Evidence of meeting #10 for Veterans Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was veteran.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
I support that, Monsieur.
The second question is for Ms. Fimrite. You said in your brief that people are looking for information online, and My VAC Account requires a redesign and improvement in the website. Do you have specific suggestions as to what should happen there to make sure it is user-friendly?
12:55 p.m.
Dominion Secretary-Treasurer, Dominion Command, The Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada
Well, certainly, the feedback that we've heard regarding My VAC Account is that there are a number of issues with its usability. Right when you start with My VAC Account, when you log in, they are looking for a bunch of banking information from you. That's something that immediately makes people jump back and say, “Whoa. Why do I have to give that information?” If we can work around some of those issues and some of the compatibility issues within that, it would be good.
I was on the website just a few days ago. I'm not a veteran myself, so I can't enter My VAC Account, but I went on the benefits browser, which is a great tool that was developed by the Veterans Ombudsman, and then utilized by the department. However, once I click “yes”—and let's pretend I'm a veteran released more than two years ago—that I do have a service-related need, it's supposed to populate some of the programs and benefits you might be entitled to. It didn't. It took me to another area that discussed whether or not I had released in less than two years. Well, I had just said that I had released over two years ago, so why was this coming up? Then I hit a button that said “email me my results”, which just took me to a page that said “Error 404”.
I can just imagine the frustration that a veteran or their family would have when trying to utilize this.
This is why I say there should be constant monitoring of the site to ensure that the information from and usability of the site don't create more frustration. It should be there to be helpful and help people understand, very clearly, the benefits that they're entitled to.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Neil Ellis
Thank you.
This concludes the meeting. On behalf of the committee, I want to thank all of you personally and your associations for all the great work that you do for our men and women who have served.
Also, if there are any questions or any answers that you want to elaborate on, could you send any briefs to the clerk? Our committee will get them.
I need a motion to adjourn.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
