You have one minute.
Evidence of meeting #51 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 benefits.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #51 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 benefits.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
This is a beautiful chart. Very quickly, because you mentioned the centre for excellence, where would you put it on this chart?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Commemoration, Department of Veterans Affairs
The centre of excellence for PTSD...?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Commemoration, Department of Veterans Affairs
I'd put it just right here in the middle.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
You did mention that we've transferred health care to the provinces. There are benefits and disadvantages to that, and hopefully we will see some of that.
One of the things you see in the U.S. with them having VA hospitals and all their service being through the VA hospitals, you see a situation where.... For example, musculoskeletal injury is one of the leading causes of injuries with a lot of our veterans. We see in the U.S. that they've actually put chiropractors in the VA hospitals and used that facility to provide those services. Those are things that we hopefully will see as we compare things. Do you see an opportunity where that might transfer into Canada, or is that obviously too complex to answer in 30 seconds?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Commemoration, Department of Veterans Affairs
It's certainly a complex question, but again I think the challenge in Canada is this issue around universal health care. If we have universal health care in Canada and veterans are part of that mix of Canadians, the challenge is to try to ensure, from our perspective, that we leverage the health care resources that are out there to help us help veterans without compromising, I suppose, the fundamental principles of universal health care.
It's a bit of a balancing act, I think, for the committee and it will be as you go forward, but as with the OSI clinics, that methodology, that model, seems to be working quite well for PTSD, and probably one that you might want to look at in terms of other contexts.
Conservative
Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
I should state that the chiropractors have been commissioned in the U.S. forces, but there are opportunities to look at there anyway.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Neil Ellis
Great. Thank you.
That concludes the end of our time for today.
On behalf of the committee, Mr. Butler, I'd like to thank you and your department for all you do to help our men and women who have served.
I need a motion to adjourn.
Conservative
