Evidence of meeting #17 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 information.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Case Management and Support Services, Department of Veterans Affairs
I would have to take that question away.
Familyforce.ca is the website operated by the military family services program, so I would have to defer to them for the exact statistics and updates.
In terms of linkage to My VAC Account, that has not yet come up in discussions, but certainly there's linkage and opportunities in connection with our own Veterans Affairs website.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Okay. That would be helpful.
One of the things I'm noticing is that there are so many resources out there. They are all well intentioned, but getting them streamlined and bringing them all together so that you don't have to go over here for this and over there for that and have all these different websites and all these different acronyms and benefits and services.... I can understand why it would be difficult to manage. It would be good to look at streamlining it to have a one-stop shop, even on a website.
With regard to the pilot project for medically released veterans, you mentioned earlier, Ms. Pellerin, that some people who aren't medically released can still access the service. Can you help me understand why it was set up to be just for the medically released and not for everybody?
Director, Case Management and Support Services, Department of Veterans Affairs
This pilot project came about as a result of two things. One was that the June 2014 report of this committee suggested we invest more in support for veterans and their families. The other was that in our mental health initiatives over the years, we wanted to make a more significant effort, particularly for the ill and injured. As a pilot project, we focused on the ill and injured, primarily those who have medically released. However, based on experience to date and what we anticipate will come out of our one-year review, it would appear that the need out there is not confined to the ill and injured.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Neil Ellis
Thank you.
This ends the round of questioning. We would like to give each group a couple of minutes to wrap up. We will start with the Department of National Defence.
BGen Nicolas Eldaoud
Certainly, Mr. Chair.
Allow me to say that the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence are totally committed to supporting our troops, not only because it is an obligation of leadership but also because it is one of our moral obligations. This has to do with the credibility of our institution. We fight across the world, but our number one fight is right here on the domestic front. It's within our own lines and our own troops. I can assure you of the commitment of all our leaders starting at the top.
In closing, I would like to thank you all. From these consultation session, it is very clear that your work is to make sure that we are taking care of our soldiers, not only when they are serving, but for the rest of their lives. So thank you very much. It is an honour to be here.
Liberal
Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management, Department of Veterans Affairs
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and my thanks to the committee members.
I speak on behalf of my colleagues when I say that I found this extremely useful. We will take back to the department all of the questions and all of the comments. Our ultimate goal is the well-being of our veterans and their families. To that end, we have questions that we have to come back to answer. This meeting was wide-ranging, covering everything from transition to My VAC Account and lots in between. We will get back to you
I thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Neil Ellis
Thank you.
On behalf of the standing committee, I'd like to thank all the organizations for the great work that they do for our men and women who have served and are serving. If there are any questions or thoughts that you want to add to your testimony, please forward them to the clerk. He will get the information out to all of us.
I know that there are questions that committee members didn't have a chance to put on the floor. If you would send them through the clerk to the organizations, then we will all have a copy of them and they can go on record.
Members, we start in London on Monday. I hope to see you all there.
The meeting is adjourned.