Good afternoon, everyone.
I would like to thank you for inviting me to discuss a very important topic for veterans and caregivers across Canada.
My name is Richard Gauthier. I served for 16 years in the Royal 22nd Regiment.
I founded a veterans group in June 2019 despite the pandemic. There are 1,200 members on my Facebook page, and 400 of them are very active. I can say that 98% of those who follow me on my Facebook page are people who served in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda, Haiti, Germany, the Cold War, Cyprus and so on. So the data and testimony I have collected are straight from the source.
The reason why I founded a group was precisely to get people out of isolation and depression. The procedures often take far too long, which leads to some quite serious problems. A soldier is a person who wants to give and serve. That's why I have established an annual calendar of events. For example, on February 21, 2020, in collaboration with the City of Montreal, we served 350 hot meals and donated warm clothing to homeless people in the City of Montreal. The 400 very active members of my group participated in this event, which was a great success. We will be repeating it annually.
By the way, my group is not a biker gang. It is a registered non-profit organization (NPO). You can visit the veteransr22er.com website if you want to find out about the mission and fundamental purpose of my group.
I surveyed the group on the topic at hand, namely caregivers. Let me list the points mentioned to me and then I will give you my suggestions on the issue.
The eligibility criteria are too narrow. The file processing is too slow, the procedure takes really too long and it doesn't make sense. That's what the ombudsman told me. In addition, there is a lack of staff to respond to requests in French. Perhaps this aspect should also be fixed because it is not right for the procedure to take 36 or 48 months when we are told that it will take between 12 and 16 weeks. The system really must be changed in order to process files more quickly. You will understand what I mean when I make my recommendations.
The allowance amounts are not high enough. Caregivers must have direct access. The lack of French-speaking staff to process the files should be addressed. I don't know how long the wait times are for anglophones, so I won't speak for them.
Following the points I have just listed, here are my recommendations. I suggest that a committee solely for caregivers be set up to go more directly to the source. Individuals would register with their representatives in the area and the information would be sent directly to the committee. The committee should be composed of a general practitioner, a psychologist, a senior administrative officer and a social worker. This would allow the committee members to understand the case more quickly and to provide a response within 30 days of approving the request.
It would be important to provide documentation to caregivers and veterans with a letter of explanation and a pamphlet outlining all their rights. A website should be created with videos of health care professionals giving advice to help caregivers do a good job.
There should be a 1-800 hotline to provide support and a safety net for caregivers. Veterans may suffer from some quite serious psychological problems and the caregiver role can be very demanding. At some point, they may be struggling and a help line needs to be set up for them. It could also be used to lift their spirits and provide access to a psychologist.
The $1,000 per month is not enough. Being a caregiver is an incredible amount of work. I suggest that the amount be increased from $1,000 to $1,500, and that it be tax free.
I can give you an example. The spouse of a member in my group decided to work only three days a week to help her spouse. Her annual salary was $84,000, which has now dropped to $51,000. This person, who decided to help a veteran who served his country, is now losing $33,000 a year. The $1,000 is absolutely inadequate. We can say that it is not to compensate the person, but those are the facts.
Veterans who qualify for the caregiver recognition benefit could be added to a priority list for a service dog or animal to help them deal with boredom. Boredom kills these people the most. It is important to address that.
The selection criteria should be broadened a little. The spouse is often the caregiver. We must not forget that many veterans are single, sometimes because their spouses and children left them as the situation was a little too hard to bear.
In my opinion, the closest people to a veteran are the family members. So the father and mother could be included. If a young veteran is 30 years old and his mother and father are 50 or 55, one of them could become his caregiver. It could also be an uncle or an aunt. A close friend could also be eligible for this program.