Veterans Affairs Committee on Nov. 24th, 2022

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

Sure, and I appreciate your doing that, Minister. I do.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

We want to make sure that veterans feel very comfortable to come to Veterans Affairs, because we have a lot of assistance for veterans, and the veterans need the assistance. We want to be sure they get the assistance.

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

I appreciate that, Minister.

I think the other thing you should investigate is the recording of calls, this situation of recording of calls. What Bruce was told by the worker when he was trying to see if there was a recording of his call, to find out what the heck was said to him exactly, he was so shocked. He was told by the agent he spoke to at that point that one in 25 calls is actually recorded for quality assurance. Either you have employees who have incorrect information or policies aren't being followed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

You have 15 seconds, Minister.

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

I would suggest to you to investigate that as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

You have only 15 seconds. We'll have a quick answer, please, and we'll go on.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Well, of course, I'm not sure that you want medical information to be recorded on veterans. That is not what we want—

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

But this worker indicated that it was recorded—

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

—and we have to ensure that veterans' information is protected.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

Please, it was only five minutes. I'm sorry.

I'd like to invite MP Rechie Valdez for her turn for five minutes, please.

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

Thank you for joining us again, Minister, and thank you to your department.

Through you, Mr. Chair, I just want to share that in this committee, we've had the opportunity to have case managers come and speak with us. They've shared how important their work is to them, since they care about veterans.

I'm curious to understand how the other employees in the department are reacting to this.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I appreciate your question.

I appreciate caseworkers or anybody coming forward and discussing the situation they're involved with. I live in Prince Edward Island. I meet with Veterans Affairs employees all the time. They are very proud of what they do. I would have to say that I find them—I've been in a number of departments—so dedicated to the task. I always say that the only place you can find a tear of joy and a tear of caring is in Veterans Affairs. You can find that here.

I don't know if the deputy would like to expand on this. I think the atmosphere here is a bit of a hurting atmosphere, too, because we have thousands of dedicated public servants in Veterans Affairs Canada who want to do, and who are doing, a good job for veterans. They're doing their very best to make sure we provide the services that veterans so rightly deserve. As to this, yes, it hurts.

Look, I meet veterans. I met a veteran yesterday who came up and told me his first name, and said he just wanted me to know that caseworkers saved his life—and they do. It's hard to get the good stories, but it's so important to realize that there's an awful lot of good work.

But veterans suffer. They see things that you and I do not see. It hurts them. You'll find there's a very dedicated workforce here.

Thank you.

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

Thank you.

Just to clarify, how have the employees in the department been handling the investigation with their current workload?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I will let the deputy speak to that, but as I said, they want this to come to an end. They want this resolved in an appropriate manner, but in an efficient manner. They're proud of what they do.

I'll turn it over to the deputy.

[Paul Ledwell]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

With regard to the question, in addition to what the minister has said, employees here are incredibly dedicated and very concerned that their dedication and their professional work in this regard might be called into question. They would want this investigation, this review, to be as comprehensive as possible to assure all of us, them included, that this is an isolated situation.

That's very much where the focus is. They're getting on with their work. They're serving and providing good and critical services to our veterans from coast to coast to coast, and they want to maintain that.

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

Thank you.

Through you, Mr. Chair, how do the minister and the department plan to repair the damage to the reputation of the department, given what's been going on so far?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Well, basically what I can do is apologize, number one, for what happened to the individuals, make sure we have an appropriate and in-depth investigation to find out just how this happened and how it wasn't addressed when it did happen, and make sure we put a process in place so that this does not happen.

You're absolutely right that we're dealing with public servants here who truly care about what they're doing. We want to make sure that veterans feel fully confident and comfortable coming to Veterans Affairs Canada. We have a lot of services that veterans need and deserve, and we want to make sure they feel fully comfortable.

Thank you.

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

Thank you.

The last time you were here, Minister, you committed to providing a copy of the report of the investigation. Is that report finished? Do you have any updates there? Do you know when we're expected to receive it?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

No, the investigation is not finished, and yes, I will provide a copy of the investigation to the committee. It's only right to do so in order for you to fully understand just exactly what took place, how it took place and what was done in order to make sure, in the best way we possibly can, that the like of this never happens again.

Thank you.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Minister.

Before I go to Mr. Desilets, I would like to welcome MP John Nater to our committee.

We'll now have two quick interventions, beginning with MP Desilets for two and a half minutes.

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

I'd like to address the two deputy ministers.

With respect to the employee's suspension, we've done the rounds, but my question remains to be answered.

Has he been transferred elsewhere at Veterans Affairs? If not, when did he leave the department?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much, Mr. Desilets.

Of course, it's a human resources issue. It has to be handled in the proper manner.

I will turn it over, as you requested, to the assistant deputy minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Excuse me, Mr. Minister, we have an interpretation issue.

Please, Minister, can you repeat the answer? We had a translation problem.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

The problem is that it's a human resources issue. We want to make sure that it's handled properly. As you indicated, I think we would turn it over to the assistant deputy minister.