Veterans Affairs Committee on June 12th, 2018

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Good morning, everybody. I'd like to call the meeting to order.

The Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), is studying the needs and issues specific to indigenous veterans.

This morning we have two panels.

By video conference from Saskatoon, we have Faith McIntyre, director general, policy and research division, strategic policy and commemoration, Veterans Affairs Canada. Also by video conference, from Charlottetown, we have Hélène Robichaud, director general, commemoration division, strategic policy and commemoration. We also have Maryse Savoie, acting director general, field operations division, service delivery branch.

Ms. Savoie, we'll start with your 10 minutes for an opening statement. We'll have questions to follow.

Thank you.

[Maryse Savoie, Acting Director General Field Operations, Service Delivery Branch, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Good morning, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee.

My name is Maryse Savoie and I am the acting director general of field operations at Veterans Affairs Canada. I am responsible for nearly 1,200 employees across Canada in 38 sector offices and 31 Integrated Personal Support Centres and satellite offices. Field operations employees work directly with veterans and their family; they are at the heart of the mandate of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).

I would like to thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee. I am accompanied today by my colleagues Faith McIntyre, director general, policy and research division, and by Hélène Robichaud, director general for the commemoration division, who will also be speaking to you in a few minutes as part of our opening statement.

Our department recognizes and welcomes the participation, achievements, and sacrifices of all Canadian veterans, including indigenous veterans. We are committed to increasing awareness of the contribution of indigenous veterans through commemoration activities and our commemorative program as a whole.

My colleague Hélène Robichaud will be able to tell you more about the department's work in this area.

We are also committed to increasing indigenous veterans' awareness of our programs and services. To that end, we have not only established relationships with national partners, but we also now maintain a strong presence at the local level through a variety of awareness activities and information sessions with partners and directly with veterans, across Canada.

Since August 2016, we have also expanded our presence with veterans living in northern Canada. Front-line employees regularly travel to Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit to meet veterans and their family, as well as partners and local service providers. These meetings enable us to establish and build solid relationships with these partners and to provide veterans living in those communities with information on our programs and services.

We do not know how many indigenous veterans live in the territories, but we know that these outreach and information efforts are crucial for overcoming barriers to access to information in remote communities.

Although the same standard applies to all veterans, we nevertheless ensure that our service delivery is adapted to the cultural realities of the veterans we serve.

Still, as part of our awareness initiative in northern Canada, we prepare our schedule, visits, and activities with the local communities and partners to ensure that they are culturally appropriate. We are also currently exploring options that would enable us to provide our front-line employees with training on indigenous culture.

Since all federal public service employees have an important role to play in terms of reconciliation, Veterans Affairs Canada recently invited all its employees, including front-line employees, to participate in the Indigenous Learning Series offered by the Canada School of Public Service. These workshops enable our employees to better understand reconciliation and the importance of renewing relationships with indigenous peoples.

Although we are determined to provide veterans and their family with the support they need, when they need it, where they are, access to services in remote regions can sometimes be a challenge, not due to a lack of willingness on the department's part. The fact remains that the community and provincial resources to which VAC can direct its clients are sometimes limited.

All veterans can nevertheless count on the extensive network of VAC service locations and the extended network of Service Canada service centres, which provide information on VAC programs and services in over 558 locations in virtually every community in Canada.

Regardless of where they live, veterans who need them can count on home visits by nurses, occupational therapists and their case manager.

Veterans and their families can always contact VAC employees through our national contact centre network as well as our 24-hour assistance service. Information on programs and services can be easily obtained by visiting the VAC website, which includes the benefits navigator, an extremely useful tool.

Veterans who prefer interacting online can use My VAC Account for access day or night, seven days a week, to send us secure messages or to apply for benefits and to access them.

At this point, I'm going to stop and let my colleague Faith McIntyre continue.

[Faith McIntyre, Director General, Policy and Research Division, Strategic Policy and Commemoration, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Thank you, Ms. Savoie.

