Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 20th, 2022

[Paul Ledwell]

I'll defer this question to my colleague who, in his area, tracks these things more closely. There will be a lag in terms of the reporting on this, of course.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Ledwell. We don't have time for that.

The last questions to the minister are going to come from MP Rechie Valdez for five minutes.

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

Thank you, Minister, for joining us.

Mr. Ledwell and Mr. Harris, I appreciate your joining this discussion. I remember the time I opened the news on my phone and read the article. I was completely shocked by what could have possibly happened to our veteran. I'm putting myself in a veteran's shoes right now, and it doesn't feel so good. It's heartbreaking.

I used to manage a very large, high-paced call centre. My colleagues have already brought up the questions around frontline training and all that stuff. What I want to know is this: How are we training the managers and the leaders in VAC who support our frontline staff? What type of training do they have?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you so much for the question. I believe the deputy would have to handle it.

In every section or area in Veterans Affairs, there are different types of training. Of course, this issue created a situation that had to be dealt with immediately. We had to find out if it was a core problem—that's what we did—and make sure it was addressed. Without question, all people who work with Veterans Affairs are fully trained.

I said before that without any question, they're the most caring, and their heart is in their work for sure. I'm not saying other public servants' aren't, but when you deal with veterans affairs, you're dealing with human issues. Without question, they truly care.

Deputy, you can take over.

[Paul Ledwell]

We provide regular and advanced training for our managers and our senior people who are supervising and providing oversight for other officials. As I mentioned earlier, there's a lot of training around suicide prevention, suicide awareness and trauma-informed training as well that is provided to every frontline staff member, and there's more advanced training awareness and understanding.

Many of our employees have been with us for a long time and have developed an innate and great understanding of the issues that veterans are facing. They're very professional, as the minister indicated previously, in their interactions and dealings with veterans. Many of them come to us, even as new employees, having had some experience in dealing with those who have served in the military. We place some privilege over those who are coming in with that kind of experience.

We have very professional staff who are constantly trained up and retrained. The capacity is constantly being addressed.

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

Thank you.

Mr. Ledwell, can you clarify how coaching happens in the environment? Is it side by side? Are they listening to calls of their frontline staff just to ensure ongoing support for the frontline staff?

[Paul Ledwell]

If I could, I'll ask my colleague, Mr. Steven Harris, who is responsible for this whole area, to speak about that issue.

[Steven Harris]

Sure.

There are a lot of different kinds of [Technical difficulty—Editor] training. Over the course of the last number of years, during the pandemic, we've been doing more things remotely, but we also do training as we bring new individuals into the organization. They start with a smaller caseload as part of their work. Their work is reviewed by quality assurance officers and training officers.

We have training officers. We have folks who do quality assurance. We have regular training sessions that happen, sometimes in person, although more recently virtually. We have messages and resource kits that are available for folks to be able to keep up to date on changes in our policy, our legislation, our benefits or our services as well. Those are shared regularly with staff. We use a variety of means to make sure that our staff are up to date, not only in terms of their knowledge but also, as the deputy mentioned, in the side elements they have to deal with, whether those be suicide, trauma-informed care, working with folks having issues of mental illness or other issues, to make sure that they can be sensitive in all of those situations. That training is ongoing and is intensified for both those who come on or are starting with the department.

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

Thank you.

The last question I have—

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I would like to indicate to Mr. Dowdall that without a question, mental health issues are front of mind and of great concern. That's why we pushed to get the $140 million to make sure it was successful right away.

Your questions are very important, and all questions are so important, but I didn't get a chance to respond to that. They are vitally important, sir, and I appreciate that question.

Working together, the more we can do to make it better for veterans.... That is what I'm here for, but I thank you for that question, very much so.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Minister, and you also, Mrs. Valdez.

I would like to come back to Mr. Desilets' comments.

If the department wants to send the report to the clerk, the clerk will gladly distribute it to the members. I would add that the law clerk can redact the parts of the report that contain personal information. Otherwise, it is up to the committee to propose a motion on that.

What does the department think about this?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Chair, I can assure you that if the committee asks for the report, you will receive the report.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

It's appropriate for you to ask for the report, and we'll make sure you receive the report.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Let's make the request, then, as a committee. I'll make the suggestion now that we request the report.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Yes, okay.

Do we need a written motion?

No. It's clear. However, we have to specify a date by which the minister should send the report to the clerk.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

I would just suggest that it be immediately upon its being available.

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

I agree. We have heard clearly from the testimony that they don't know exactly when it's going to be available, so I don't want to put a date on it that they can't fulfill.

I thank Luc for bringing this forward. I agree with the timeline that Mr. Richards put forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

Minister, the floor is your.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Yes, I can assure you that when the report is completed and ready to be transmitted to this committee, it will be.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay, thank you.

Mr. Desilets, can you read the motion out loud?

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

The motion was just sent to the clerk, but I don't know if he has received it. Obviously, it hasn't been translated yet, since we just moved it.

Here is the text of the motion:

That, once finalized, Veterans Affairs Canada provide the committee with a copy of the investigation report on the allegations that medical assistance in dying was offered to a veteran unprompted by a Veterans Affairs Canada employee.

It seems that one of my staff members had time to translate the motion. He is amazing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Did you start with, “That once the report”?

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

That's right. We don't give a specific time frame.

We understand that it is between three and six months, and we respect that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay.

Do all the members of the committee agree with the translation?

Can we put this motion to a vote?

Are there any objections to the adoption of this motion?

There are none.

(Motion agreed to)