Veterans Affairs Committee on Nov. 7th, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

Members of the committee, we're back in session.

If there is a problem, the problem does not originate from the House. It may originate from ParlVU. We have no evidence that there is a problem with transmission here.

Mr. Chisu, you have one minute and five seconds. Use them wisely.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I want to return to the documents in the medical files, and so on. I understand that when I retire, after one year the medical file will go to the archives. Now, when it is a veteran or somebody who's claiming serious injury and so on and who's coming to you, the medical files are available from the archives.

What is the transition period if you want to serve a veteran quickly? How difficult is it to get the file? How quickly can you have the file from the archives? I understand also that National Defence is digitizing these files.

[Charlotte Bastien]

I'm not in a position to comment on the transfer between Canadian Armed Forces and Library and Archives. I'm not familiar with the inner workings of that. That would have to be referred to those authorities.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Who needs to provide you, if a veteran—

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

Your time is up.

Monsieur Chicoine.

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

I'm going to give my time to Ms. Day.

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

Ms. Day, we're listening.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you all so much for appearing before the committee and answering our questions. Your contribution adds tremendous value to our work.

During your presentation, you talked about benefits that could be provided to veterans' spouses. My riding is home to two veterans residences, and most of the residents are widows. Although I'm speaking in the singular, this situation applies to many. Some of my constituents approached me about a specific situation: a woman who was widowed after divorcing the military member she had been married to. The divorce was a matter of survival for her and her child. But she was not entitled to receive widow benefits.

My question is for Charlotte Bastien.

I think you're familiar with these cases. Would this woman be entitled to receive benefits? If not, is there anything I could do to help her obtain widow benefits, given that she did spend many years married to someone in the military?

[Charlotte Bastien]

I can't comment on personal situations. I don't–

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Sorry, I'll use the plural for my example. It applies not just to one person, but to many, and I won't use any names. I'm referring to all the widows in Canada who experienced domestic violence and had to divorce their spouses for the sake of their family's safety and survival, as well as their own. Is there some way, some method of intervening in situations like that?

[Charlotte Bastien]

I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean once they're divorced or once they're widowed? It also depends on the benefits the veteran was receiving from the department.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

The woman became a widow after her divorce. Her ex-husband, who was in the military, passed away after the divorce.

[Charlotte Bastien]

It depends on what benefits the veteran was receiving at the time of his death.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Can you tell us who they should speak to and how to proceed with the request? Are these people's rights clearly indicated on the Web site?

[Charlotte Bastien]

There is information on the site. In the specific case of those who divorced their spouse because of domestic violence—

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

We're talking about a family's safety.

[Charlotte Bastien]

or to ensure their family's safety, I will have to get back to you with the information.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

That would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[Charlotte Bastien]

When it comes to benefits, it always depends on what the veteran was receiving at the time of their death.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

In addition, you gave us a table in English only. I would point out that you are supposed to provide documents in both official languages. I'm talking about the table on disability decisions.

You mentioned the 60th anniversary of the Korean War and the special certificates that would be awarded to those veterans.

Will MPs play any role in that?

[André Levesque]

Surviving veterans, themselves, can apply for a certificate to our office or through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans organizations can also make requests, as can parliamentarians. Normally, it would go through the minister's office, which would serve as the liaison. Certificates would then be given however you wish, so you could award them as you like.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

In light of fairly recent wars such as the one in Afghanistan, some veterans are relatively young.

Could you tell us whether the number of veterans is going up or has remained relatively unchanged?

[Charlotte Bastien]

Whether war service veterans or Canadian Armed Forces veterans, the total number of veterans is decreasing. But, as compared with World War II veterans and Korean War veterans, the percentage of modern-day vets, meaning those who fought between 1945 and the present, is higher. The presentation includes a diagram—

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

I apologize, Ms. Bastien, but I have to stop you there. Your time is up.

Thank you, Ms. Day, for pointing out the problem on page 13 of the presentation. I assume this kind of thing will be rectified in the future. I would ask the witnesses to send the clerk a corrected version of page 13 in both official languages. Thank you kindly.

Mr. Lobb, go ahead.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm going to give Mr. Hawn a minute or two of my time.