Good morning, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee.

Veterans Affairs Canada is committed to serving all veterans in accordance with the same standards of excellence, regardless of time, place, or circumstance.

VAC offers a wide range of services to help veterans, including indigenous veterans, and their families. These services includes support for veterans following an injury or as they transition to civilian life. All veterans can contact us to find out more about the programs and services for which they may qualify.

However, as my colleague indicated, we are aware that barriers may exist for veterans living in remote regions in terms of access to resources. However, we are determined to make improvements and steps have already been taken to address this.

Stakeholder engagement with indigenous groups is essential to ensure that the department is aware of and addressing gaps in support of indigenous veterans. Currently, there are six ministerial advisory groups that provide advice and guidance on a variety of topics to the minister and the department. Each of the groups includes an indigenous member, which ensures that the groups consider the unique needs of Canada's indigenous veterans when addressing issues such as outreach to veterans, the complexity of application processes, access to services, and cultural differences, to name a few.

Additionally, the contributions of the indigenous members enrich the group's deliberations by offering indigenous perspectives or options on issues such as treatment options for post-traumatic stress disorder.

I'd now like to turn to my colleague, Hélène Robichaud.

[Hélène Robichaud, Director General, Commemoration Division, Strategic Policy and Commemoration, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Good morning, Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen.

I'll be speaking specifically on commemorating the military service and sacrifice of our indigenous peoples.

Canada's indigenous peoples have a proud tradition of military service. While exact numbers are difficult to determine, the rate of indigenous participation in Canada's military has been significant. It is estimated that more than 12,000 indigenous people from Canada served in the two world wars, the Korean War and in more recent international peace support efforts, with at least 500 of them losing their lives.

These determined volunteers often had to overcome challenges in their quest to serve, from learning a new language and adapting to cultural differences to travelling long distances from remote communities just to enlist, and to share in the cause of peace.

From the commemoration perspective, our department has traditionally marked the military service of indigenous peoples within activities and programming aimed at remembering the service of Canadian veterans more broadly.

The spirit of this approach was perhaps most eloquently captured by Mr. James Brady, when he was asked about his service in the context of his identity as a member of the Métis community. Reflecting on the service of indigenous veterans during the Second World War, Mr. Brady said:

...true destiny is not bound by the success or failure attendant upon Métis deliberation.... It is bound up with our continued existence as Canadians who fight [for] those liberties to which we are all devoted....

In modern times, our government takes its sacred obligation to recognize and honour the contributions of our veterans very seriously. While the conflicts of the 20th century have proven that peace is very costly to individuals, families, and communities, we have also learned that peace is a journey rather than a destination; peace is fragile and sacred; and peace is essential for Canada.

In honouring and respecting this fundamental and universal Canadian value, our program is committed to finding inclusive and culturally relevant ways to engage youth and raise awareness of those who have contributed so much to what we, as Canadians, hold so dear.

In 2005, the Year of the Veteran, the Government of Canada, through VAC's commemoration program, supported an aboriginal spiritual journey to the battlefields and cemeteries of Europe. While previous commemorative journeys had included indigenous veterans and other representatives, the aboriginal spiritual journey focused exclusively on the traditions that Canada's indigenous peoples have used throughout the ages to pay tribute to fallen warriors.

The journey would serve as a source of healing for all indigenous veterans and their families. It offered spiritual elders from communities across Canada, as identified and selected by an Aboriginal Veterans Working Group, the honour of leading ceremonies at key Canadian commemorative sites in Europe based on indigenous custom. This included the opportunity for indigenous spiritual leaders to conduct a “Calling Home” ceremony, during which the spirits of fallen warriors were called home to the ancestral lands they left when they embarked for Europe.

The journey was inspired by the efforts of several leaders from Canada's indigenous community, including Mr. Ed Borchert, past president of the National Metis Veterans Association, and Mr. Ray Rogers, former chairman of the First Nations Veterans of Canada.

