Veterans Affairs Committee on April 12th, 2021

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

Can the time be taken into account?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Absolutely.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Bryan, can you hear me properly?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

We can hear you just fine.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Very good.

Luc, as I said, the last thing I would ever want to do is disappoint you. The fact is, we were aware, and that's why we hired more francophone assistants and more bilingual assistants in order to make sure we could reduce the wait time. There's absolutely no reason for anybody in this country to not be able to file an application in English or in French to the Department of Veterans Affairs. That is and must be the way that things are handled at Veterans Affairs.

We understood that with regard to women and LGBTQ veterans we had to do more. That's why, in 2020, we had a first conference to make sure that—or I think it was 2019. The first one was in 2019. I had the privilege of announcing and putting it in place, in order to make sure we understood exactly how to deal with the problems that women and other veterans have when they apply for assistance. I think it's vitally important, and we will continue—

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

Thank you, Minister MacAulay.

I want to focus on the situation of francophones, for whom this is a recurring issue. This situation is dragging on and isn't improving. How can this issue be resolved in a concrete manner?

I'll give you an example. One of my constituents applied in English for additional pain and suffering compensation on behalf of a French-speaking veteran in Ottawa. She received a response after seven weeks. You know as well as I do that it usually takes between 6 and 12 months to get a response to this type of claim in French. The people who are waiting are suffering and yet aren't receiving the money owed to them.

What concrete steps will you take to address this issue and when will you take action?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Luc, what we were going to do with the situation overall is to make sure we hired more people, that we digitized the system, made sure that the applications moved more quickly.

We understood that we needed to hire more francophone assistants, and we did, to make sure that we addressed those claims in an appropriate time. I think we're all aware that there was too long of a wait time, too long for veterans to wait.

However, Luc, you also understand, and I know you do, that the number was at 23,000 and it's now down to 15,000. We're working to make sure that we address this problem appropriately. We have addressed the hiring of more francophone assistants.

Luc, if you have an individual who's having a difficulty, please contact me and I'll do whatever I can to address that issue. Without question, in Veterans Affairs Canada, you can apply in English or in French, and you should. However, I would like to hear from you on the individual issue you're dealing with and I will try to help.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

You have 15 seconds.

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

Mr. MacAulay, you know that I like you. Unfortunately, I tried to make an appointment with you in November and never heard back. We were supposed to discuss veterans' issues. I still like you though. I know that you have a very busy schedule. However, I would be happy to talk to you about a specific case if I get an answer from your office.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Chair, I have to tell Luc that I will get back to him.

I will call you, Luc.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

That sounds good.

We go over to MP Blaney for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here with us today. I hope you do address this issue, because I know that veterans who are applying to get the services they need in French are not getting them, and they are having to wait longer than English-speaking veterans are. I hope that's addressed very soon.

My first question for you today, Minister, is on the marriage after 60 clause. In 2015, your government promised to remove this clause. It was in previous veterans ministers' mandate letters, but I noticed it was not in yours. However, I recognize that in 2019 there was $150 million committed over five years for survivors of veterans who married after 60. What I cannot find, Minister, is anything in public accounts or estimates that shows that any money at all was spent, so I have two questions for you today.

One, when will this clause finally be removed, considering that many veterans live well into their eighties and their partners are caring for them during that time? Two, why was this money not spent? If it was, will you provide the committee with the relevant documentation to prove that it has been spent?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much, Ms. Blaney. I appreciate your question. I also always appreciate your concern.

On this issue, my department has been working with Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research to learn about the characteristics and needs of these survivors. Over the coming months the department will use the results of this research to inform how best to support these survivors.

First, we need to get the data and the information on just how many of these people are out there, where they're located and anything else we can find out about them. That is what we are doing and will continue to do.

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

Okay, so the money has not actually been sent to those folks. I can promise you, Minister, that what's happening for them is they are living in more poverty because they're not getting the support that they well deserve. When someone marries someone or commits their life to someone, I certainly hope that Veterans Affairs will accept that. I didn't hear an answer at all about when that's going to be changed, so I'm going to assume that this is no longer a priority for this government.

Let's move on to the next question, Minister, if you don't mind.

I would like to clarify with you something on the RCMP. The fact is that at this time, RCMP do not qualify for the veterans independence program. I understand that they do in fact qualify for the attendance allowance to support them with indoor tasks, but the outdoor tasks covered by the VIP are simply not provided.

When we ask the RCMP to serve us, I think it's important that we return the favour when members get to that age, and I'm just wondering if that will be fixed for our RCMP.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much, Ms. Blaney.

My understanding is that the RCMP, like the department, works to make sure that the support is provided to them.

I'll let my deputy handle that.

[Gen (Ret'd) Walter Natynczyk]

What is unique to our service to the RCMP is that we have a memorandum of understanding, which we provide to the RCMP under the RCMP Act. The RCMP leadership have decided to continue with the pension scheme, so we administer the pension scheme for them. We include the RCMP, stakeholders, and their veterans associations in all of our meetings—in fact, we had a meeting just last week with them—and provide them briefings and total transparency on the host of benefits that we provide Canadian Armed Forces members. However, it is the leadership of the RCMP who then decide what programs they will sign on to and whether to include the veterans independence program or long-term care, or other programs that are being provided to the Canadian Armed Forces veterans, but the RCMP, from a leadership standpoint, have not pursued those benefits.

We are in a provision of services situation with the RCMP and we did receive additional funding for them. They have access to all of our mental health care and supports, and that includes access to the operational stress injury clinics and clinicians.

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

Thank you so much, General. I really appreciate your answer, and will follow up on that again.

Minister, I will go back to the disability benefit backlog. You keep mentioning the money that you're putting towards that. I recognize that. The problem is the veterans are not getting the services they need. We're hearing that again and again. The backlogs continue to be long. You've hired temporary workers. We're still not clear if those are temporary workers or if they're actually going to become permanent workers.

I don't think this is a short-term problem. I think it's a long-term problem. Money only matters when services are being delivered, so right now there's this huge challenge, and I'm just wondering when the department is going to hire enough people to actually care for veterans the way that they deserve to be cared for.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Ms. Blaney, I know that you're committed to these issues, and I appreciate your support.

Without question, I think it's fair to say that the government and the department have done a substantial amount. Have we done enough? No. However, in the last year, we put just under $200 million into making sure that the backlog was addressed, around 500 employees, 350 of whom are new employees, making sure that they were trained in order to address the backlog.

We took the backlog from 23,000 to 15,000. Is it good enough? No, it's not. We need to make sure we address it properly, and we're on that path. We have to make sure the veterans receive the funding that they should receive, in an appropriate manner—I said that—and within a year, I indicated that we will have addressed the backlog issue.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you, Minister.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

It is an important issue to address, and we have to make sure that we do that. I understand that veterans are waiting, but there's a lot more money being delivered to veterans—not enough, but a lot more.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you, Minister.

That ends the first round. We're going to move on quickly to the second round.

First up we have MP Wagantall for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being with us again this morning.

Minister, in addition to serving as the Minister of Veterans Affairs, you are also the Associate Minister of National Defence. With the recent exposure of the depth of damage that military sexual trauma has inflicted on current members of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as veterans who experienced military sexual trauma during their service, I have to ask, have you reached out, or has the minister of defence reached out, and have you met with him specifically in this regard?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Chair, I will tell my honourable colleague that the Minister of National Defence has addressed this issue properly. We have discussions basically every week. The minister—

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

You've met specifically on this issue with him.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I have met him many times on many, many issues. However, he is the Minister of National Defence, and he has addressed this problem appropriately, as you're fully aware, and to make sure—