricate me out of the vehicle, get me into a helicopter, and put me into the Role 3 hospital. While I was there I took on approximately 25 units of blood and plasma. I am not a medical professional but they tell me that is quite a lot of blood. They told me I could have bled out three times. One of the medics told me I flatlined three or four times. Luckily, I was able to pull through. I went to Landstuhl Regional Medical Facility. The situation was fairly dire. My family was flown over to see me at that point. I actually pulled through and long story short, here I am before you today.

When I originally deployed to Afghanistan in 2005-06 that was when the old Veterans Charter was enacted or Chrétien was still on the books. I was at the Provincial Reconstruction Team when Master Corporal Paul Franklin was injured, when he lost both of his legs. I remember seeing him and remarking to another friend in my platoon, I hope that never happens to me, and two years later it happened to me.

It was a nightmare and I have to live with this every day. It is something that has changed my life for better and for worse and again, I'm just not the same person after that. Everything I do is different, my life is different, my future, what I thought I was going to do. It was a major upheaval. It was really hard on me and it was hard on my family. But what happened to me, I accepted it, but when I came back to Canada there was a whole grip of issues where I really felt that they were the cause of a lot of frustration. I don't even know how to describe it.

I came back and I thought I would have a lot of support when I got home, and I had a lot of support from my family, but where I didn't see it, I didn't see it at the political level. So for example, I would have politicians, I will not name names, who constantly were visiting me, constantly asking me what do you need, what do you need, what do you need? The laundry list went on and on. This happened for every single wounded vet. So far nothing has been delivered on any of this.

I just celebrated six years of my alive day, that's when I lost my legs, and nothing has changed. I keep hearing that this new Veterans Charter is a growing, evolving charter, and thus far it has proved to be anything but. Right now I am still serving in the military. When I was assessed the disability award, which is a lump sum that is handed out, I received the maximum.

Veterans Affairs categorized me as 108% disabled because I'm a bilateral below-the-knee amputee. I had severe damage to my hips. I'll require a double hip replacement in the future, and I'm not even 30 yet. My pelvis, I don't even know how to describe it...it does not look normal. It has been rearranged by that blast and is still healing today.

I was awarded the maximum dollar figure. I got awarded $266,000 as a disability award from the new Veterans Charter. I looked back at what the old system was, because, like most veterans, when I heard the new Veterans Charter was coming in...we weren't really told a whole lot about it. The only brief I remember getting about it was in the field in Wainwright one time before we deployed, and we were told, hey, there's a new Veterans Charter, and it's probably better than the old one. That was it. That's all we were told. It wasn't until after I was wounded that I really learned what this legislation meant to me and what would it mean to my future life.

I was awarded $266,000. That was the maximum. That was my pain and suffering award. To me, for the pain and suffering that I went through in the hour that I was trapped in a tank, a smoking coffin where I thought I was going to die, no dollar amount can really cover that. Nothing can.

Then, when I come back and I hear that this charter is designed to get me back to work, I feel like that is completely laughable. I retire on June 1, and I'm really concerned about what's going to happen to me when I get out.

One specific aspect of the new Veterans Charter that I'm talking about is the earnings loss benefit. This benefit is 75% of a member's pre-release salary. In the Canadian Forces, being injured effectively ends your career. You cannot progress. You cannot get promoted. Through no fault of your own, you're stuck in your position. I've been stuck in my current rank for six years. I could have been promoted six years before getting injured, but I chose to serve and go overseas because I thought I was needed. Thus, through no fault of my own, my career stagnated. When I get out, I'll be receiving 75% of my pre-release salary, which will be taxed.

The other problem with this is that all other income, the way it's been explained to me, will be clawed back out of that. I keep hearing that the new Veterans Charter is designed to get me back to work. Well, if I go out and get a job—menial, just doing whatever I can to contribute to society—there's no benefit to me in doing so, because any money I earn from doing that will simply be clawed back. This is not an incentive for anybody to get back to work and back to contributing to society.

Under the old system, a pension was awarded for life. They weren't subject to a clawback until the age of 65. To me, that's a lot more incentive for somebody to get back to work, because they're earning, they don't have to worry about it getting clawed back, and they can contribute to society in any way they can, even if it's just being a Walmart greeter or doing something like that.

