Evidence of meeting #89 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 indigenous.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
You talked about people in your community. I think it was your cousin or family members. What kinds of challenges are they facing? Is it PTSD or any of the issues related to their service?
As an Individual
It's really hard to talk to my aunt, whose late husband was army reservist Corporal Derek Smallboy. They have six kids together and she lives on-reserve. Our home reserve is two hours north of where I live. It's really tough for her to try to talk to me about stuff, but she always has questions for me and I don't know where to direct her.
Being able to talk to her is kind of on and off, and it's frustrating because I don't know how to help her. I think it's just as frustrating for her, too, because she expects me to be able to offer some kind of help or information to her.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Getting access to information and services available would be a huge benefit.
As an Individual
Yes. I know her kids really have a tough time. There are six kids.
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Do you encounter any veterans in your community who have served?
As an Individual
I am actually a member of the Saskatchewan First Nations Veteran's Association. I do stay in contact with them a lot. I try to keep up with what they're doing. It's different because my situation is so unique, so it's really hard to try to have an input or some kind of specific support for myself because a lot of them are veterans from World War II and the Korean War. There's nobody really current besides Aaron Ledoux, but I haven't really had a chance to talk to him much about his experiences.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
You talked about TAPS. Can you speak a bit about TAPS and what was involved in that program that we could offer here and learn from?
As an Individual
I would actually love to be totally involved with anything that's like TAPS. I think my kids would be overjoyed if we did have something like that in Saskatchewan. TAPS not only provides grief camps for kids, but widows' retreats, spousal retreats, siblings' retreats, parents' retreats. It's a really big non-profit organization. The last widows' retreat I went to was in Alaska, where I did a five-kilometre marathon in memory of my husband. They do things like that. Everything they do is in memory of a loved one who served in the military.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Thank you very much, Mr. Ledoux, for your service and your testimony. We'll get an opportunity to hear from you next week, I understand. Thank you again.
Veronica, thank you very much for your testimony and sharing some of your challenges. We need to hear them, as much as it is difficult. We appreciate your being here with us, sharing.
I'm not sure if the members around the table really, truly understand—I don't—the difference between the U.S. and Canadian benefits.
If you were in the States today, what would you have? Here you are in Canada. What do you have? Are you getting any services from Veterans Affairs? Are you getting any services from Canadians at all?
As an Individual
I guess, because I don't really know either. This is all kind of new to me too. All I know is what I've tried to research and tried to get help with. One thing I forgot to mention was taxes. I have to do taxes stateside. With my income, I pay taxes stateside, so I have to go in person and do my taxes. I usually go to Minot Air Force Base, which is the closest military base to us. Even dealing with taxes on the Canadian side, I still have to file taxes here too even though I don't have an income. I have to make a tax payment.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
From what we heard last week in testimony, there are actually a lot of indigenous people who have served with the U.S. Army or the U.S. government. I would try to see if the organization and the associations for indigenous veterans in communities have some information that they could help you with. I find it difficult to comprehend that our government doesn't have some responsibility, and they have some agreements between both countries. I don't know why we wouldn't.
You are in a very challenging situation, to say the least. How are your kids doing? That's an important question. It's nine years now.
As an Individual
My oldest son is 12 years old now. He's reaching his pubescent years, so he needs a male figure and someone he can relate to. I think that's something he's struggling with right now, having a male in his life. I'm the oldest of all my siblings, so I've always been pretty independent and always done things on my own anyway. I'm not always the most approachable person to family members because I've dealt with so much because I've had to be the way I am, and it's for a reason. Even being with my kids, I'm learning to be more supportive and affectionate to them. We've always been super close because it's always been just us. I've never actually had a time to grieve until now that they're able to cook for themselves. I'm not potty training anybody. I'm not having to feed anybody. I have the time and opportunity to come and do things like this. My youngest is actually struggling with not having memories of his dad and trying to comprehend that we actually lived that life.
Liberal
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Do you have a caseworker or anybody to help you? I feel that there's a real gap here between the Canadian and American governments. We have to do this, because basically, if I understand, you would almost have to move back to the States to have services. That's not right—
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
—because you're a Canadian, and you have your home.
Do you have any caseworker?
As an Individual
The closest caseworker I am eligible for is in Fort Lewis in Washington. I have been trying to get hold of them. I hope I don't have to drive down there myself to go to them.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Thank you Mr. Ledoux and Ms. Morin, for being here.
Mr. Ledoux, I'm sorry we will have to wait until next time for questions to be posed to you.
Ms. Morin, thank you so much for being here. Your family and your community must be so proud of you for the courage it takes to do what you're doing and to come here today to share your story with us so that we can hopefully make things a little bit better going forward.
You talked about the counselling services you have been involved with. I know your children may have had some difficulties psychologically as well. Are you receiving the services that are available now? If so, are they being paid for by the U.S. veterans' office? How does that work?
