Evidence of meeting #13 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 black.
A recording is available from Parliament.
President, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
Yes. I have a couple of names if you....
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Sure. We can talk afterward.
With regard to specific services needed for indigenous communities in particular or indigenous veterans in particular, can you offer some suggestions or ideas about specific services that may be unique to indigenous veterans?
President, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
What we're dealing with now is something that we've only started dealing with, and that was with the transfer of the Canadian Rangers to the army. Prior to that, they fell under D Cadets in Ottawa.
Because of that, they weren't necessarily considered as military members. Now they are. They're considered to be in the same class as a reservist, with some differences that I'm not 100% sure about.
My question some time ago was about how we get information to the Rangers who are serving and some of the veterans who may have been in the regular force or a reserve force in southern Canada when they go back home? How do we get that information out?
My response at that time was that we have regular force cadres who work with the Rangers. They're the ones who go into the Ranger communities year round, because that's their area of responsibility. As I say, if you have a caseworker with 25 people, we also have a Ranger cadre that has x number of people they're responsible for. They go into those communities. Why can we not attach either a Veterans Affairs caseworker or provide the information to those regular force people going into the communities to provide the information to those people in the north?
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Thank you.
You also mentioned that families need to be supported as well. If you're talking about a veteran with PTSD, there needs to be access to special services for the families too.
I'm just wondering what kind of access there is for indigenous veterans and their families right now, in particular with regard to mental health services, and how do you see that being improved upon?
President, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
I will state what I believe is the situation now.
Most of the indigenous communities—my sister is living in the first nations community in Oromocto First Nations—do have a health centre with a mental health component to it. I would suggest to you that the same thing is happening through most of the communities in first nations for sure. The Mi'kmaq community in Nova Scotia has actually done something for their mental health program.
I talked a little bit about traditional healing methods. First nations, Métis, and the Inuit have their own ways of dealing with it. Eskasoni, for example, has actually brought in health care workers who are going through university. They're non-aboriginal and they're bringing them into the health services centre on their reserve to deal with the problems that they would actually see in a reserve environment, and that will be everything from suicide to other mental health issues. They get to see that first-hand, so now they're getting into that understanding component of what those communities go through.
The problem that you'll have is that in remote communities, and not only in the north.... Let's talk about what you have in some of the provinces, such as the reserve where Tommy Prince was. I consider that to be a remote community. The suicide rates and those kinds of things are ever on the rise.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses.
I would like to start with you, Mr. Leonardo. We've heard from witnesses and veterans that dealing with Veterans Affairs can cause more stress and it can trigger some veterans suffering from depression, stress, anxiety, or PTSD. I wonder if you could comment on that.
National President, Veterans Canada
Oh, can I ever. I'd be happy to.
First of all, let's talk about the bringing in of the Pension Act once again. The Pension Act is based on $32,000 tax free at 100% disability. The average PTSD pension so far is about 30%. That means you would receive 30% of the $32,000 tax free for the rest of your life. It's pretty hard to live on $1,100, and you wouldn't be entitled to the old program called the exceptional incapacity allowance because you have to be over 98% disabled to receive that, so you wouldn't get the extra $1,500 or $3,000 a month.
Just going to the old Pension Act isn't the answer for those suffering from PTSD. The thing is, if you have PTSD and you've been deemed totally and permanently incapacitated—and they're changing the name of that—then I would suggest that if you're totally disabled, you should be moved up to 100% and then offered the Pension Act at $32,000 and offered the exceptional incapacity allowance, which is another $32,000 or $3,000 a year tax free. Then your superannuation pension, if you have that, isn't deducted as it is now on the earnings loss benefits.
We need to have the committee look at the fact that not everybody is at 100% disability.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
It's interesting. Mr. Black commented about his Korean compatriots feeling very well served under the old pension act, and you talk about the new pension act and the percentages. It seems to keep coming down to money.
Why on earth was the switch made? What was the purpose of the new Veterans Charter? Was it to save money?
National President, Veterans Canada
I don't know if it was to save money. I think it was all about financial compensation for an injury, both for pain and suffering and for earnings lost. I think that was the reasoning behind the.... I have been an advocate going on 17 years now, and these conversations were going on a long time even before I started.
National President, Veterans Canada
After 1996 the veterans' advisory groups were talking about this and trying to come up with a better solution. The best one I can see is to find a need and meet it, meet the financial obligations.
A veteran who is leaving the military with an injury should be paid 100% of his salary while he's transitioning. These are injured veterans. The veteran should be paid 100% of his salary while he's going through treatment. He should be paid 100% of his salary while he's going through rehabilitation. If he's successful at that, then you won't have to pay anymore, but if he's not successful, then he should receive 100% of his salary for life, and not just a whole bunch of programs that you have to apply for, like the PIA supplement. All they require is to receive their salary for life.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
We've heard a great deal about the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and how it plays a significant role in terms of service delivery to veterans, etc.