I kind of feel like that was a real slap in the face, and I was really upset by that one.

The other thing is the permanent impairment allowance. I can receive my disability award essentially as soon as I am wounded and disabled, but I cannot collect the permanent impairment allowance until I take my uniform off. I lost my legs. When I take my uniform off, I suddenly become permanently impaired? I think the idea is kind of ridiculous. If they're going to award that, it should be awarded immediately, at the same time as a disability award.

I also hear about the additional stipend that has been awarded for the catastrophically injured. Again, I have received no clear explanation as to who is awarded that or what the stipulations for it are. I am considered 108% disabled, but I still cannot be told whether I quality for this extra stipend.

The other thing about the earnings loss benefit is that the previous award was done for life and was tax-free. This new ELB ends at age 65. After the age of 65, the individual receives 2% of the total payout in a lump sum. If a private at the age of 30, say, is making roughly $42,000 a year, that equates to a $40,000 lump sum to retire on at the age of 65. This is woefully inadequate. I don't know anybody who can retire on that amount of money and live for an extra 20 to 30 years.

Thus, I have a lot of concerns about what's going to happen to me once I leave.

I'm very fortunate. I have my mind intact. I have my motivation intact. I am able to walk and to be fairly active. But given my disability, I may not be able to walk tomorrow, the day after, or in the future. We just don't know. As such, I've taken all the steps I can. I've worked my butt off so that I can go to school. I'm currently at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. I'm trying to finish my undergrad degree. My intent is to eventually study law, because I really don't have a whole lot of faith in this system to leave me anywhere but poverty-stricken.

Leaving it at that, that is my story, gentlemen, and I'll open the floor to any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much, Corporal Fuchko. It really was very definite and very specific and I appreciate your candour with us today.

We'll now go to the rounds of questions and we'll start with Mr. Stoffer, please, for six minutes.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much and to Mark, if I may be so informal as to call you Mark, I'm sure on behalf of the committee, thank you very much for your service and I'm sorry for that traumatic injury that you've suffered.

As you've rightfully said, it's something that you'll carry with you for the rest of your life. We here on the committee on both sides recognize the sacrifice and service you did and we want to congratulate you very much for that. I'm sorry you're leaving with this injury. I wish you could have just left on normal circumstances, but, unfortunately, that's not to be.

Sir, when you leave, how many years will you have in, complete?

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

Sorry, years in the Canadian Forces?

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Yes.

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

I'll have 12 years of service. I just reached my 12-year date on March 9.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Very good.

I have a couple of recommendations for you. Before you leave, make sure you get every inch of your medical records to go with you and make sure you go through it very, very carefully to make sure that everything that is in there meets with your...everything that has happened to you so far, because years down the road, as you said, a hip replacement, those things.... That may come in very handy for you when it comes to going back to DVA looking for further assistance in that regard.

Sir, you had mentioned that you don't get the PIA until you leave. You're correct on that one and I think it is something that the committee can take under advisement to see where we can work towards that. Because you are correct, whether you're disabled in the military or disabled outside of the military, you're still disabled and so that payment.... I think you've brought up a very good point and I thank you very much for doing that.

On the earnings loss, we have heard before in previous committees that you're right, even the department has said that one of the concerns they have is if you're a corporal now and you get seriously injured and you have to leave through a 3(b) release, you lose out on any advancement to become a captain or a colonel or whatever down the road. Thus you lose out on those particular concerns and I thank you very much for that.

Sir, if you could advise the committee, if you were the Minister of Veterans Affairs, what couple of things would you like to see us include—not just for yourself, but for your family, for other veterans who are coming down the pipe, your fellow brothers and sisters in Afghanistan—to improve their lives right until the day that you pass away? What can we do?

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

Well, looking at it this way, the ELB is based on rank and not on disability. The previous system was based on your disability rather than rank and I would like to see that enacted, mainly because in some circumstances an individual who has a traumatic injury will earn less than somebody who does not, just based on rank level.

