Veterans Affairs Committee on June 5th, 2018

[Wallace J. Bona]

I'm not sure I understand the question.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

What I'm trying to get at is this. A lot of times we've said, in our meetings and the studies that we've done, that we feel that the information provided to our soldiers, once they enlist, should be told to them the moment they sign up. They should be continually reminded of the benefits and things they can access once they become a civilian.

I'm trying to find out whether that is something inherent within the system that you may be aware of. Is it something that maybe other veterans got that our indigenous veterans didn't get? Is there a disconnect between them?

[Wallace J. Bona]

I would say that everybody was treated the same.

Just by my appearance, I guess you could say that I don't appear indigenous, so I'm kind of caught between two worlds. You do hear different things. I remember from being in the service that up front they do tell you the things you're entitled to, but generally it's “Wait till you get out.”

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you.

Mr. Bratina, you have six minutes.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you very much, and thank you for your service.

Apparently, the first veteran you encountered was your father, right? He was a member of the military.

[Wallace J. Bona]

Yes. He served about 32 years with REME. He was a Korean War veteran also.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Do you recall any of the issues he confronted in transitioning out of the military?

[Wallace J. Bona]

As I recall, he finished work on a Friday, and Monday morning he was working as a driver at Dundurn military camp. It seemed quite seamless.

A year before my father passed away, he was diagnosed with PTSD.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

So there were no issues being talked about in the family—i.e., “We need this” or “Why can't we get that?”

[Wallace J. Bona]

No.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

That's interesting.

In terms of your identity, when you were serving, did you identify and mingle with other first nations or aboriginal veterans, or was it even noticed? You mentioned something about that.

[Wallace J. Bona]

Yes, I mingled. At the time we got our treaty status back, in the nineties, that's when my grandmother was quite ill up in Churchill. As I recall, or from what my mom said, the hospital was saying, “Well, your grandmother obviously has to be a treaty Indian. Where is her card?” It ended up taking the family 10 years to prove the bloodline to the government so that they could get status back. Once my grandmother got her status re-established—and it wasn't Bill C-31—then we got our card.

I do remember getting my card and not wanting it.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Talk about that.

[Wallace J. Bona]

Well, I didn't see any advantage. I was so immersed in the military culture.

I was certainly aware that the ancestry was native, that's for sure. I grew up with bannock and tea. I thought every family grew up with bannock and tea. My mom was like, “If you don't want it, that's okay.” My father was like, “Oh, no, you've got to have that card. It could help you out later in life.” I ended up taking the card. Talking to my friends, I was like, “Hey, check it out. I have a status card.” I don't know; mixed reactions to it over the years.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

You mentioned the presence of aboriginal veterans on the street in Edmonton. Of course, in all of our discussions and testimony, we've heard about all veterans on the street, not particularly one or another. The veterans generally, we understand, are not likely to identify on the street as a veteran. We actually have to seek them out and say to them, “You were a soldier. You served. You have benefits coming to you.”

[Wallace J. Bona]

Yes, the discussion with the Legion is very interesting. What was pointed out to me, it seems people who live on the street especially, because they have a military background, have their own clique or culture of how they help each other and stuff like that. I had also done some volunteer work with the OSISS program in Edmonton. A veteran was living on the street, but living near the base. From what I understand, it was what he knew. He felt comfortable around the military base, with the aboriginal veterans on the street. My strategy right now is to try to make a regular appearance at Boyle Street, and hopefully they will come forward.

We were able to get a Métis veteran, who was in a group home in Edmonton with not a very reputable standing, into the Kipnes Centre but that took two years.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

You were new on the job in April?

[Wallace J. Bona]

Yes, it's a volunteer position.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

I understand that. Were you surprised at the issues coming to you that you were having to deal with? Is there a good learning curve?

[Wallace J. Bona]

I'm still on that uphill learning curve, that's for sure. The main reason the Aboriginal Veterans Society of Alberta...has been the bold eagle program, but my vision is we need to reach out more to the veterans. There are a lot of younger aboriginal veterans out there. We also have a member who served in the U.S. armed forces and then did some time in the Canadian military also. I've met him.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Mr. Johns, you have six minutes.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Thank you.

It's an honour to meet you, sir. Before I get started, since we're studying aboriginal veterans, I think it's appropriate to acknowledge that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin and Anishinaabe people. Like Mr. Ellis, I just travelled the country. I was in Korea with Mr. McColeman and Mr. Eyolfson and the minister where we had the chance to travel with veterans, including some aboriginal veterans. It was a great experience to better understand our veterans and see our veterans through the eyes of Korean people, and how much they appreciate the service. I'm sure the people in Bosnia feel the same about the service that you've done, sir, and thank you.

Also thank you for your voluntary work here, taking on this new role. It's very important that we have people like you doing that in serving our veterans.

You talked about obstacles first nations veterans face and the pride. Maybe you could elaborate some of those challenges, barriers, you might face that the Government of Canada might be able to help address in VAC, in serving our aboriginal veterans.

[Wallace J. Bona]

From what I've seen, the lingering effects of colonialism are still quite evident today. I don't have a ready answer. We just try to reach out to these guys and channel them into certain areas where they can get some help. I know the first time I went on a reserve—I've been on a few reserves over the years—but some reserves around Edmonton I have to admit were a trigger for me. I thought I was back overseas.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

From my understanding, a lot of aboriginal veterans have suffered PTSD from service and also from the residential school system. We need to make sure we have culturally sensitive programs and outreach that can reach our veterans. In the United States, 30% of their caseworkers are former veterans, so they can connect with veterans when they have those challenges especially—