In the military?
Evidence of meeting #48 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 you're.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #48 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 you're.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5 p.m.
City Councillor, City of Ottawa, As an Individual
I didn't stay 20 years because I thought I was wasting time.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Bob Bratina Liberal Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
I understand that, but subsequently, because of the veterans issues and the problems that we're talking about, did you lose a little bit of that?
5 p.m.
City Councillor, City of Ottawa, As an Individual
No, you lose all of it. That's what I was saying earlier. You have a support system. I think Phil pointed it out, and I've said it before too. You're told where to go, what to wear, what to bring, we'll feed you, we'll get you there, we'll do your leave pass, blah, blah. You just have to be there. Then all of a sudden you're injured. An infantry unit looks forward, and I don't blame the CO or the RSM or anybody for worrying about the guys going out the door who are going to be going into combat and not worrying about the pieces of the machine that have fallen off.
But as I said, when you get into the system, and you realize when you're still on the DND side, these are folks in uniform with the same flash who swore the same oath to the Queen and country that you did, and you're told...you just get so much negativity. You're denied benefits. I'm convinced I'm still owed tens of thousands of dollars from the JPSU, which, for my mental health, I've just written off. I have a job that pays well and I've been lucky, but one day I might not be. That was more stressful than stepping on the land mine.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Bob Bratina Liberal Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
To conclude this, what I'm getting at is that in addition to financial resources, we want to make sure that all veterans know what services are available. We're trying for as many resources as we can, but do we need to train or retrain or talk to the people in vet services and DND about the respect and self-respect and self-worth that individuals need to continue to feel?
5 p.m.
City Councillor, City of Ottawa, As an Individual
That has come up often. It's been 10 years since I got wounded, and that same sentence has been used at least half a dozen times that I can remember. Yes is the short answer, but at the same time I think the people who are on the front line of service need the latitude to make certain decisions that would make it a lot more timely. Sometimes it's less the language, it's more the time it can take. Two weeks to us if you're living your life and doing things don't seem like a lot, but if you're homebound and let's say you've hurt your back and you can't do any household chores, a two- or three- or six-week delay as it goes through the system and gets talked about.... Your house is a pigsty, and now you're self-conscious to invite anyone over. You feel you're disappointing yourself because you can't do the dishes. It just builds and builds. Streamlining some services would be great because—I forget who said it and I steal it all the time—when you look at the level of oversight and red tape it's almost as if for every dollar that goes out the door, you spend a buck fifty examining it and making sure it's okay.
A lot of the time, it's the time involved in getting the benefit and less about the language.
5 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I only have five minutes. I want to ask two questions but the first one I think is really important from your perspective, so I'm going to need some quick answers on this.
The DND ombudsman whom I respect greatly, Gary Walbourne, has made recommendations with respect to transitioning because the overwhelming information that we're receiving is that the transition is the most difficult part. He's made recommendations, as has this committee in a report to Parliament, to ensure that DND makes certain that every aspect of our CAF members' life is taken care of with respect to pensions and potential doctors, before they're handed over to VAC.
Ombudsman Walbourne refers to it as a concierge service. I'm interested from all four of you how much value you see in that system, but very quickly because I have another question.
Michael.
5:05 p.m.
As an Individual
I believe it would be very important. Right now, we've spoken with the Barrie family health team. They're very interested in working with the military in the IPSC and the JPSU, but Base Borden is not currently on the pilot basis. I work with veterans every week who say that kind of service is critical because the points made by their people are the only way they're going to transition to find a family physician or other support. Because if you don't get that, you're behind the eight ball.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
It goes beyond that, too, to ensure that your pension information and the money is there as you transition, not 16 weeks later.
Philip, I know you spoke about transition. How much value do you see in that? How would that have helped you?
5:05 p.m.
As an Individual
They haven't the resources in certain areas such as mine that are underserved in civilian health care practitioners. It might be great in Ottawa, Toronto, or Halifax, but not in places such as North Bay.
5:05 p.m.
As an Individual
There's just too much of a disconnect between Veterans Affairs and the Canadian Forces. There's a Veterans Affairs office on every base. Part of your out-clearance for your release should be checking out with them and spending a day becoming a client, because in all likelihood you will become a client, possibly at 50 or 60 years of age, as military injuries start to sprout up.
It's important that Veterans Affairs be key to everyone who's being released. If it's dental work, they make sure our dental work is 100%, but for mental work, they don't care. People don't like to go to the dentist, so you have to order them to go there. That's why you have dental parade. It's the same thing with mental health and Veterans Affairs. No one is going to want to admit that they're a veteran or that they're disabled, but if it's part of an out-clearance where they must sit with Veterans Affairs and go through it, they could receive pamphlets about how to fill out documents correctly, or an introduction to My VAC Account, which can all be done within a couple of hours. Then we'd have vets who are informed and not finding out about it on Facebook.
5:05 p.m.
City Councillor, City of Ottawa, As an Individual
Transitioning was brutal. As I said, I'm considered somebody who has their stuff together, and the transition was overwhelming. Information was being thrown at you from a firehose. An example could be something as simple as this. If you're in the military, you have a service number, K41302461. That was mine for 20 years. Ask me my VAC service number.
5:05 p.m.
City Councillor, City of Ottawa, As an Individual
I have no idea. Why do I need a whole new VAC file when I could just walk to the clerk's desk, say, “Thanks, see you guys later”, walk out as Mr. Mitic, show up at my VAC office, and say, “Here you guys go”, and we can go through my file? It could be the same number, the same file, just change the cover from blue to red or something. The transition would feel a lot smoother. It's things such as that.
5:05 p.m.
City Councillor, City of Ottawa, As an Individual
It's a duplication. Phil said it's one thing to talk to one person about your deepest, darkest fears and secrets, but then there's the next person, and the next person, and then you just finally don't want to do it. It's the same when you're transitioning. You're filling out the same form, paperwork you've already done when you were in the service. It's the same form and the same information, just a different department on the top.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
I'm not going to get this done in 30 seconds. Briefly, as we've sat at this committee and studied mental health and suicide prevention, we've heard often that suicidal tendencies are a result of prior mental health issues. How much of an impact did your military career have on your mental health issues?
