Veterans Affairs Committee on May 4th, 2023

[Dr. Cyd Courchesne]

The CAF transition group has...I don't want to say beefed up.... They've always had transition centres. They were called joint personnel support units. They're now evolving to transition centres, where everybody works under the same roof.

Every service member must have an interview before release, whether they're medically released or not.

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

I understand that, but my question is directly in regard to...as they come to that final step, they will get a VAC service agent, if required. We're not even talking about a case manager; we're talking about a service agent.

Is it VAC that is making that decision as to whether or not they need that service? The frustration is that they are medically released—I'm talking about those who are medically released.... They struggle to get the care they need, yet they aren't allowed to serve anymore.

I want your perspective. Do you think that a service agent should be supplied, at least for, honestly, the first five years as they transition? They think they're ready to go, and then they discover these conditions and things. They don't even know necessarily what they qualify for.

Would it not make sense to be supplied a service agent to make that transition smooth and so that they have less sanctuary trauma and whatnot?

[Dr. Cyd Courchesne]

I'm not in those centres. I'm not a hundred per cent familiar with the process, but I think veteran service agents are perfectly well suited to provide those interviews to veterans at the time of transition.

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

Who from Veterans Affairs Canada was part of the compilation with the Canadian Armed Forces? Who came up with and decided on the substance of these transition centres?

[Dr. Cyd Courchesne]

I'm sorry. I missed the first part of the question.

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

Who from Veterans Affairs Canada was engaged in determining the process, the transition centres and the decision-making around how this transition process from military to civilian life was going to take place? There was a pilot study, and now it's implemented in 13 out of 27 transition centres.

What role did VAC play in that? Who were the individuals that contributed from VAC's perspective to the seamless transition?

[Dr. Cyd Courchesne]

Several people from the department were involved in that. There's a seamless transition working group—

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

Okay.

Can you provide us with information as to who those individuals were?

[Dr. Cyd Courchesne]

Yes, I can.

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

We received a letter from the minister in regard to the number of professional health care providers who were engaged and now will be engaged with the new approach to the Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services. In the letter he states, “Veterans Affairs Canada does not register health care professionals by specific program area.”

I find that interesting, because the Auditor General mentioned that there's a lot of trouble in trying to come up with any clarity on how effective different programs are.

Do you not think it would be important to organize those by specific program in light of the need for research on whether or not things are effective and whether needs are being met by how many of those professionals you have in each area, how many are being used and what the needs are based on that kind of information?

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

I'll have to ask that the answer be quite brief.

[Dr. Cyd Courchesne]

We'll have to get back to you on that, because the rehab program is under another division. I can get you that information.

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

Thank you. If you could send to the clerk that information and the other information you were going to provide about the names of the individuals who were involved with the transition centres, that can be distributed to the committee.

Thank you for that. We appreciate your willingness to follow up.

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

Chair, can I just clarify that it isn't just that particular program? None of them are registered for any of the programs and services that Veterans Affairs provides.

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

Okay.

Was that understood, Dr. Courchesne, what Mrs. Wagantall was looking for?

[Dr. Cyd Courchesne]

Yes. Thank you.

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

If you can provide that to the clerk, that would be appreciated.

We will now move to five minutes for the Liberal Party, with Mrs. Rechie Valdez.

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

Thank you Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for joining us today.

I have a special thank you for those who have served our country. I appreciate all your expertise in supporting veterans.

Through you, Mr. Chair, I will direct my first questions to Atlas.

If you are able to, could you summarize the Athena project findings with the committee—your key learnings from your consultations with women veterans?

[Dr. Sara Rodrigues]

I apologize if it wasn't clear from my remarks that the Athena project is a study that we are just embarking upon. At the moment we are recruiting women veterans from the CAF and the RCMP to form a working group to help us design the study. We hope to have findings 16 to 18 months from now. We would be more than happy to share those when they are available. We're excited to get started.

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

Thank you. You're welcome to come back to this committee.

Based on your research and experience, what role do you believe mentorship and networking opportunities from your organization play in helping women veterans access career opportunities, particularly in male-dominated fields?

[MaryAnn Notarianni]

We're aware that there's been some research done in looking at the role of mentorship for women veterans. It's not research we've done directly, but we're aware that it exists in the literature. We're not fully up to speed on that, but we would be happy to follow up and share, if that's not something that's been made available to you.

In terms of our organization, I think what we're proud of is the ability we have to provide a platform for folks who have left the military or RCMP service, both for veterans and for their family members who may be looking for a platform to use their voices to build their capacity through project advisory committees. We also, when we hire, state explicitly in our job postings that we encourage applications from folks who are veterans and veterans' family members, so I think there are ways we are trying to approach that, as well as keeping an eye on the GBA+ lens through our hiring and through opportunities we provide.

Given our mental health focus, we for sure recognize the benefit that mentorship, employment and all that have in terms of the domains of well-being. It's not an explicit program focus area of ours, but I think there are ways we touch that through the opportunities we can provide through, again, those volunteer opportunities, and through employment as well. That's something that we extend broadly.

I don't know if that answers your question, but I'm happy to follow up more, if that would be helpful.

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

It does. Thank you.

We've heard lots of heartbreaking testimony from women veterans in this committee. Can you tell us how mental health resources or supports can better be tailored to meet the needs of women veterans, particularly those with unique challenges related to trauma or military sexual trauma?

[MaryAnn Notarianni]

Yes, absolutely. We've tuned in to the experiences that have been shared. We are connected with veterans who have been impacted by military sexual trauma and other forms of trauma. These are experiences we hear and have listened to.

We also provide a platform for veterans—including women veterans—to get that story out, because that is key to the visibility issue, isn't it? We've been hearing that theme about women veterans in particular feeling invisible, so we see ourselves as having a platform through our online hub and our social media channels and whatnot to raise that broader awareness among the Canadian population in general.

In terms of your question around mental health supports and needing to tailor them, this is something that is recognized. In fact, I would start by saying that what we're hearing from the veteran community generally is a need to ensure that service providers of various professions are equipped with an understanding around that military cultural competence, so that they can build trusted relationships and it can lead to better care. This is an area we are working within.

We're also creating resources that could increase awareness among mental health service providers and others who are caring for veterans on these very topics. Military sexual trauma is very much in the news, so that's an area in which we've started creating resources, some specifically designed for service providers, as well as some codesigned with veterans who've been impacted by military sexual trauma. That's so service providers have a resource they can give to their clients or patients that is tailored to them and that recognizes their experiences, because there is a uniqueness to going through that experience in a military context.

Again, I'm happy to elaborate on that. I know we're short on time, but this is definitely an area we see ourselves playing a role in.

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

I don't have time for another question, but I would like to thank you so much for the details.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Blake Richards]

Thank you very much.

We will now move on.

Next, we have Luc Desilets, from the Bloc Québécois.

Mr. Desilets, you have two and a half minutes.