Veterans Affairs Committee on Dec. 6th, 2018

[Michel Doiron]

We are doing a lot, and I would like to clarify—I'm not sure who the Uber driver was—that the safety and security, from a medical perspective, has been maintained.

What has occurred is that there was a decrease—and I say “was” because the Ste. Anne's Hospital or the CIUSSS, and I don't know what the acronym CIUSSS means, but the group that runs it has made a lot of effort to improve. For sure, after the transfer, there was a decrease in services, and I want to be careful—

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Did they take it back up to the level they were expected to by VAC?

[Michel Doiron]

They are very close, to be honest. Are there still issues? There were, but let's be honest, even when we ran it, we had people in the hospital who were not happy with certain things, and for those of us who deal with long-term care facilities, food is often a big issue in every facility. I'm just using that as an example.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

It's not just food. There is dental care for which the service levels have diminished. There is property care where the service levels have diminished. There is physical care where the service has diminished. For doctor visits, the services have diminished, at least they had in June, so if you're telling me that they've improved since June to this point, then that's good news. But the reports we're getting are that the service levels are still significantly lower than what the expectation was when that transfer agreement was made.

[Michel Doiron]

I can't comment on the expectation. I have to be careful what I comment on, because there is a court case on it. I want to be as open as I can.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

That should speak volumes, Mr. Doiron, to the issue at Ste. Anne's. Don't you think?

[Michel Doiron]

I absolutely know.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

The fact that 95-year-old veterans have to take Veterans Affairs to court should be a wake-up call to Veterans Affairs as to the level of service, or the lack of service that is going on at that facility.

[Michel Doiron]

Well, sir, a court case is a court case. I don't want to get to everything that's in the—

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Can I ask you quickly, then, what type of audit system is in place in that transfer agreement between VAC and the Quebec government to ensure that those levels of service—the money that's being funded to maintain those levels of service—are used?

What sort of audited services do you use in order to show that?

[Michel Doiron]

They bill us for the services, and we actually have the reports of the times that people are being used on the floor, to collate that with what we are being charged.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Are you 100% sure that the money that VAC is paying is actually going to the services that veterans—

[Michel Doiron]

Yes, I am.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Okay.

I'm going to split a bit of time with Mr. Kitchen.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Thank you.

We've heard recently from testimony here at committee that about two-thirds of the emergency fund has already been spent, and it's likely to run dry long before the end of this fiscal year. We've learned also that VAC officials will likely lean on outside organizations to assist even more.

What are you going to do when that fund runs out before the end of the year?

[RAdm (Ret'd) Elizabeth Stuart]

Thank you for the question.

I would commence by confirming that the veterans emergency fund expenditures for this fiscal are just north of $700,000 of the $1 million that's allocated.

I would add, as the deputy mentioned in his testimony earlier, we have 23 trust accounts at a current P7 value of approximately $1 million that can also be drawn upon.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

You're going to utilize another fund.

[RAdm (Ret'd) Elizabeth Stuart]

These are the accounts that have been with Veterans Affairs for many years, which are bequeathed to the fund.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Why are you leaning on these volunteer service organizations to have them do more and pushing people to those organizations?

[Michel Doiron]

We have to remember that although this is an emergency fund, there are requirements. Some of the people coming forward for services are not emergencies. I can give you a whole list—but because of time I won't—of examples of people coming forward trying to get $2,500 for stuff that is not considered an emergency.

In some of those cases, the case manager will refer the individual back to whoever is best suited in the community to help them, because it is not, under the definition of the fund, an emergency.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

You're not giving them money, but you are over $700,000 at this point in time.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Mr. Kitchen, we're way over time.

Sorry, Mr. Doiron, if you'd like to address that in a later questioning round, please do.

Mr. Eyolfson.

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you all for coming.

One of the things that's happened in our mandate is that there were the nine veteran services offices that were closed by our previous government and we've reopened those. So far, we've hired more than 400 front-line staff, and we're still hiring more. As was said in the earlier testimony, they're being hired as quickly as we can train them.

What impact have these changes had to VAC's ability to deliver veterans services?

[Michel Doiron]

Thank you for the question.

Additional staff, for sure, have improved the services, whether it is the nine offices or the additional case managers we've hired and put into the offices, or the additional adjudicators. All the additional resources and the additional programming—because it's not just people, we have received a lot of new programming in the last couple of years—have helped veterans in general. That doesn't mean that we don't have veterans struggling. We do. The downside effect is that I have backlogs, which I keep trying to figure out. However, it has helped.

As a case in point, I've been coming to this committee now for five years. It has been the hardest job I've ever had. Every single day, I would have three to four messages, often from people in various locations, receiving complaints from veterans in crisis—I call it crisis. I still get 20 emails a day from various constituency offices. They go through the minister's office, but they all come to me and I read them all. I have a team working on it, but I actually read them because I want to know what's happening out there.

The reality is that 19 of the 20 are because of the timelines. I won't break down that some are legitimate and some are not. You can go through the whole.... However, it is much better.

That said, as the deputy mentioned, there are still 32% who are having a hard time in transition. We have to do better, and that's why we're working closely with the Canadian Armed Forces on better transition. If we can do a good transition, hopefully it's a better landing.

I think the money and the programming have come a long way. We can still do better, but they've come a long way.

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

All right. Thank you.

We talk about backlogs. Can we give an idea of the extent of the backlogs, say, in spring 2015?