Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 8th, 2017

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Like you, yes.

[Maj Jason Feyko]

There are a lot of medically released members who offer their services and volunteer after the fact with the program, which we encourage.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Mr. Fraser.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you both very much for coming and making excellent presentations and helping us to understand the good work that you do in helping our veterans and serving personnel.

I would start with you, Ms. Ogilvie. You talked about the online suite of services and described some of the different programs that are available online for veterans and serving members to access. When you were going through that list, it seemed complicated to understand exactly what each one does and how they might interact with each other. Do you feel that is well understood among the people who are being served by your organization, and is there a way it could be better streamlined so that people understand what services you are delivering?

Do you have any comments on that so that we can maybe make some recommendations to improve the way that's delivered?

[Laurie Ogilvie]

This past month we released CAFconnection.ca to be able to do exactly what you've just mentioned, namely, to simplify and streamline member veteran and family access to online services and information.

Before last month, it was Familyforce.ca, and yes, it was convoluted, and yes, it was difficult to be able to access and understand. As I mentioned, we're just in the very beginning phases of the new website and the new online experience and are evaluating it on a daily basis to see what what can be tweaked and how we can better serve both member veterans and their families in their gathering of information.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Okay. Thank you.

With regard to the online services, I understand what you're saying that perhaps that is more convenient or more easily accessible for folks, but in areas where there isn't Internet access or high-speed Internet, that could be a challenge. I know that in the area I represent, Internet is not always available.

For these folks it would be better if they had a place to go to receive those services. I have 14 Wing Greenwood in my riding of West Nova, and I know the military family resource centre does an excellent job with the services available to them there, but they're not one of the seven centres for veterans and their families to attend.

I'm wondering if you could comment on how those folks without Internet service would be able to access the programs you're talking about.

[Laurie Ogilvie]

One of the mandates of the military family resource centres is outreach, and each of them has very robust outreach processes to be able to access families in different communities. For example, some will have fly-in services to remote communities. Our service centre in Yellowknife services all the north of Canada and provides those services. It really depends on the needs of the families and what they're identifying as their requirements.

Yes, many communities are without Internet access and in those communities, specifically around the veteran family program, we've been partnering with Legions for the delivery of the service. We have one of our staff go to the Legion to be able to provide that place where they can connect and have the service delivery.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Okay.

With regard to the military family resource centres on the 32 bases where they're located—I know the pilot project is only halfway through—do you see that expanding to all 32 perhaps? Have there been any preliminary discussion on expanding the services from the seven centres that are now identified?

[Laurie Ogilvie]

The intent of the pilot was to assess the efficacy of the program and the need for it with the medically released population. We've just completed the first year audit and evaluation and have just received the results this week. Those results will be the basis on which Veterans Affairs will determine if the program will be expanded beyond the seven sites, or even beyond the existing pilot locations.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Okay. Thank you very much.

Mr. Feyko, I really appreciate the great work you do with Soldier On. It sounds like a wonderful program, and I echo what Mr. Kitchen said, in that it sounds like a wonderful opportunity as well to partner with the Invictus Games and that it's great to have such participation among our veterans.

You mentioned reintegration being one of the key things that Soldier On helps to develop with a veteran so they can transition into a second or new career. Can you talk a little about how you've seen that work within the veteran community you serve, how sports and recreation help them reintegrate and move into other chapters of their life?

[Maj Jason Feyko]

Yes, absolutely. That's a great question.

The camps are set up to inspire and motivate a member to adopt an active lifestyle. That's just the first step. A lot of these folks have a hard time just getting out of their basement or out of their house, so coming in and being part of that camp and seeing that camaraderie, hopefully, they can learn that camaraderie can happen not just through military personnel, but other sports organizations.

The intent is for them to go back to their home locations after they've gone to a Soldier On camp. We can help them with the equipment, but then have them participate with the local community sport and recreation on a weekly or daily basis and be social, to reintegrate with society and get out and make new friends through sports and “adapt to your new normal”, the terminology that we always use. You have to find that new normal and how you can work within it. We find that sports can really help enable that.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thanks very much.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you both very much for being here.

It's very encouraging to hear your comments and to realize there are a lot of very good things happening for our soldiers and our veterans.

I really enjoyed the quotes that you gave us, Jason, because I think they really sum up everything that you're talking about with nature, personal physical challenges, and veterans who understand mental health injuries. The one gal talked about how after the event she realized that she needed to get there, experience it, and have that realization. She said that the best therapy was reconnecting with peers.

Are you realizing that this could be a huge advantage in that whole process as far as early intervention goes, to have this as a means of finding mental health in the midst of having to go through all the challenges of transitioning?

[Maj Jason Feyko]

That's a great question, and we have actually asked that ourselves. The second part of our study, which we're launching now, is to find out where in the recovery process Soldier On should be introduced to all the individuals as they go through. That quote said “therapeutic”. It's not like a therapy-based type of program, but we do acknowledge the therapeutic benefits of sport.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

It's a natural therapy.

[Maj Jason Feyko]

Absolutely.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

That's wonderful. I would love to see the results of that. We are dealing with mental health, and the more we can do to prevent those illnesses from ballooning.... I think this would be a wonderful tool.

Do you talk about diet at all? I've been told that when you're in the service and out there, you eat a lot of the same thing and you're under the same stresses, and then you come back. There's a study going on in the States in which an individual scientist has gotten money to fund her research because they're realizing she's basically filling them with healthy natural foods when they get back, which helps their whole system to change. Along with all of this.... I was a physical education major, so, you know, for health, there is diet, rest, and all of those things together.

[Maj Jason Feyko]

We do talk a little bit about diet, especially when we do the bigger initiatives, such as the Invictus Games, to make sure the team is eating properly. We do that in concert with the Canadian Forces food guide and with what the personnel support program is developing. We don't really touch on that a lot, but it is something we have done.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Do I still have time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

You have two and a half minutes.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Laurie, hearing about what you're doing with families and integrating that into taking care of our veterans, as part of closing that seam, is very encouraging. I'm so pleased to hear about this.

I'm just looking at your notes and the ones I received here, and they talk about funding. I don't know if this is something you can respond to or not. In our notes here it says that in November 2014 the Government of Canada announced a $15.8 million investment over four years towards that pilot project with the military family resource centre and veterans.

You mentioned that in 2015 they started this with $10 million.

[Laurie Ogilvie]

The $10 million difference or the discrepancy between the two had to do with the establishment of the initial pilot and then the tailing off of the pilot. There are two phases at either end. The $10 million is for the actual implementation of the direct services to veterans and their families.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

So two years have been completed?

[Laurie Ogilvie]

We're just coming to the end of our second year. The first year started in October, so it was kind of a half-year.