Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 22nd, 2017

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

In your presentation, you touched on working with third-party organizations, and you gave one example.

I'm wondering about other examples, ones dealing with mental health challenges in particular, and whether you've seen more third-party organizations reach out to or building partnerships with them over the last number of years where it's become obvious that mental health challenges within the Canadian Armed Forces and veterans community have become more acute.

Can you talk about that, please?

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

I'll sort of back up a bit on that.

Increasingly every year, we have organizations coming to us. Through the DCSM organization, they'll list these partnering organizations. I used MET as an example.

There's a strong interest in helping mental health, whether it's as partner organizations or research through such organizations as CIMVHR, which is dealing with both Veterans Affairs and military families.

An example of mental health that I might touch on is that there is a new organization called Team Rubicon, which has started up in Canada. This is back to that sense of belonging, and I notice a lot of nodding heads. Team Rubicon is going to allow you to leverage those military skills as a civilian with that gang doing those activities. Of course, the one directly in our line of organizations—and you had testimony from Jay Feyko, who is an employee of the staff of the non-public funds and works as part of CFMWS and we partner with organizations.

There is the direct one such as Soldier On. We would work with another organization like that, and ones that I would say are prescriptive, if I could add that, for things like Team Rubicon. They have a wide list. They would be on the website. That would be the best place for those names, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you.

Mr. Eyolfson.

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

Thank you so much for coming.

I'd like to expand a little on a very good question that Dr. Kitchen across the way asked at the beginning. We talked about the identity of people in the armed forces. As the old slogan would say, it's not just a job; it actually is someone's identity. Of course when they're released, they would like to keep that identity.

We know there are members who leave due to illness or injury who might be able to serve some roles in the military, but can't due to universality of service, as they can't perform certain tasks. Is there any way to identify roles that they may take within the military as civilians?

We know there are civilian jobs within the military. Civilians are doing certain jobs in clerical positions, offices, these sorts of things. Is there a way to identify some of these veterans who might be able to serve as a civilian while still participating in the military?

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

That is one of the main points of our SCAN seminars. I don't want to go too far into how the public service hires in priority for ex-military personnel. There would be better witnesses on that. However, in my purview, as the staff of the non-public funds, which is an agency that works for the Canadian Forces. I'm the CEO of that agency in my capacity as director general, Canadian Forces morale and welfare services and 40% of our employees in the agency, which is over 4,500 people, are either spouses of or former service members, one or the other. We find a great deal of wealth in hiring former service members, who then provide a variety of services.

You had Jay Feyko speak to you. Jay is an example of that. We hired an ex-major who had a unique experience and who could bring forward a program through the morale and welfare service. That is exactly what we aim to do. We look for those people where we can help them be part of the team and keep that identity.

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

Good.

Speaking to that, would there be a greater role for coordination between public services and the military when making hiring decisions?

I was a little surprised to know that it wasn't the military hiring these people. If they're working for the military, even if they are civilians.... That was obviously an incorrect assumption of mine that the armed forces would be hiring them.

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

The Public Service Commission, which we spoke of in our introductory remarks, is one of our partners that we work with on that, and there are processes to allow for priority hiring for ill and injured military veterans. The exact details of that you'd need to get from the experts at the Public Service Commission. There is definitely those skills sets and that sense of identity and understanding of the military life that they bring to the public service.

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

Okay, thank you.

Does the Canadian Forces analyze characteristics about their lives that might help with their transition: what socio-economic level they come from, what might their financial needs be on release, also the kinds of jobs they did in the Canadian Forces that might better point them toward what to do in a civilian career? Is that information analyzed while they are actively serving?

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

Yes, in a slightly different manner.

That is what the service provided through SISIP Financial does on all the bases. We have the financial counsellors, the financial advisers, and investors. That's exactly what they do. They sit with the member, go through their life's goals, and ideally find them freedom 55 or whatever the slogan is, show them how they are doing, and build them a plan. We do that everywhere. For those who are in crisis...ideally we are going to get them prior to financial crisis and set them on a path so that both their military career and their retirement are successes.