For example, somebody who's a quadriplegic, they're going to need a lot more than somebody who has a 75% disability, but had achieved a higher rank. To me, that seems like a big class differential in the military.

So if the ELB could be based on your injury rather than on your salary or your rank, more specifically, I think that would be a vast improvement over the system that is currently in place.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Sir, the government has announced recently a financial package for educational opportunity. I think it's to the tune of $75,000 or $78,000 or something of that nature. Have you been able to take advantage of that opportunity?

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

Right now, all the educational opportunities I've been able to take advantage of are already pre-existing. So for example, I've been utilizing the ILP, the individual learning plan, part-time for the last two years. I'm currently on VRPSM, which is covered by SISIP, and that is covering my last year of school.

Moving on, I know there's a Veterans Affairs program that covers, I think it's 24 months, so my intent is to use that to leapfrog and to finish my degree.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Very good. Well, I think becoming a lawyer would be a very good thing for you to do because your expertise in the military will assist a lot of people in the country in the future. I just want to thank you very much for being here today and God bless you, sir.

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

Thank you, sir.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Can I use your minute? No, sorry.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

I've got more, but it'll take past my time. Just a nice guy down there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

I appreciate that.

Mr. Gill, please, for six minutes.

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I also want to thank Corporal Fuchko.

Thank you for coming, first of all and appearing before the committee and providing us your invaluable feedback to help us with this important study that we're conducting. I also want to thank you for your service and also, obviously, the sacrifices that you've made and your family, sir, towards our great nation. Thank you for that as well.

Minister Fantino also wanted me to pass along his greetings and his thank you. I guess he had an opportunity to meet with you in Calgary. He was also very happy to hear you were going to be appearing before our committee here today.

Sir, as a veteran of Afghanistan who has experienced the application of the Veterans Charter first hand, I believe your words here today are invaluable to the work of this committee. As a serving member, can you elaborate on your experience between the service and support you received from DND and the service you have received from Veterans Affairs, if any?

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

I'd say they're quite a bit different. I'm actually just starting to move into the Veterans Affairs program, although I have utilized certain assets from Veterans Affairs.

One of the great difficulties I had with the military was that there was an atmosphere that was totally unprepared to deal with the catastrophically injured. When I first came home, I was not the first amputee from the war in Afghanistan and I constantly ran into hurdles that really affected my quality of life and my family's as well. Things like aids to daily living were almost impossible to obtain. Just to get my house accessible took over a year. That was a really long drawn-out nightmare. I'm not the only one who actually experienced that. There seemed to be kind of a battle with what was covered and what was not and who would cover what. That was quite a challenge, and it seems to me that there was a lot of overlap, but people weren't necessarily sure if Veterans Affairs or the military was going to cover it, and things like lead time, house modifications, and stuff like that were a real challenge for sure. I would say that probably the one common thing is housing, especially for the severely disabled.

The military originally took this on but there is a whole group of caveats that make it difficult for the delivery of this in a timely fashion. For example, some people find themselves severely disabled coming back to houses that they can't physically occupy just because their houses are not wheelchair friendly, wheelchair safe. They essentially require a whole new house to live in.

In my case the biggest problem was that the rules stipulate that you have to have three quotes to obtain an actual work order. The problem was, in Calgary, I could only obtain two quotes, so thus, the work order would never proceed. Luckily I had a switched-on troop warrant who was able to connect with my case manager and eventually got the ball rolling.

Again, there were other problems. For example, the contractor who bid the lowest was awarded the contract to do my house. However, I have a seven-year-old, and they were going to build me an elevator with no doors because that was the cheapest one, and that wasn't included in the quotes. Here I was; they were going to build me an elevator with no doors so I'd just have this gaping elevator shaft.

That's just my own personal story. I'm sure as other veterans come before you, they will all bring up that housing was a major issue for them, not just from the military side, because I know Veterans Affairs typically only covers aids to daily living once a member is out, but that might be something that should be looked at, that one or the other should cover it. Because Veterans Affairs is going to have the member for the rest of their life, it would probably be more beneficial for them to take care of that because they're going to have the member for a lot longer during that transition and that release period. With the military, it seemed like the job kept getting passed on and passed on, and guys were essentially treading water and not getting the items that they required.

