Go ahead, Mr. Eyolfson.
Evidence of meeting #72 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 military.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #72 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 military.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
I have no further questions at this time. Did you have any other questions?
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Dr. Norris, if I could turn back to you, I'm just following up on our previous exchange when we were talking about the importance of including family. What more do you think could be done to include the family in the process of transition, since that's maybe not happening now, so that we could recommend it to the government?
12:55 p.m.
Associate Professor, Mount Saint Vincent University
Families are recommending to us through our studies that we take a more upstream approach, first of all, to engage them in a conscious way in the military-to-civilian transition process and, second, to push that entry point further back along the trajectory. As the veteran is releasing or anticipating a release from the military, that's almost like what my colleague was referring to, namely getting the family involved. That training to release from the military should correspond with the basic training that members experience at the beginning of their careers. Push back their entry point so it's well recognized and acknowledged that they're integral to the whole process.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Thank you very much.
Madame Le Scelleur, I saw you nodding your head in agreement. Following your previous answer and your recommendation for more training, can you respond to my question as well regarding inclusion of the family in that?
12:55 p.m.
Veteran Ambassador and Head of the Mentoring Program, Supporting Wounded Veterans Canada
Yes, as of now, it's a choice for the veteran, the person getting out of the military, to bring their spouse to the seminars or to bring them to any mental health specialist, for example. At some point it should be mandatory to meet with the family and address the situation. As of now it's a choice made by the veteran only.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Neil Ellis
I guess we're at the end of our time, unless somebody's got a 30-second question. I don't know if we have time for an answer.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Neil Ellis
On behalf of the committee, I'd like to thank everybody here today for your continuing help for our men and women who have served and continue to serve.
Thank you for your testimony today. If there's anything that you'd like to add to your testimony or in response to any questions that you were asked, if you could get that to our clerk, she will distribute it to the committee.
I need a motion to adjourn.
Mr. Dhaliwal, as moved.
(Motion agreed to)
The meeting is adjourned.
