Veterans Affairs Committee on March 10th, 2020

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

I appreciate that, but my question then would be this. I've heard over and over again that we have to define what affects the veteran. The veteran's well-being needs to be improved, so who's making those decisions? That veteran, more than anybody, should be able to determine whether their care is improved and whether they're being impacted by the care that is given to family members. Are they asked?

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

Again, we are relying upon the professional mental health caregiver across the country, be it a psychiatrist, psychologist or mental health nurse, as well as the operational stress injury clinics that have that integrated multi-faceted team. That's who is actually providing the request, because they are accredited through all of the provinces.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much.

We're going to MP Amos, please.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

I'll keep my questions short. Then I'll pass the floor to my colleague Mr. Samson.

Going back to the backlog issue, I wonder if you could just help paint a picture because I think sometimes we focus on specific cases, and it's important to focus on specific cases because they can speak to a broader set of challenges or truths. However, is the reason that there was a lesser backlog in past years directly correlated with the fact that there were lesser benefits and fewer beneficiaries?

Are we dealing with a circumstance where we have far more ability to be compassionate, greater ability to be supportive of a veteran and of their family, and we're finding ourselves in a position where we're transitioning from a place where there were far fewer resources for the department to deliver those benefits, to a place where we're delivering more benefits to more beneficiaries and bringing on board all those institutional resources that enable delivery?

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

Thanks very much for the question.

I would say that the awareness of veteran benefits and programs over the past five years has really improved just because of the nature of great programs like the education and training benefit or the career transition service. A lot more veterans are aware of them, so over this past five years, as the minister indicated, we've seen a 90% increase in first applications and a 60% increase in all applications across the board. Because of the number of additional programs, we have had to wade in and do a lot of additional work on all those additional programs, which is absolutely fabulous, but we're now trying to leverage technology to make it much simpler for folks to get a decision.

For example, I've heard of circumstances where a veteran will apply for the career transition service and get the answer and approval within a half-hour, and then a counsellor calls him later on in the day and makes an appointment. An education and training benefit decision is made within a couple of weeks. We also know that something that is making it challenging on the applications, especially for disability, is that frequently the injury or condition may not be fully documented in the medical file. Whether that person is in the forces or has left the Canadian Armed Forces, in some cases the documentation is not clear.

In the perfect circumstance, if you get injured on an operation, on a training exercise, your injury is fully diagnosed and is in there. Then the decision can be made very easily.

I'll ask Rick to wade in here.

[Rick Christopher]

There are a number of factors. This is a question I ask myself often. Why are we getting so many people coming forward?

I think it has to do with the pace of operations in the Canadian Armed Forces, the number of people who are being released. There's the awareness. People are really aware of what's available in the department. The deputy mentioned that it's easier to apply now. About 60% of the applications for this particular disability program come through My VAC Account and people find it really easy. I can go online and apply for a number of conditions quite simply. I think all of those things combined are really driving people to come forward now.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

As I pass the microphone over to my colleague, I would simply comment that I feel like this is a great news story. In a way, this is a story of more veterans getting more benefits, more services and more supports that they fully merit. We're spending a lot of time and I feel like the media spends a lot of time focusing on very specific cases, when the bigger stories are more and better care for veterans who have served so importantly for us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

He's left you a grand total of 30 seconds.

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

In line with that, it's quite interesting to note that we tried to bring forward programs to support our veterans. We're adding various programs that are coming forward to help them, such as the education program, the well-being program that we spoke about and the various programs that we're bringing for the emergency fund program. With all these programs, it's important to get the required information from the people, build in the program and then reach out to tell them how these programs are available and how they can access them. As a result of this, we're seeing more and more applicants come forward.

Those are good news stories. We just have to continue to work to support all our veterans in all facets. That is the most important thing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you.

MP Desilets, you have two and a half minutes, please.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you.

Of course, the backlog is front and centre today, so that's what I want to ask about.

When do you think the backlog will be cleared? When will the 40,000 applications in the backlog be dealt with? By 2025? By 2050?

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

I cannot tell you how important it is to address the backlog.

At this moment in time, it is difficult to give anyone an expectation of when the backlog will be cleared because I don't know how many more claims will come in the box today, tomorrow or next week. Again, as Rick Christopher mentioned, more veterans are leaving the Canadian Armed Forces. The release numbers are going up, and therefore, more claims are coming in through the front door.

[Rick Christopher]

In 2015, we expected the number of claims to decrease, but that's not what happened. Our partners or counterparts in other countries are facing the same issues in their programs.

To clear the backlog, we need to be innovative on different fronts. We can't limit our efforts to hiring new staff. We need to draw lessons from our counterparts in other countries as well.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Can you tell us the percentage of cases from Quebec and the rest of Canada?

Do 25% of the 40,000 applications come from Quebec?

[Rick Christopher]

I don't have a breakdown by province with me, but we can provide one to the committee after the meeting.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

All right.

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

We've increased our claims processing capacity in Montreal, but we do need more staff who are proficient in French or completely bilingual, especially given the challenge around medical jargon. We've mobilized resources to better meet the needs of our French-speaking veterans.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you.

MP Blaney, please.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you.

One of the things with the backlog that I'm concerned about is people's not getting the resources they obviously desperately need, more often than not.

If you are a veteran and you are in the backlog waiting, are you still able to access the veterans emergency fund?

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

You don't need any claim at all. That's one of the reasons why the emergency fund was so important. Even without any kind of claim going into the department, as long as we know that you served, then we're going to provide support.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Is there a way you could report to the committee how many people who are actually waiting are accessing this fund?

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

I don't see why we could not provide that kind of information, as long as it would not compromise privacy.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Yes, just numbers would be fine. I certainly don't need specifics.

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

Yes, absolutely.