Veterans Affairs Committee on June 12th, 2019

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Thanks. It doesn't provide me with an answer, but I understand the position you're in.

If I go to my second question, I'll probably get the same kind of answer, but I'm going to try anyway.

We've included the education and training benefit to reservists in budget 2019. If the budget were passed tomorrow morning, how would that unfold so we could capture that as quickly as possible?

[Steven Harris]

The short answer to your question is that it was something that came up. I was fortunate enough to participate with our Canadian Armed Forces colleagues on a nationwide tour, talking about transition groups and new Veterans Affairs programs. The supplementary reserves not being eligible for the ETB was one that came up quite regularly, We're very happy that it's been included in budget 2019.

That fix will be put into legislation. As soon as it is, supplementary reservists will be eligible to apply and benefit from the program.

That's a near-term answer to your question. It will be shortly, sir.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

How do we make sure that the message is out to everyone who has the right to that benefit?

[Steven Harris]

I'm happy to answer that one too.

The education and training benefit has been a well-publicized benefit. It is one that has attracted a lot of interest. My colleague Mr. Doiron would talk about the number of people—and I know it came up earlier—who have already taken advantage of it. However, we will continue to expand on the communications to inform supplementary reservists, not only by our own communications but by leveraging those of the Canadian Armed Forces as well, to make sure that people will be well aware of the eligibility of supplementary reservists.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Can you give me the number of people who have taken advantage of that program since it was implemented? When did it come online and how many people are benefiting from it now?

[Michel Doiron]

It's been online for 14 months and 5,100 people have applied. It was favourable for over 2,600, and unfavourable for about 800. The other ones are what I'll call “waiting”. The reason they're waiting is not that they're not approved. It's that they are still in uniform.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

What do you mean by unfavourable?

[Michel Doiron]

It means they were told no. They didn't meet the criteria for what they applied for.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

The criteria is anything before 2006?

[Michel Doiron]

It's six years or 12 years, depending, or the program was not a registered program.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Those before 2006 don't access...?

[Michel Doiron]

Yes, or before 2006. The other ones outstanding would be the ones who are still in uniform. We do evaluate it, but they can't take the program until they—

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Wow, I'm impressed. That means that was a major request and need for veterans, when you see that 5,100 people applied for that program in the last year.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

Ms. Blaney.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you all so much for being here today.

One of the things I've heard repeatedly in my office from veterans is the frustration with the wait times. As I mentioned earlier, I get calls from my riding but also from across Canada. I heard from the deputy minister that the wait times are now about 32 weeks, One of the things we're hearing again is that they are told that on average this will be the wait time, when their case has often already gone past that amount of time. It's just adding to that frustration, which I would believe is not a very good feeling on both sides.

Are there any plans to change the way the department is communicating estimated times on their files to veterans to perhaps allay that on both sides?

[Michel Doiron]

I should have introduced myself, although I think I know most of the members. I've been here a few times. I'm Michel Doiron, ADM of service delivery.

You're right, and we are very frustrated by the fact that we have a backlog. We do communicate with the veteran through My VAC Account in terms of where their file is and the wait time. We are reporting the wait time per condition. Some conditions are faster. Hearing, for example, is done quite quickly. PTSD is done quite quickly. If you come in with a bad neck or a bad back, where we need a lot more doctor consultation, it will take much longer. We report wait times per condition. However, it's still frustrating for the veteran. You might be in adjudication for a long time and not know whether or not your file has moved.

With the new pension for life programs and the new system called “GC Case”, implemented on April 1, working with My VAC Account, one of the functionalities that is coming—it's not there yet but it's coming—is clearer information on the actual status of your claim to resolve that frustration. Veterans have told us, “Just tell us the truth.”

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Yes. I've heard from veterans as well that sometimes they see that the process has just been standing still and that is extremely frustrating for them.

You know, I'm a member who represents a very rural and remote riding, and one of the challenges some of my communities have is very poor access to the Internet. I have places in my riding where people are still using dial-up. I know that a lot of people think that's over, but it's not. My VAC Account is all online. Could you speak to the challenges you might have with more rural and remote communities? What methodologies are you using to overcome some of those challenges?

[Michel Doiron]

I'll probably never have enough time to deal with all of this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

You have a minute.

[Michel Doiron]

For sure it's a challenge across Canada, especially for people living in the more northern regions. The phone is still there and works quite well. At the NCCN call centre we answer all of the questions we can. We do understand that with dial-up and other issues.... You mentioned My VAC Account, but we also know that with mental health, telehealth and all the stuff that we use on a daily basis, it becomes an issue in certain areas where there are issues with connectivity.

We're not going to correct the connectivity, but we are trying to provide as many ways and venues as possible for the veteran to apply or to contact us. As an example, we are travelling to the north. We have added northern Quebec. I have people in northern Quebec for the first time this week. We go to the territories for those same reasons. We meet with veterans there. We publicize it through the Legion, Service Canada or whatever means we can to be able to outreach to them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you.

Mr. Eyolfson, you have four minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to all of you for coming.

In regard to dealing with the backlog, you started with low numbers of staff and had to hire a lot of new staff. What are the challenges in finding qualified individuals? What kind of pool do we have to draw from of qualified individuals to hire?

[Michel Doiron]

It depends on what level. Some are just basic public servant employees, and others are nurses and doctors. There are different challenges for different levels. We do reach out to nursing schools. We do reach out to people. We do have to be careful not to.... In Charlottetown I've been accused of hiring probably everybody I could hire on the island to come and work with us. We do very aggressively reach out. However, on the issue you raise with regard to trying to find the people, because of the French issue especially—the ombudsman raised this as an issue—we have now opened a processing area in Montreal so that we can recruit more French-speaking people.

We do reach out. On the case management side, we have a long-term contract with CICan, Colleges and Institutes Canada. We will be taking their students for co-ops within our organization. “Co-op” might not be the right word. It's an internship within our organization. If they have the right skill sets, we will bridge the students into our organization as new employees to address that.

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

Thank you.

As a follow-up to that question, when you find someone who has the right qualifications—I know it has to vary due to the position—what are the range of time frames for training the people you hire?

[Michel Doiron]

Typically, it's a minimum of six months. The more complex the position we're recruiting for, the longer the training. What we're seeing is that, on average, it's six months. Before somebody becomes proficient—and “proficient” may be a big word here—before they're able to do some of the work, it's six months.

If you look at my case management, I have 10.9% turnover a year. That means that at any given moment, I have 40 to 50 case managers in training who are not managing a full component. We're at 32 to 33. We seem to have been playing in that range for the past two years.

If I didn't have a 10% turnover.... It's normal that people are leaving. People are retiring. People decide that it's not for them or people are promoted. We're always in this constant recruitment. That's why we have the schoolhouse that the deputy spoke about. That's why we pump people through it. We not only want them to have the culture we're looking for—care, compassion and respect, erring on the side of the veteran—but we also want to make sure we can train them faster.