From your perspective, how is the VRAB working? If it's working fine, okay; if not, what needs to be changed?
National President, Veterans Canada
The Veterans Review and Appeal Board should be disbanded and replaced with a board that has served the military in a medical capacity. Medical doctors and nurses who have served the community and doctors' assistants, which are medical assistants at the 6A and 6B level, should be the ones who are serving on this board and making the medical decisions based on medical evidence. They should mirror the medical review board that the Department of National Defence has and always has had.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
I want to go back to Monsieur Thibeau and Mr. Black. I hope I have enough time.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Oh, dear. Well, perhaps I will re-ask this question, but I'll give you some time to think about it.
You talked about Ste. Anne's and long-term care there, and Mr. Black, you talked about the Perley. One thing that bothers me very much concerns the hospital I have in London, Ontario. Parkwood is an excellent hospital, but they're closing the beds because they're only for World War II and Korean veterans.
I'm very worried about long-term care for modern-day veterans and the men and women coming back from Afghanistan. I will ask you about long-term care when I get another opportunity.
Thank you.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
Thank you.
I'd like to thank you all for coming and for your service.
Monsieur Thibeau, I'm glad you mentioned Tommy Prince. I'm from Winnipeg, so Tommy Prince is talked about a lot. His name appears all over the community. He lived a lot of his civilian life there.
I'm also a physician, and I work in an inner city hospital where a lot of our patients are first nations. One of the things we know from the history of Tommy Prince and from what our first nations deal with is that racism is a terrible burden on the first nations community, both through society, at the street level, and in the systemic racism that they face. It was one of the things that was a challenge for Tommy Prince and for the patients I see.
In your dealings with Veterans Affairs, have you seen any evidence of any forms of systemic racism, perhaps not deliberate, that might be a barrier to care for first nations veterans?
President, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
Actually, I can honestly say no, and I'll tell you why.
As far as I'm concerned, I did 38 years of service to this country as a native. I have a great number of friends who have spent that much time in as well, and there may have been undertones of racism, but I was in combat arms, and as far as I'm concerned, racism didn't exist. That's because as a combat arms soldier, you rely on the person standing beside you, regardless of skin colour or race, because we all bleed the same colour of blood. It doesn't matter.
In dealings with Veterans Affairs Canada, it's the same. You're dealing with a veteran, so there has never been, in my estimation, any racism within Veterans Affairs, nor have I heard of any. I'm certainly glad you brought up the point about racism, though. It's certainly something that's still out there in the Canadian public.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
Absolutely. Absolutely, it's there, and I'm not proud to say that it's present in the health care system in which I worked. I'm very pleased to hear that among the burdens you and other veterans have had to deal with through the years, this is not one of them. It makes my day a little brighter to hear that.
You made reference to how there are a lot of different culture-specific practices and beliefs in the first nations community. Is there a lot of programming or help in Veterans Affairs that's tailored to first nations veterans and that helps with their particular place in society and their culture?
President, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
In terms of what I'd like to see, I can give you an example of what Veterans Affairs did.
An individual who's part of my organization was in the navy. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, to the point where he had to be released. He was very angry when he got out. He was very angry for about two years afterward. A close friend of mine got hold of Veterans Affairs and suggested that they might want to send this guy back to his community. He was in Nova Scotia, but he was an Ojibwa from either Manitoba or northern Ontario. Veterans Affairs paid his way back. They paid for the two weeks he was there. The processes he went through with his elders and the community assisted him in becoming a better person. The healing process for him was significant because of it.
I think that's a very good success story. It's also something that Veterans Affairs Canada should be acknowledged for in going outside the box in for the healing process.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
Again, that's good to hear. I'm hearing some refreshingly happy answers today. We hear some testimonies of a lot of problems, and I'm glad to see there's one area of concern that seems to be going in the right direction.
You talked about the challenges that people in the remote communities have. They have long driving distances, and the communications technology that we take for granted is not always the norm. Would it help if there was more infrastructure in these communities? I don't mean infrastructure just tailored to veterans, but if these communities were given better communications infrastructure—for instance, if high-speed Internet was the norm—would that be helpful? Do you think it would be embraced by the veterans in these regions?
President, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
Okay.
The infrastructure in most of those remote communities certainly does need to be upgraded. You still have boiled water advisories in effect in some of these places.
However, yes, it would certainly help. If the veteran can't use the item, the grandchildren or children can. They can assist. Yes, you have to educate communities on the technology.
