Veterans Affairs Committee on May 26th, 2015

[Michel D. Doiron]

That is correct, sir.

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

There's going to be adequate time for them to be able to give all the care a veteran needs.

[Michel D. Doiron]

In addition, within that 30 we are also ensuring that we balance the intensity and the complexity of their clients, their veterans, so no more than 20% would be complex cases. The majority would be the medium cases but no more, because if there were more than six serious or complex cases, they would run out of time.

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

That's what I was getting at, because not every veteran is going to be the same. Some cases are going to be very complex and some are going to be fairly simple.

I want to confirm something you said earlier. You said that the medical records and personal files and things like that are going to be much easier to access now. Is that what you said earlier?

[Michel D. Doiron]

We hope it will be much easier to access. We're working with CAF to accelerate our receiving the medical files. Redaction has begun. We are adding purposes. What I said was, we are adding 23 adjudicators embedded within CAF for adjudications, which then will accelerate because it's not the same level of redaction.

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

A lot of changes have been made for reservists. Can you describe some of those?

[Bernard Butler]

Although not contained within this bill, because it was simply a matter of a regulatory amendment that has already come into effect, this committee identified that there was an issue of fairness in how reservists were being treated through the new Veterans Charter earnings loss benefit program. The most significant change that was implemented through that process was to ensure that reservists who suffer service-related injury and end up coming into our rehabilitation program are receiving earnings loss benefits paid at the same minimum level as for a full-time regular force serving member. That minimum threshold is $42,000. That addresses a concern which our stakeholders and veterans and this committee have identified over some time as an issue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

I'd like to welcome a member to the committee, Marc-André Morin.

You have the floor for six minutes.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to know why it will take five years before more case managers are on the job.

[Michel D. Doiron]

The reason is the gradual increase in clients. We are currently managing the cases of 7,200 veterans but we anticipate that the number will increase to 9,700 over the next five years. So we will staff case manager positions over the next few years to accommodate that increase in clients.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Meanwhile, veterans are waiting. They are waiting until all of those case managers are on the job.

In any case, there is a lot I don't know about the issue, but it makes me think of my friend Jacques. He's 92. One of his legs was shattered in the Italian campaign when he was 18. His last leg operation was in February. He told me about the services he was receiving.

He said that his story was a simple one. He and 10 of his buddies set off crawling through the trenches and spent a year and a half being shot at. He buried half of his friends, and when he got back, he could no longer walk. His father had to lift him off the train. He was never able to do any sports. In a nutshell, he needed assistance in order to live.

While it may be a simple story, he still has to fill out paperwork, with all kinds of fine print to take into account. He knows how to use the Internet, he chats with his nieces and nephews, he isn't afraid of using a computer, but in his eyes, it's an insult to be forced to do it, to have that constraint placed on him. When you've been through what he's been through, you need to talk to a human being.

It's a bit long-winded, but—

[Michel D. Doiron]

The reason for the additional resources—especially case managers—is to ensure that we have staff for those who need it, in other words veterans whose cases are being managed. We are making sure we have people to assist them.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

The government would have done well not to get rid of them in the first place.

How do you justify how complex the system is?

[Michel D. Doiron]

It has to do with the forms and paperwork. We're in the midst of reviewing our forms and the way we communicate to make sure that the information is clear, that veterans can understand it.

Nevertheless, certain pieces of information have to be provided when a veteran is filling out an application. We have to use forms and we have to ask for certain pieces of information.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

I would remind you that these aren't actuaries or lawyers who've been injured.

[Michel D. Doiron]

I realize that, and that's why we are reviewing the forms to make them a lot easier to understand and much more user-friendly.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

I know you're just doing your job, and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes these days, but it doesn't seem like things are changing very quickly. Every single government since the beginning has had a hand in creating the situation. It's like watching a clock that has stopped. If your patient enough to sit and watch it for 24 hours, it will display the right time twice.

[Bernard Butler]

Many thanks for those comments on that. That's very helpful, for sure.

I would say two things. First, I would assure you that we're actually very delighted to be in the positions we're in, because we have a very important cause to advance in supporting Canada's veterans, and quite frankly, it's actually quite enjoyable and a privilege. Second, I would say that if you go back to the minister's comments when he was at ACVA a few weeks ago, the department is actually involved in a very interesting direction now. The minister at the time spoke of three critical areas that this department is focused on. One is achieving service excellence. One is achieving basically a resetting of our approach to veterans, which is trying to make everything we do more veteran-centric. The other is trying to fix this transition, the seam between the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs.

Part of what we hope to achieve through that exercise is actually going to the very issues you're raising, which is to ensure we approach it from the veterans' point of view and not from a program point of view, and that we deliver it in such a way that the veterans themselves are going to feel they're getting the support when they need it and where they need it. It's actually a very exciting time for us.

We thank you for your comments.