Who were the driving forces behind this initiative? The Aboriginal Veterans Working Group included senior representatives from Canada's various indigenous peoples who jointly developed the journey program. Delegates included indigenous veterans of the Second World War and senior indigenous leaders of the day, as well as indigenous elders and youth. In addition to veteran representatives the program incorporated significant indigenous cultural elements.

From the commemoration program perspective, the journey—called the “aboriginal spiritual journey” back in 2005—helped increase awareness within Veterans Affairs Canada and the Government of Canada of the importance of remembering the service and sacrifice of indigenous people over the years. Significant efforts have since been made to ensure that Canada's indigenous veterans are honoured throughout program activities led by Veterans Affairs.

Commemorating indigenous veterans is highlighted now through the commemoration program's different areas of responsibility, which are: our overseas and domestic activities; the books of remembrance and the Canadian virtual war memorial; our commemorative partnership program; memorials that are national and international symbols; our Heroes Remember programs and interviews; the Minister of Veterans Affairs commendations; our European operations, such as, for example, our new Vimy visitor education centre located in Vimy, France; and, finally, our learning program.

VAC's commemorative learning program, for example, includes material related to indigenous veterans' service. The program and topical learning materials distributed annually reach hundreds of thousands of Canadian youth in hundreds of schools from coast to coast to coast. The program shines a spotlight on the experiences of individuals as a way to illustrate the overall service of the larger indigenous community, including the indigenous soldiers, foreign battlefields, historical booklets, and an indigenous veterans historical sheet and other print and online resources that tell stories of the individual service personnel as part of the larger narrative of indigenous military service.

In conclusion, the commemoration of Indigenous people who have proudly served in Canada's military is a clearly demonstrated element within VAC's broader Canada Remembers Program.

As the Canada Remembers Program seeks to build on its Road to Peace theme over the coming years, elevating and enriching the national dialogue on remembrance in our country, VAC will seek out appropriate opportunities to promote remembrance of indigenous veterans' achievements and sacrifices. These efforts will naturally include increasing awareness on the service of indigenous peoples.

VAC-led commemorative activities will increasingly focus on engaging younger veterans and youth in commemorating our military history and heritage, including the proud role of Canada's indigenous peoples, in communities across the country and overseas.

I thank you for having granted me some of your time today. My colleague Maryse Savoie will now conclude our presentation.

[Maryse Savoie]

In conclusion, although we are on the right track, we recognize that our service delivery model must also adapt to new realities and technologies, and we will continue to explore new ways to reach our clients wherever they are in Canada.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you.

We'll start with Ms. Wagantall.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you for your presentations this morning. They're very much appreciated.

As a committee, we've just returned from a tour across Canada to meet with indigenous veterans. It was very educational. There's nothing like being face to face and hearing their stories.

Historically speaking, Canada has not done a good job of valuing these people when they've come home. We heard over and over again how proud they were to serve and how much it meant to them to be representing Canada, and we heard that when they were on the battlefield or in their units there was no sense of not belonging. Everyone was a soldier. They were all together.

However, they started to face the issues, of course, when they came home thinking that they would be valued for having done that. Instead, they felt very much second class.... Part of that, I believe, was probably due to the fact that a lot of them returned to their homes and a lot of them were isolated.

Now we are trying to deal with this, which is good, but it's very late when you realize, coming from a rural community, that rural life has been there forever. I'm wondering what the current practices are in tracking and reporting injuries and the needs of indigenous veterans who are in more isolated environments.

[Maryse Savoie]

As part of the budget 2016 announcement, VAC committed to expand its outreach to the north and to visit up north 12 times a year. In terms of the purpose of VAC outreach, when we refer to the north, we refer to the Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. Although northern Labrador and northern Quebec were not initially part of the announcement, we are now doing outreach in these two locations as well.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

We did visit Beauval, Saskatchewan. I joke that quite often even as the weather is reported across the nation somehow we jump over Saskatchewan.

