Okay.
Evidence of meeting #105 for Veterans Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was husband.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #105 for Veterans Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was husband.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Terry Dowdall Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Okay, just because we were talking about the years of service and how much per year, I was wondering if that could be a basis that maybe we could go upon: if they worked more, they would get more.
Conservative
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Blake Richards
Thank you.
For our next round of questions, we'll go to the Liberal Party and Mr. Casey.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being with us, Mrs. Kimm. Your testimony is powerful. Your husband would undoubtedly be enormously proud of your advocacy for him and for others in your situation.
Mrs. Kimm, there are a couple of things that I want to canvass with you. First, when we have veterans appear before this committee, most of the time they're here because they have an issue with Veterans Affairs, and it hasn't met their expectations. The number of veterans we have who repeat that is actually not aligned with the data that is collected by Veterans Affairs in terms of levels of satisfaction. Your story actually is. In your testimony today, you described your interactions with Veterans Affairs as providing excellent service. The staff have been fantastic. They've been very supportive. They've pointed you to other benefits, and you've been very fortunate.
When we have people here who aren't happy with their service, we delve into that in some detail, so I'm here to ask you to expand a bit on your satisfaction with how you've been treated by Veterans Affairs and their staff. Can you cite any specific examples for the committee?
As an Individual
Yes, thank you. I can cite a few.
For example, one time my husband's caseworker came to our home to visit us.
As an Individual
As did the minister, yes. I really appreciated that, because it showed me they cared. In this age of technology, it's easy to pick up the phone and ask someone, “What's your file number?” That's the first thing you have to give, your file number. To have a caseworker take time to come to our home and explain it to me and present a letter stating what we're entitled to now and what we're going to be entitled to when he passes, that went a long way. That showed me that staff really did care.
At other times, I've received phone calls from the other caseworker who's dealing with the VIP and the Blue Cross benefits. For example, I was trying to get approval for some in-home caregiving. I want to say it took about two and a half or maybe three weeks, and I was told that because it was a lot of money, it had to go up to the next level for approval, which, for me, is a bit frustrating, because no amount of money is enough, but that's a whole different discussion.
This woman took time to call me. It was a Friday. She said she was just about to log off and she noticed the approval came through and wanted to let me know right away so that I could let the service provider know. I was at a point where we were willing to just pay it ourselves before the approvals came in, because it got to the point where we needed someone to come in while I was at work. For her to take time on a Friday to do that for me meant the world, and it took a lot of stress off my shoulders.
Those are a couple of examples I can give to you.
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Thank you.
With the little bit of time I have left, I would like to hear from you about the other benefits, separate and apart from the maximum lump sum for pain and suffering. I think if we're going to do a fair comparison of Commonwealth countries, the entire suite of benefits offered to injured and ill veterans is relevant.
I think what I heard you say is that there's a caregiver benefit, a veterans independence program, a military pension, a diminished earning capacity allowance and an income replacement benefit, along with the physical supports and the clothing allowance. Is that the entire list?
Liberal
Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE
Mrs. Kimm, are you comfortable providing in written form to the committee a summary of the benefits and their status? We're not going to have enough time to pursue this topic.
As an Individual
Yes, I can certainly provide that to you in writing. That's no problem. Just let me know who I need to send it to.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Blake Richards
Okay, thank you.
We'll now move to the second portion of our second round, where the Bloc Québécois and the NDP each get two and a half minutes to ask some further questions.
Madame Bérubé, go ahead.
Bloc
Sylvie Bérubé Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Mrs. Kimm, how many years' salary would be acceptable as compensation, in your opinion?
As an Individual
For compensation, it all depends on the severity of the illness or injury. Right now, there's a rating scale. If a member is hurt, for example, they get assessed and they are placed on the scale, and that is the compensation they receive based on the severity of their affliction. I'm not quite sure how to answer that question, because every veteran or member is different. There are mental afflictions and physical afflictions, and it all depends on the situation, I think.
Bloc
Sylvie Bérubé Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Do you feel you have obtained all the information available from Veterans Affairs Canada on the benefits and services you are entitled to?
As an Individual
That's a good question.
I'm not sure, because I'm still finding out about benefits we could be eligible for. For example, I had no idea about the clothing allowance. It's a nominal amount, but I had no knowledge of that. If we don't know what's available, we don't know what to ask for.
Bloc
Sylvie Bérubé Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
What impact will this have on your personal and family life following the death of your spouse?
As an Individual
That's a good question. Currently, we have our son and grandson living with us. My older son, ironically, is in the navy on the west coast, and he has his family out there. Initially, there will be a lot of paperwork. We'll then have to survive in a new normal state of family. That means that after all the paperwork is done and we know what we're entitled to, we'll be able to know how to move forward.
Of course, there will be a gaping hole without my husband, but, as we all know, life goes on with or without us. It's a matter of how we move on from that. I think he will be happy knowing I've done all I can to try to make a better life for our family. That's what it all comes down to. We all want what's best for our families. We take care of our families.
I think if he knows we're okay and we're going to be able to, for example, make the mortgage payments and make sure that we're able to move forward, it will give him peace of mind. Moving forward after he passes will of course be difficult, but we'll be able to do it.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Blake Richards
Thank you.
Now we have Rachel Blaney for two and a half minutes.
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you again for this testimony. I'm finding it really helpful and very powerful. It was interesting for me to listen to some of the questions.
I just want to make sure I understand clearly what you're saying to us, which is that two things can be true at the same time. You can be happy with the kind service you've received—the fact that you've had a caseworker come to your house and help, and the fact that you've had the minister come to your home and learn about your story—but at the same time, you can be very disappointed with the fact that the compensation package you received was just not enough.
I just want to make sure that what I'm hearing from you is that both things are true at the same time.