Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 19th, 2023

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

That's not what I said, madam.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

We take into account the opinions of veterans and their families.

It's true that 40% of survey respondents were Afghanistan veterans or members of their family, but a larger percentage were veterans of other missions around Canada or abroad.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much.

I would now like to invite Ms. Blaney to take her two and a half minutes, please.

Go ahead.

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

Thank you, Chair.

Through you to the minister, I want to reflect on the fact that in some of the responses, I've heard you talking about efficiencies of services. I appreciate that, but what concerns me about that is that it's a departmental response to say, “Trying to be ever more efficient”.

The real human concern of many veterans is that efficiency may be impacting in a negative way the services they require to have time and space. Again, a lot of the discussions I'm having with veterans are about how they want to see a department that's more veteran-centric. I hope that is work you will endeavour to do.

I want to touch on women veterans. As you know, the committee is finally studying women veterans. This is the first time it has ever been done in this place, which I think is quite astonishing. We've heard from a lot of women veterans—especially older women veterans who enlisted prior to 2000—who do not have appropriate medical documentation. The reason is that they were really new and there was pressure to not stand out, to be quiet and to not bring forward issues because they were concerned about harassment, bullying and other activities that were intimidating. Of course, there's also the sad history of our forces in terms of sexual misconduct.

The gap has been acknowledged by both DND and CAF. I am really curious about how this is going to be addressed, because so many women veterans are not getting the benefits they deserve because they simply do not have the medical documentation—for no fault of their own.

Retired captain Louise Siew was here from the navy. One of her recommendations really stuck with me, namely, that is to better to support women by giving them the disability benefit claims and just doing an automatic approval process because of the recognition by both DND and CAF. This would make such a big difference for these women, who are put in a place where they have to fight so often.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you, Ms. Blaney.

To take 30 seconds, not even 30 seconds, when I talk about efficiencies, I certainly don't want to sound like a bureaucrat—and no offence to my bureaucrats who are with me here today. We want to make sure that we can get the job done and get services to veterans.

I'll use just one example. I think it was the committee that made this recommendation, which is that when people are applying for mental health benefits, making sure they get approved right away without any delays. When I talk about efficiencies, I mean streamlining those types of processes.

Coming back to your question with respect to women veterans—

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I'm sorry, Minister, but it was two minutes and a half. If we have another turn, you can maybe come back on that.

Now I'd like to invite Mr. Fraser Tolmie to speak, for five minutes, please.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Thank you.

Through you, Chair, congratulations, Minister, on your new portfolio. However, you have your work cut out for you. I've heard first-hand from veterans and their families about how broken things are.

You acknowledged in your opening remarks that you were aware of veterans trying to get into the system, which I believe you said was your top priority. I'll point out that veterans who are not in the system feel they are neglected and ignored.

In one of your replies to my colleague Mr. Richards, you said that you would address any improvements that you could. After three months, do you have a list of things that are broken in Veterans Affairs?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you so much for that question, Mr. Tolmie.

First of all, for the past three months, as the Minister of Veterans Affairs, I've certainly had an opportunity to meet with stakeholders from coast to coast to coast and to hear their of experiences first-hand. I've also met with many stakeholders. Again, as I indicated, we certainly heard many positive stories of individuals who have received services from Veterans Affairs. I also met with individuals who indicated there are some challenges there.

One challenge is the backlog. I believe my colleague Minister MacAulay, when he was here, reported back with respect to the work that's being done on that backlog. We certainly recognize that over the past number of years, we've had a 61% increase in the number of applications that have come to Veterans Affairs Canada. We're seeing an increase in numbers—

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Through you, Chair, I'll rephrase my question. Do you have a list of things that are broken at Veterans Affairs?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I indicated very clearly that there are efficiencies and ways to do things better, and that's exactly what we're working on.

When we talk about the backlog—

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Through you, Chair, could I get a list of what you have recognized as deficiencies?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

If you'll allow me to continue, please, when we talk about the backlog, that was one issue we heard time and time again. I continue to hear from veterans that they want us to address the backlog.

When it comes to services, and when it comes to—

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Through you, Mr. Chair, what else is broken?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

First and foremost, the language “broken” is your word. I'm not saying there are things that are broken in Veterans Affairs Canada, but I'm saying there are areas where we can improve.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Okay, let's use the word “deficiencies”. Would that be fair enough to use that word? What are the deficiencies?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

With respect to the other areas of work that we need to do, there is the area of commemoration and making sure that we commemorate our modern-day veterans.

We heard individuals today talk about the Gulf War. We need to make sure that we commemorate more of those missions of our modern-day veterans.

The other issue, as well, that's a priority—

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Through you, Mr. Chair, do you have a list? Have you started a list of things that you want to address at Veterans Affairs while you are in that chair?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Yes, I have.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

What is on that list?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Tackling the backlog, making sure that we—

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

But you said that the backlog has been addressed. What else is on the list?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

We still have some work to do, sir, when it comes to the backlog. We have not met our service standards yet. I indicated that 75% of the backlog has been dealt with, but we still have more work that needs to be done.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Thank you.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Addressing, as well—