Veterans Affairs Committee on March 22nd, 2021

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

Mr. Chair, our witness Tracy just put her hand up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

I see that.

Go ahead, Tracy, and then we'll go to the final questioner.

[Tracy Lee Evanshen]

Thank you.

I just wanted to mention that it's great to have more case managers, but the case managers need to have an understanding of the military and how it works, because they don't. They don't understand the scope. They don't take it seriously, and then our veterans are kicked to the curb by case managers because they just can't understand the problems.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you.

We do have a few minutes left here before the end of our time. Up next we have MP Amos.

You're going to have a shortened time slot, sir, so probably two or three minutes maximum.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to all of our witnesses. I'll keep my question brief.

Do you feel that the challenges and problems you've highlighted today are having a material impact on the ability of the Canadian Forces to recruit, and if so how would you characterize that? Maybe we'll start with Ms. Evanshen since she's from the province of Quebec and then we'll go over to Mr. Bruyea and Mr. White and Mr. Whalen and Ms. MacKinnon.

[Tracy Lee Evanshen]

I will give you just a brief synopsis. I'm 50, and I applied to go into the military last year. I went through this big rigmarole. There were letters written all over the place. It's almost the end of March, and I haven't heard from the recruiting office in Kingston in nine weeks. No one will return calls. No one answers emails. I don't even think they're in the office, let's be honest. They're dropping the ball all over the place especially with women. I'm sorry.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. White.

[Gerry White]

It's really easy for us to sit here and just destroy or eviscerate VAC; that is not what any of us wants to do. When somebody says they want to join the military, I say “what a beautiful career”. I've been all over the world several times in both directions, and now the pay is good, but that is not a motivator. You need to know that someone has your back. We have a patch in veterans and it says “ IGY6—I Got Your 6”. Now, I know that I can phone somebody at four o'clock in the morning, because they're going to have my back; they're going to have my 6. That's what you need. Yes, it is not prestige or status—and it's also affecting the RCMP very dramatically. They need to know somebody cares if they make it to the end of their watch, and then the end of their shift, and then the end of their career, and then in retirement. Applicants right from the get-go need to know that somebody has their back, has their 6, other than just fellow veterans.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you.

I'm afraid it's appropriate that I cut off Mr. White at the end of this. I owe a special apology to him for continuously doing that. It's just a matter of timing.

We are unfortunately at the end of our time, and I do want to personally thank each and every one of you for contributing to this difficult study. I would have Mr. White on Zoom calls at each and every meeting if we could, just for his reaction to what other people say; it's heartwarming. I appreciate—

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Chair, can we give Mr. White the participation ribbon for being cut off the most?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

I think so, absolutely.

[Gerry White]

I'm always at your service.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

You get the medal, Mr. White.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

I want to thank everybody.

Before I dismiss my colleagues, however, we do have a deadline to determine the suggested witness list for the next study, which of course is the study on a strategy for commemorations. I will be so bold as to suggest Friday, March 26 by 4 p.m. If there are no objections to that, I would suggest that we—

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Yes, sir.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

I have no objection to that. There's just one thing I would ask for. We haven't really got into a habit, but I remember my first go-round on Veterans Affairs we used to get the master witness list. Each party used to get the proposed witness list from each party and we haven't seen that. I would like that list. Other than just simply submitting, I'd like to see who some of the other witnesses are as well, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

John, let's you and I talk about this maybe off-line. It's not something that I've ever done as a chair either in this committee or in HUMA. I'm not sure if that was the practice before. It will be up to the committee if they want me to start doing that. There are some challenges with that, which I will chat with you about.

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

I'd like to speak to that, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Okay. We can get going on that, but there are a few challenges with it. Like I said, it's just not been a practice. What we do is we share the witnesses who have been confirmed and that allows the clerk to do their job.

Cathay, go ahead.

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

Thank you, Chair.

I just want to make a comment. Looking around the room, I think I'm the old lady matron of the group since this government came into effect in 2015. I've never sat on this committee and not had full access to that list. So I would encourage us to consider doing that. It's very important that we be prepared and be aware of who is coming before us and give them their due. I really appreciate everyone who is here today.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Just to be clear, everybody is given a list of witnesses who are appearing, but again there may be some unintended consequences of sharing the entire list. Again, I'm open to that discussion and maybe we can talk about this in a committee business meeting and weigh the pros and cons.

MP Blaney also has her hand up.

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

I just wanted to agree with that. I was there with Cathay for part of last term. We did receive that, and I have received that in other committees. It's just helpful, and I recognize that things happen, so not everybody's going to show up. We also recognize that [Technical difficulty—Editor]on your list. Those things we've seen before. It's just so that we know who might be coming and we might be able to do some preparation.

I look forward to that discussion. Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

I'm happy to have it.

If there's nothing else, as always I want to thank the clerk and the analysts.

Please, just pick up the phone, as Mr. White just said.

I want to double-check. The clerk is just asking me if we have an agreement for a March 26 four o'clock deadline for witnesses for the next study. There are no objections. Fantastic.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Thank you to all the techs and the translators in Ottawa for helping us out here.

The meeting is adjourned.