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Do you have a case manager who you work with and can you tell us if that case manager is from DND or from Veterans Affairs?

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

I have two case managers. I have a Veterans Affairs case manager and I also have a DND case manager. My case manager in Calgary, Mimi Fortin, is a retired lieutenant-colonel from Canadian Forces. She handles things like whenever I need new legs and things like that, helping to get the ball rolling on that because there is, again, a whole bunch of hoops that have to be jumped through. It's been fairly difficult for me to get anything delivered in a timely fashion just because of the amount of hoops, just because the dollar figure is quite large for prosthetics. The system has gotten better for me in Calgary just because there's more familiarity with what needs to be done and things like that.

I have not had the opportunity to talk much to my Veterans Affairs case manager. One of the biggest problems I had was with the veterans independence program. This was originally covered by Veterans Affairs. Then it was dropped for serving members and it was covered by the military. It took me over two years to get the veterans independence program in place after qualifying for it.

The main problem was, when you ask for it, you're essentially given a phone book of people to call who can “deliver the service”. I think I called 15 different service providers who said they did not provide the service. A lot of members get fed up with this. They get frustrated and they give up.

I would have liked to see my case manager take a little more proactive role and kind of say, “Hey, here's a company that we're already doing business with. Here's their number. I'll link up the contact.” rather than the onus being on the member because it's frustrating; you're in a new life. I was in a wheelchair, I couldn't walk a whole lot, and it was pretty hard because I put on my brave face every day and it was really tough to see my family members look at me with really sad faces, and the fact that I had to go through this binder to contact service providers who had no idea what I was talking about....

Every time I brought it up to my Veterans Affairs case manager, they just provided with me with a brand new updated list, and I just kept running into the same problem over and over again. One thing I would look at is streamlining that system, absolutely.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you very much, Mr. Gill.

Mr. Valeriote, please, for six minutes.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Thank you, Mark. I don't think there's anybody around this table who could begin to imagine what you've been through, nor do I think they would have the courage to face the future with the same courage that you're facing your future, but I do hear some anxiety in your voice about what might happen to you.

You spoke of the inadequacy of current programs and your concern about the adequacy of programs when you reach 65. You talked about the earnings loss benefit, 75% of your pre-released salary, ending at 65, and then going on to, essentially, CPP. If you don't become a lawyer—and let's think about all those who may not have the aptitude that you do, who come out with the same kinds of injuries and can't go on to be a lawyer, which, presumably, would give you a more solid retirement income—and if you're not able to accumulate CPP benefits through employment until you're 65, you could be left with virtually nothing at the age of 65. Is that correct?

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

That is my understanding. I'm looking at the system and it seems rather abysmal for anybody who's facing that. Again, my fear is that, say, my injuries compound to the point where I can no longer work. If I was working for a period, can I go back on ELB? How's that going to affect me in the future? Again, not everybody's in the same shape as I am.

The other problem is the disability award is based on the magic two-limb number. So if you're missing two limbs, that's the maximum amount you can get. For example, I have a friend in the forces. He's missing an arm and two legs and his settlement was roughly equivalent to mine, although his injuries are substantially different than mine and he's going to require a lot more care and stuff like that. So I worry about people who have some really bad injuries that are going to be really difficult to overcome, both physically and mentally.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

We heard from Sergeant Nielson the other day. I understood that the renovations to a home to accommodate your injury are paid for by the government. It takes a while to get that money back, but, nevertheless, it's still paid for by the government. Is there anything that you require that is not paid for through some benefit?

[Cpl Mark Fuchko]

My understanding is they conduct a consult with an occupational therapist and they are the one who decides what aids to daily living are required.

One of the problems I had was the occupational therapist recommended things that would cause substantial devaluation of my house. For example, they wanted to put an elevator lift in my back yard, but to do this, they wanted to concrete my back yard. I don't know anyone out there who wants a concrete back yard. I certainly did not. That would really have affected the resale of my house if I had to move on.

So there are some difficulties with that, but it seems like if there is a need for it, it can get delivered, but whether or not it'll be delivered in a timely fashion is the issue.