Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 17th, 2021

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Thank you.

I have a minute left and I know that you told the story of a woman veteran who became disabled in her service and is now being cared for by her young children. How common are circumstances like this where the veterans may need care but may not be receiving it from a mature caregiver?

[Col (Ret'd) Nishika Jardine]

That's an excellent question.

I'm not certain that I would have those sorts of statistics at hand. I think it would probably be related to the incidence of how many military members or veterans are single or single parents and the circle of support that they have around them.

Perhaps, Mr. Schippers, you might have discovered more during the conduct of the study.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Very briefly, please, because we're at time.

[Duane Schippers]

What I would say is that the complaints we get represent a small fraction of what we think is out there. For a veteran, they have to come to us after they've gone through an initial decision at VAC, an appeal at VAC, a second appeal at VAC, and then if they have any fight left in them, they come and see us to help them. What we see is just the tip of the iceberg of what we think is really the situation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much.

You are up next for two and a half minutes, Député Desilets.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Jardine, mental health is one of many health care sectors. I want you to talk about the fact that we're calling for an increase in federal health transfers to the provinces.

In your opinion, is this warranted? Would it help veterans?

[Col (Ret'd) Nishika Jardine]

I am afraid I missed a little portion of your question, Mr. Desilets. Are you talking about the federal-provincial transfers with respect to health?

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

Yes, that's right.

We're asking that the money be transferred to the provinces, since health care falls under provincial jurisdiction.

In your opinion, could this help with the development of new projects to support veterans?

[Col (Ret'd) Nishika Jardine]

What I as the ombudsman can do is simply point out where we see the gaps. We'd leave it to the department and to the government to determine how to do those things, how to fill those gaps, and how to cost those gaps and then to determine how those things are going to be met.

I'm afraid my remit is only to point out and shine a light on the gaps and barriers.

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

I understand.

Delays and backlogs obviously have a significant impact on the families of our veterans.

Are you somewhat familiar with this issue? What do you think about it?

[Col (Ret'd) Nishika Jardine]

On the delays and the wait time, as you on the committee very well know—we've read your report, and thank you for all the recommendations that you made—delays in approving disability claims for veterans have an impact not only on veterans and their health but also, as we can well understand, on the health of their families, both physically and in term of their mental health, so that wait-time question is certainly a very serious one and is one that we, as the ombudsman, continue to watch closely.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

For two and a half minutes, MP Blaney, go ahead, please.

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

Thank you. It's wonderful to get to ask a few more questions.

I'm just wondering, Colonel Jardine, if during the report you heard from common-law partners of veterans on their access to or lack of access to supports for themselves as they were the caregiver or are the caregiver of the veteran.

[Col (Ret'd) Nishika Jardine]

My understanding of the definition of family—and Mr. Schippers will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure—is that when a common-law relationship is recognized in law, then it is recognized by the government and obviously by the department.

In the research that we did, we didn't find any difference between being a married spouse or a common-law spouse under law.

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

Thank you.

Thank you so much for also mentioning the military sexual trauma, MST. This is something that concerns me greatly because the impact not only on the veteran but also on the family can be significant, and I am concerned that there are challenges with VAC with regard to military sexual trauma versus other service-related injuries and illnesses. Is that an area that your office might be looking into in the future?

It sounds as though you are, but I'd love to hear some more.

[Col (Ret'd) Nishika Jardine]

As I mentioned earlier, we are looking at where we're going to put our investigative capacity over the next two years or so, and we're going to prioritize that because, of course, we are limited in the resources that we have, but we have investigations under way. Certainly, from my point of view, and understanding that the team and I have yet to work our way through this, I can see women veterans...with respect to all the intersectionalities that affect women veterans, including military sexual trauma, not only for women but for men as well.

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

I was going to say that. Thank you so much for saying that.

[Col (Ret'd) Nishika Jardine]

Yes, absolutely. The number of intersectionalities—and certainly we put everything we do through gender-based analysis, as Mr. Schippers pointed out, and we look to pull out all of those intersectionalities and look to find the gaps and the barriers in the programs and benefits that VAC is providing.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

I want to thank all the witnesses.

That brings us to a close today.

Thank you very much, Colonel Jardine and Mr. Schippers, for kicking us off in the right direction with this study. We very much appreciate your time and patience as we got going a little bit late today, and also your flexibility for being able to meet at a later time.

Thank you to all my colleagues. Thank you to everyone in Ottawa who makes this possible, all the technical folks, translation and, of course, the clerks and analysts.

I adjourn today's meeting.