Evidence of meeting #19 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 charter.
A recording is available from Parliament.
April 1st, 2014 / 4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Fuchko, for coming here this afternoon. I thank you for your service to this country.
First, just to clarify, at this moment you are in a transition process from DND to Veterans Affairs. Is that correct?
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
Therefore, at the present time you are not receiving any benefits, per se, from Veterans Affairs. Is that correct?
4:20 p.m.
As an Individual
That is correct. I received a disability award in 2008. That was the one-time lump sum.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
My next question is with regard to the difficulties you had with your quotes. I would understand if you were not the only one who may have had difficulty getting quotes, especially in the smaller communities. Do you know exactly what happens if you cannot get the third quote? I know the construction business and business in general, and I know that you may not find three companies in certain places that are interested in giving a quote. Do you know what happens then?
4:20 p.m.
As an Individual
I was told that a documented failure to quote can actually fulfill the requirement, so that's eventually how my project actually moved on. Whether or not that's the case for everybody, or everybody is aware of that, I can't speak to that, but that would be something to look at. For example, maybe a certain company having a contract with Veterans Affairs or the forces to provide accessibility services and things like that would be something to look at, but it was definitely a challenge.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
Actually, what I want to ask you next is.... It's an interesting thing that you brought up, that the lowest quote did not include doors in the elevator. Therefore, who prepared the specifications for the project? Because it looks to me like whoever quoted it did not quote the same thing. Therefore, was it you? Or was the project predetermined by DND, or by someone?
4:20 p.m.
As an Individual
It was the occupational therapist who came up with the requirement and they drew up a draft report of what was required. It wasn't until further inspection of the actual quote that was delivered that it became apparent that one was missing specific items that were essentially imperative to the system, and that became problematic.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
You described the difficulties with the service, and it looks like there is a gap there in communications, in the information that people like you receive. Therefore, do you have any suggestions on the best way to correct it? How do you get information? Do you use the website? Do you use only your contact at Veterans Affairs or DND? How do you get information to make sure that you are aware of everything, all the benefits that you're entitled to?
4:20 p.m.
As an Individual
My best resource is actually individuals who are employed in the various branches. I could go and look at a website all day long and read it until my face is blue and still not understand what any of it means. Actually engaging with the people who are responsible for these services was the best, because they could tell me step by step what I had to do, what I was entitled to, what the requirements were, and stuff like that. So I really found that one-on-one time was invaluable, and I would say that more of that would probably be necessary.
Most briefings for wounded members happen in essentially a classroom setting. It's difficult because you may not be paying attention. You may just be told to be there. So a lot of the information might not be getting out. But I was really lucky to have a lot of one-on-one time with individuals in the know, and they were able to guide me and show me what I could access and what I could utilize.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
With both. I guess you are dealing with both at the present time.
4:25 p.m.
As an Individual
I would give them both Fs. It was rather difficult, absolutely.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Wladyslaw Lizon Conservative Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON
You did express your disappointment and the negative aspects of the whole process after you were injured. Were there any positives that kept you going?
4:25 p.m.
As an Individual
Well, the interesting thing was, I got to have a whole group of experiences I would have never, ever had.
In my first year, I got to meet a whole bunch of celebrities. I got to do a whole lot of adventures through the military Soldier On program, which was key in my rehabilitation. It was a rehab-through-sport program. With Canada being so geographically challenged, the next injured veteran might be hundreds of kilometres away. The program brought us all together to establish a community, where we could all mutually support each other, and in addition to bringing the member around, it brought the families around as well. So the wounded members' families could lean on each other for support, and that developed that community.
All the people I met through Solder On are my support network today. I still see them, and that was just phenomenal for me. And it gave me a lot of opportunities to show, “Hey, I may be disabled, but I can still do all this stuff.” I had the opportunity. I climbed Kilimanjaro for a fundraiser. I get to play sled hockey now and show that I can still rough people up, even though I don't have my feet. That was a really major factor in getting me back on my feet and getting some kind of normalcy back in my life.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Greg Kerr
Thank you very much, Mr. Lizon.
Mr. Rafferty now, please, for six minutes.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Corporal, for being a witness with us today, and thank you very much for your service.
All through your speaking so far really what you've been saying in a number of cases is that red tape is a real problem.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
I wonder if you would have maybe one or two things that could be fixed very easily and would reduce red tape. I'm thinking—and I would like, if I do have time, to hear why your caseworkers got Fs—and just wondering, for example, if getting more time with a caseworker, with a qualified caseworker, would that help reduce red tape? It's that sort of thing. Do you have any suggestions for us?
4:25 p.m.
As an Individual
My experience was that the case managers were extremely overworked. They had a whole group of cases, and they couldn't really devote any time to one specifically. This is problematic when they're dealing with people with minor injuries all the way to those with severe injuries. Thus, the people at the higher end of the disability spectrum really feel like they get shortchanged in that regard.
For cutting red tape, one of the things I would like to see has to do with the three-quote system, especially for aids to daily living. Something needs to be done about that, because it's really difficult for these services to be delivered in a timely fashion. Again, in the community you live in, you might be unable to acquire this.
The other thing is the veterans independence program. The onus is always on the member to get that service delivered. I could barely walk, yet I was handed a binder with an infinite list of names of people I had to contact to set up the services. Again, that was a long process. It would have been nice if my case manager just could have had a contact number and could have told me that these people were coming on this date to do a consult, and then it could have carried on in that fashion.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Is the problem that the caseworkers are not trained well enough, at least in your experience, or that you don't have enough time with them?
4:25 p.m.
As an Individual
I really don't think that any of my case managers really cared about my well-being, to tell you the truth. There were numerous opportunities where they could have brought up issues that I was having, and they failed to do so. Luckily, I had a switched-on chain of command and an awesome assisting officer who was able to catch this, because there would be conference calls where I'd be having a whole group of problems and my case manager would fail to bring them up to anybody higher.
The other difficulty, I feel, is that there are probably not enough case managers, as one of the constant issues I kept hearing about was, “I have so many cases, I have so many cases, I have so many cases...”. A lot of it was the lead time to deliver aid, the aids to daily living. It took a long time.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Can I assume, then, that you're a little concerned about what's going to happen after June 1?