The French-language services are insufficient. The ombudsman told me that there was a lack of French-speaking staff. He has been telling me this for 22 years. The department has missed the boat. You asked me whether there has been an impact. There has certainly been an impact, because people are dying by suicide. I started this group for exactly that reason. So far, in the 20 months since I started my group, I've saved four people from suicide. People often reach this point because of the slowness of the services, which they have spent too long waiting for.
I can confirm that there has been an impact. Based on my own experience, I can confirm that the process is very slow. It took 36 months to hear back from the department about my application for an allowance to have a caregiver in the home. That's unbelievable, 36 months is just crazy. In fact, the process took even longer because I didn't know what procedure to follow. It took a total of seven years for my application to ultimately be denied, even though I had documents showing my eligibility. In addition, the lawyer, Mr. Bastarache, was outraged at the decision and the length of the process. I'm not the only one saying this. Many, many veterans are in this situation.
There's an urgent need to hire French-speaking staff. I've been told the same thing for over 20 years. The staff at the ombudsman's office told me this last month. I don't know how things are going on the English side. However, we have English-speaking friends who work in other professions. They say that the process is much faster in English. Some francophones speak English very well and make their requests in English, because the process isn't fast enough in French.
The case managers have too much power. It's unbelievable. They discourage people. I'm speaking from personal experience, based on the accounts gathered in my group. In the Quebec City offices, and also a little bit in Montreal, these managers don't encourage veterans to assert their rights. The case managers advise people not to submit applications. The managers tell people that their applications will be denied. I think that the job descriptions should be reviewed from the bottom up.
There should be a direct help line for people, especially family caregivers and people working in the health care field, such as Ms. Boutette. These people can't go through all the administrative levels to resolve an issue. It doesn't make sense, as Ms. Boutette explained earlier. It's important to go directly to the source.
If a veteran goes through all the levels and still hasn't received a response 16 months later, the veteran may have already died by suicide. Several of my friends have died by suicide, including one who jumped off a bridge, because it takes too long to receive services given the lack of francophone resources. It's absolutely appalling to see this. That's why I invested my money to save my friends. I'll never leave a colleague on a battlefield. I won't let them die alone. That's why I stepped in and started this group.
I would like the support of Veterans Affairs Canada to ensure that the department speeds up the process for accessing services.
Thank you, Mr. Desilets.