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

One question, changing gears a wee bit, is that I understand there are different medical systems between active serving military members and the rest of the population. Actively serving Canadian Forces members aren't covered by the Canada Health Act. They receive all their health care through the armed forces. Of course, when they are transitioned and become veterans, then Veterans Affairs will basically supervise their care but they are now under the various provincial health care systems.

Is there a way of coordinating between the armed forces and Veterans Affairs, particularly for veterans who might have complicated medical needs? You might have someone who leaves the military and is healthy and uninjured and just needs a family doctor, the way everyone does, and can wait. Whereas you might have someone discharged with complex injuries or complex medical problems, and they need to be very quickly hooked up with someone to coordinate their care. Is that kind of coordination done between VAC and Canadian Forces?

[Capt(N) Marie-France Langlois]

It is, and it's done through the surgeon general. It's in his purview.

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

That's part of what the JPSU is enabling, that conversation through OSISS, or through that process.

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

All right.

With that, I'm about done.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you.

Mr. Brassard.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Captain Langlois, I want to pick up on a couple of things you talked about. You mentioned the DND ombudsman's report. You also mentioned guided support. When you mention guided support, are you referring to the concierge-type service that the DND ombudsman referred to in his report?

[Capt(N) Marie-France Langlois]

Yes.

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

You also said that would be a VAC responsibility. Can you clarify that as accurate?

[Capt(N) Marie-France Langlois]

It's interesting because the transition for a member is a joint effort between CAF and Veterans Affairs. Specific pieces fall under CAF, specific pieces fall under VAC, but the guided supports will be led by VAC in coordination with CAF.

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

While we're not VAC experts, they have a current pilot going on with the term “guided support” and as we work to close the seam, we're going to leverage those results going forward.

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

As you know the DND ombudsman referred to it in his report as a game-changer, the fact that the Canadian Armed Forces would retain medically released members until all benefits from all sources, including Veterans Affairs, have been finalized. He also talked about the concierge service and that the Canadian Forces offer a tool that's capable of providing members with information so that they can understand their potential benefit suite prior to release. Is there difficulty on the forces' or DND's side to implement these changes?

If the ombudsman and quite frankly the Veterans Affairs committee recommended this to Parliament, to the government, are there difficulties on your side to do this, to make sure that all these things are in place prior to the hand-off, if you will, to VAC? Are there logistical problems within DND to do that?

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

Going back to the macro points of what the ombudsman has spoken about is exactly what we're focused on, bringing that simplified process through the JPSU, the IPSCs, and the whole transition. General Corbould led that and brought forward a proposal to the chief on a reorganization that will affect those types of recommendations, so it is simpler for the member, it is guided concierge—

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

Is that recent?

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

That's very recent. That was done just prior to his retirement.

Those changes will be forthcoming soonish, I hope. In the interim, we are working behind the scenes to do that every day. While I can't provide the exact announcements at this time, we're not waiting for those announcements to close those seams and enhance that capacity. It is a clear part of this dual mandate that you are a member of the Canadian Forces until the day you're released. The chief takes that very seriously and I take that very seriously as his officer charged to do so. We will take care of them and when they're ready to take off the uniform and then transition the next day, they'll be in Veterans Affairs' care. But we don't want that next day to be their first day to meet Veterans Affairs. That's what the captain is touching on. We need them to meet as they are now with complex cases at the IPSC, with the veteran service agent, or the other appropriate levels of care.

That's what we're focused on achieving, so we're aiming to get to all of that which the ombudsman has described.

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

That's good to hear.

The other issue I want to touch on is the issue of re-employment. Obviously there's a priority within the public service. But one of the things that we've heard through testimony and through some of our own research is that the actual percentage of those who are either medically released or retiring from the Canadian Armed Forces and are able to get employment within the Public Service of Canada or within DND itself is abysmally low. What can you attribute that to? Why aren't we hiring more veterans? Why aren't we hiring more DND Canadian Forces people to work within our public service?

[Cmdre Sean Cantelon]

I can't answer that question. It's not within my lines of how the federal government hires.