There are a number of veterans there who receive really no services. When I hear about northern outreach and 12 times a year, that's a huge area to cover with just 12 visits. They ask about having services that come to them, that transport to them on a regular basis, such as this idea of case managers, physiotherapists, and doctors coming to them. That's not actually a reality at this time.

[Maryse Savoie]

Well, actually, when we go to visit, we send teams of case managers and veterans service agents. They go as a pair. They announce their visit quite a while in advance. We rely on our partners to relay the word that we're coming. We also have posters that are posted in different locations.

They take appointments. Veterans and their families come to them, but they also go to the veterans, and they sometimes do home visits in quite remote locations.

It is our first year. We've done the 12 visits. Of course, the focus for the first year was really on outreach, on getting the word out, identifying good partners, and building relationships with partners. That is really the key in order to promote our benefits and programs.

Now they're seeing a switch. They're more into direct services, because there's such a need and such an increased volume of clients coming to them. For example, in the north—

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

I'm sorry. Can I can ask one more question? We're probably running out of time.

Could we see the results of those visits and where you went, how many individuals were interacted with, and what the game plan is going forward as to what services would be provided where?

[Maryse Savoie]

Yes. I can give you some statistics. So far in these three territories, we are providing services to 515 veterans and family members. Out of those, 90 are case-managed veterans.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Do I have more time, Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Yes. You have a minute.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

There's one other thing specific to indigenous veterans. We found as we travelled that a lot of our veterans are actually U.S. veterans, because back in the day they had to give up their status to serve in Canada. They chose that and, of course, that bounty doesn't exist for them in the same way that it does for others in our country. Do we have outreach to them as well to ensure that they are getting the services they need—they're Canadian—in spite of the fact they served under the U.S.?

[Maryse Savoie]

Yes, they served under the U.S. We have reciprocal agreements with many countries, the U.S. being one of them. We have some with South Africa, Australia, and the U.K., and we do provide services to allied veterans or veterans who have served in other countries. When we do reach out, we reach out to all veterans, yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you.

Mr. Samson.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I thank all three of you for your presentations.

In fact, your presentation was reassuring. We can see that good things are happening.

However, as my colleague Ms. Wagantall mentioned, our visit enlightened us further on existing problems and challenges.

I have a lot of questions, but I'll try to focus on three or four quickly. Maybe you can respond to them as quickly as possible.

First of all, are you only speaking about the services you're offering to the north, based on the budget? Or are we also speaking about B.C., Saskatchewan, and other places in western Canada? Please be very quick.

[Maryse Savoie]

I'm talking about Nunavut, Yukon, Northwest Territories, northern Labrador, and northern Quebec.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Can we assume the same services are happening in Alberta, B.C. and—

[Maryse Savoie]

Oh yes, for sure—

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

—Saskatchewan? We didn't see that in Beauval and in a couple of others. We'll talk about that as well at another point.

You've talked about what has been happening since 2016. Can you very quickly explain what was happening prior to 2016, in the year before, and then in the year after 2016, just so I can have a better sense of what exactly is happening on the ground now? Very quickly, please.

[Maryse Savoie]

Prior to 2016, we were not going up north as often as we go right now, and we didn't have the sensitivity that we have now.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I appreciate that. Based on your testimony, it's quite impressive.

You did say in your testimony as well that this isn't where one approach fits all, because there are all kinds of different challenges. I really appreciated that intervention. Can you give me an example or two of what you would do to support indigenous veterans in the north—because it's not as if one size fits all—that would would be somewhat different compared to with others?

[Maryse Savoie]

I think the challenge in the north is to reach out and to establish trust and communication. We really have to work with the elders and the leaders from the communities in order to reach out to the veterans to establish trust and to be able to communicate effectively with them in respect of the local culture.