Veterans Affairs Committee on May 6th, 2022

[Steven Harris]

It was actually a pilot project from the veterans ombudsperson's office. They had originally set up and started to do work on a benefits navigator. It was slightly different at the time. It's been enhanced by the department.

The ombudsperson's office asked if we could take it over and actually make it a practical piece of our own published information.

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

That's a different perspective than what I was told by veterans when Deb Lowther spoke at committee. She said that we need an entrance tool that veterans can use that can cover all the areas they need to give information for to move things along in a very appropriate and faster way, so that these backlogs don't develop.

My understanding was that this actually came from veterans themselves in particular, following an agreement prior to this government taking place.

Since coming online, has it ever been taken off-line? Answer with just a yes or no.

[Steven Harris]

I think the only reason we've been taken off-line would be for maintenance or upgrades.

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

It wasn't off-line for any long periods of time. Do you have any idea?

No. Okay, great.

According to the web page, I see that it was last modified on April 27. Could you provide us with the details as to what changes were made and why?

[Steven Harris]

I would have to come back with that.

I expect it was updated to reflect the changes to the mental health benefit program that just came live on April 1, but I would have to confirm.

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

Yes, if you could, that would be excellent.

Along the same lines, how has the navigator been changed over the years? What questions have been added or removed and why? Is there a history of that?

[Steven Harris]

I'm not sure there is a specific history in that. I haven't been able to confirm. It was first launched in 2014.

It's there for informational opportunities for veterans to be able to go on, answer a few short questions and get information about the programs and services that they may be eligible and entitled for. That would have changed over the course of this period of time to reflect changes in programming. We've changed from a disability award to things like pain and suffering compensation, for example. It would have been updated as programs changed.

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

Are veterans aware of when that happens? I have heard from them that it disappeared and that it wasn't available. Perhaps there's a communication problem.

In what ways has VAC gone about promoting the existence of the benefits navigator tool to veterans?

[Steven Harris]

It think it has been promoted regularly through things like social media and in information that has gone out through things like the Salute! newsletter.

I can tell you that about 26,000 people have accessed this in the last 12 months.

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

Great. That was one of my questions.

Is it available on the My VAC Account? As they sign up for a My VAC Account, is it clearly there for them to use?

[Steven Harris]

It's actually available in both places. It's available through My VAC Account and on our website.

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

Okay.

What did you say as far as how popular it has been with prospective applicants? Is it reused or is it just a one-time tool?

[Steven Harris]

On My VAC Account, 26,000 people have used it in the last 12 months. An additional 6,000 have used it on our website.

We don't specifically track people coming back to use it again, because that's their data and we don't keep that data on hand.

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

Okay. Let's see if I can make it through these.

How many individual veterans have actually applied for benefits as a result of this? Is there any record of that type of information to know how beneficial it actually is?

[Steven Harris]

I don't think there's a straight line connection we can make to people doing that. People would become aware of, perhaps, additional programs and services that they hadn't seen and they could come forward and apply to those.

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

It would be great to find out from veterans how many have actually received benefits recommended to them by the navigator. I think that would be a good tool to determine how effective it has been. That's just a comment.

Has a navigator ever been a standard component of VAC's intake process for benefit applicants? In this whole process of trying to streamline them, especially this first time, is there a concerted effort of the people employed at VAC to use it?

Oh, no. I have one more question, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Yes, Mrs. Wagantall, I'm sorry. Your name is on the list for the next round, so you'll be able to ask questions for five more minutes.

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

Well, there you go. I did not know that.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

You're welcome.

Now I'd like to invite Mrs. Rechie Valdez for five minutes, please.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I'm just going to take the opportunity to cede my questions to the MP for Bonavista—Burin—Trinity and then I will go after him.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

That's fine.

Is it Mr. Churence Rogers? Okay, go ahead.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Thanks, Chair.

Welcome to the officials and thank you for being with us today. I'm not sure who would want to answer this question, but I'll put it there for either of you to respond to.

At a previous meeting we had two constituents from my riding of Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, Walter and Norma Pinsent, appear and talk about the marriage after 60 issue. Ms. Blaney was asking questions about that today, and I want to follow up on that because I've still got some concerns about this.

When I asked Norma why she decided not to participate in the survivor pension fund, she explained that she had decided not to after much consideration because, first of all, they were required to pay over $500 a month to build up the pension fund for her, which took a lot of money out of their retirement income. Second, she explained that if she passed before Walter did, they'd be out whatever money they had put into the program, so they would get zero dollars back.

I was a bit flabbergasted by that, quite frankly, and that's why I wanted to come back to this line of questioning. What I'd like the officials to outline for us at the committee is the makeup of the survivor pension fund program. How is it designed? What is the end result here? Given what Norma said, I'm not surprised that she made the decision she did.

Could the officials comment on that survivor pension fund program, how it's set up and outline some of the issues with it for the entire committee to understand?

[Amy Meunier]

For your clarification, and Ms. Blaney's as well, the Canadian Armed Forces superannuation pension plan, which includes that optional survivor benefit, doesn't fall within the jurisdiction of Veterans Affairs Canada. It is a superannuation plan led by our colleagues in the Canadian Armed Forces and Treasury Board Secretariat.

We will be coming back to this committee in a few weeks, along with those partners, who may be better positioned to describe the details and the evolution of that. I would not have the historical information about the evolution of that element. I think this is an important distinction or clarification to make.

What I can say, though, is that the Government of Canada, through Veterans Affairs Canada, is very interested in making sure that families and survivors of veterans have the supports they need. Ms. Blaney mentioned earlier that government did infuse money, the $150 million, into a veterans survivor fund. What we've done since that time is undertaken research along with Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research. We have some preliminary results and, when we come back in two weeks, hopefully we can dive into those a little more.

What I can tell you about this group of individuals who may fall into the category of marrying a member after the age of 60 is that there are just under 5,000 living survivors who would have entered into a relationship post age 60. Virtually all were female. Most, or approximately 90%, were of the age of 70 years or older. Overall, their incomes were just slightly higher than similarly aged Canadian females' income. Of those close to 5,000 individuals, there were approximately 850 who had incomes below the low income measure, and about 1,200 who were in receipt of the guaranteed income supplement.

We're taking this information into account, as well as the increase in the old age security that will come into effect in July 2022, which will infuse additional funds for those aged over 75. We want to take into account the risk level of this population so that we can put into place a program and supports that will meet those needs. I hope to come back and talk with you more about that in the coming weeks with our partners.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Ms. Meunier.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

I look forward to that particular visit.

Do I have more time, Mr. Chair?