Evidence of meeting #51 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 military.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you, Mr. Miao.
Mr. Desilets, the floor is yours for six minutes.
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Greetings to my colleagues, and I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here.
Ms. Perron, I have a string of brief questions for you. I know that your organization receives $1 million in funding from Veterans Affairs Canada. Do you have any other sources of funding?
LCol Sandra Perron
Yes. We have partners, like the Quebec Veterans Foundation, that support some of our initiatives. We have also received funds from the Commissionnaires. I'm on the Commissionnaires du Québec's board of directors. At the outset, when they wanted to support us, I told them that they couldn't because there was a conflict of interest owing to the fact that I was on their board of directors. They surreptitiously met a lawyer in order to be able to provide us with funds to help our women veterans. It was heartwarming. They paid for the beds and everything.
LCol Sandra Perron
It's about $225,000 a year. Some of these funds come from Veterans Affairs Canada and the rest from our partners, including the Quebec Veterans Foundation.
Bloc
LCol Sandra Perron
We just adjust to whatever money we receive. As I mentioned, there is a waiting list of 189 women veterans. We could double our programs.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
If you had more money, would you be able, with the staff you have, to provide services to these 189 women veterans?
LCol Sandra Perron
We want to grow intelligently. We don't want to try to do too much too soon. I'm the facilitator on healing weekends and can only handle a certain number each year. Of course, we'd be able to do more with more funds.
The problem is that funds are assigned to programs. When we receive funds, we receive them for our work, but we also need funds for the building, maintenance, the wells that run dry occasionally, to mention only a few items.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
In my riding office, my staff members and I were told that this program is highly valued. It would be useful for the committee to have an opportunity to visit your centre. If that's not possible, then of course I will go there personally.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
There is a number floating around, and it's that approximately 25% of women in the armed forces are assaulted. Do you agree with this percentage? You've said that 50% of your clients had been victims of sexual assault.
LCol Sandra Perron
The 50% figure also includes victims of assault from parents, fathers, grandfathers, and brothers, among others. I believe it's much higher than 25%.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Could the figure be biased owing to the kinds of clients you have?
LCol Sandra Perron
I couldn't say, but it's definitely possible. We have been working with the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families to determine whether there is a link, or if it's because I work with women. However, I can tell you that these women report a lot of assaults, even though they have sometimes never told their husband, best friend or anyone else.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
How do you obtain this information? Is there a questionnaire for them to answer? Are these things they willingly report during the weekend?
LCol Sandra Perron
Yes, these are things they bring up themselves, in confidence, during the weekend.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
You said something earlier that I'm not sure I understood properly. In fact, I don't understand it. You said that outsourcing investigations was not necessarily something positive. What did you mean by that?
LCol Sandra Perron
I meant that our participants' mistrust of the organization is amplified by the fact that their claims are now being dealt with outside of the organization.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Are you saying that they would prefer them to be handled within the organization?
LCol Sandra Perron
There are two points of view. Generally speaking, women think that the problem was internal, but that staff were not trained well enough to deal with their issues. The women felt that all they had done was shift responsibility outside the organization, which they feel after all is the right thing to do until the personnel are capable of handling these claims internally.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Ms. Perron, would you agree with me if I were to say that there weren't enough research reports or studies to establish a cause and effect relationship for women veterans?
LCol Sandra Perron
Yes, definitely. To cite just one example, how can you establish a link between post-traumatic stress and the illnesses reported by women to Veterans Affairs Canada, including fibromyalgia? We need studies like that to be able to help them in terms of both mental and physical health.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Why do you think this is not being done? At several committee meetings, we've heard a lot of organizations mentioned, such as research chairs and people who are investigating certain problems, or at least reporting them. However, it's another matter when it's a question of causes. To date, we have not heard about anyone who is attempting, on the basis of data, to investigate them further. Would you agree on that?