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

We have just a couple of minutes left. I'll give the floor to Monsieur Lemieux.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Perhaps you could explain something to the committee and to those who are listening. We have what I call important initiatives for veterans. They're in the budget implementation act before Parliament. We're going to be reporting it back to the House. Of course, every indication is that it will pass through Parliament before we rise for the summer, and it will go to the Senate.

Could you give us an indication of the implementation time once this has passed through the Senate, especially for these financial benefits?

[Bernard Butler]

From our point of view, Mr. Lemieux, the intent is to ensure that everything is implemented as quickly as possible. That has been our mandate. That is the minister's commitment. Once the legislation is passed and the supporting regulations are approved and put into place, we will be immediately engaged in implementing it. Those implementation strategies are being worked on as we speak.

As the minister indicated the other day to the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, his intent is to ensure that these benefits, particularly the financial ones, reach the hands of veterans as soon as they can. That is the commitment the department is working towards.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you.

Thanks, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

I'd like to thank our witnesses.

That brings our first hour to a close.

We will now take a short break in order to bring in our next panel of witnesses.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

I'd like to welcome the Veterans Ombudsman, Guy Parent.

I'd also like to welcome Sharon Squire, the deputy ombudsman, and Mr. Forbes from the National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada.

In this segment, we have the ombudsman, and of course,

Brian Forbes, from the National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada.

Each witness will have 10 minutes.

Mr. Parent, the floor is yours.

[Guy Parent, Veterans Ombudsman, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman]

Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for inviting me to appear today to discuss division 17 of part 3 of Bill C-59.

Thank you for the opportunity, and I also want to thank you for the critical role that you have played in the past couple of years that has brought us to this juncture.

Your report, “The New Veterans Charter: Moving Forward”, published in June 2014, helped to focus the debate, establish priorities, and bring the veterans community together. lt also provided government with a unanimously approved blueprint for moving forward to address veterans' issues. lt cannot be denied that this is now happening.

In retrospect, I am particularly pleased that the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman's “Report on the New Veterans Charter and Actuarial Analysis”, published in October 2013, was able to assist with your work.

The proposed legislation represents significant progress on several issues of long-standing concern to veterans and their families. Because it is narrowing the gap on needed changes, it is important that it pass quickly and be implemented without delay.

The work of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman has been effective to date because it is evidence-based. Results are measured against the fairness principles of adequacy—are the right programs and services in place to meet the needs of veterans and their families—the principle of sufficiency—are the right programs and services sufficiently resourced, in terms of both finance and human resources—and, finally, the principle of accessibility—are eligibility criteria creating unfair barriers, and can the benefits and services provided by VAC be accessed quickly and easily?

It is too early to offer you my opinion on the effectiveness of the proposed legislation. It is still before Parliament and its regulations have not been published, and as a result, implementation has not been initiated. However, I can share with you today my perspective, in principle. So let us look at the proposed initiative through the lens of fairness.

Do they address the fairness principles of adequacy, sufficiency, and accessibility? I believe that they do, in principle.

Adequacy is addressed by the new retirement income security benefit, which would provide moderately to severely disabled veterans with continued assistance in the form of monthly income support payments after age 65, therefore meeting a new need for the veterans and their families. lt also applies to the hiring of new front-line staff to improve one-on-one support for veterans.

Sufficiency is addressed in principle by the parity of the earnings loss benefit for injured reserve force veterans, who will now get the same minimum income support payment through the earnings loss program as regular force veterans do, again eliminating unfairness. The hiring of new front-line staff to improve one-on-one support for veterans also addresses sufficiency with regard to human resources.

Accessibility is addressed by the broadened eligibility criteria for the permanent impairment allowance, which, together with the PIA supplement, provides approximately $600 to $2,800 a month in lifelong monthly financial support to veterans whose employment potential and career advancement opportunities have been limited by a permanent service-related injury or illness. lt is also addressed by the proposed new critical injury benefit, which will provide a $70,000 tax-free award to support the most severely injured and ill Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans.

Going forward, while the changes put forward in Bill C-59 are going to have a positive effect on meeting the needs of veterans and their families, we need to address non-economic compensation for pain and suffering, transition from military to civilian life, and veteran-centric service delivery.

We also need to always remember that the new Veterans Charter is a living document needing timely reviews and updates.

Collectively, I think that we should be encouraged at this juncture that our efforts are making a difference in addressing long-standing issues affecting veterans and their families.

This does not mean that the gap has been closed, but it is narrowed. However, if these new initiatives are looked at as steps in a commitment to continuously improve and adapt benefits to the evolving needs of veterans and their families, then this is a very positive indicator for the future.

Mr. Chair, I would like to also inform the committee that just yesterday we published an update on the recent announcements in regard to your ACVA recommendations, on how they actually have improved things for veterans and their families. We have provided copies that will be distributed to the members afterwards.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm ready for your questions.