Evidence of meeting #68 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 survey.
A video is available from Parliament.
Researcher, As an Individual
We don't have women's health training, so if you don't know to ask the question, why would you ask the question?
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Yes.
That leads me to another question about your perspectives on the disconnect between the CAF's and VAC's terminology for diagnoses.
Researcher, As an Individual
If you look just at pelvic floor, you will see that there is a category on the VAC checklist. This document is massive. They have tables of criteria asking, “Do you fit this? Do you fit this?” However, I don't know anyone who has successfully put in a claim for this. The reason is that we only.... Research from the Adamo Lab on the pelvic floor dysfunction in the Canadian Armed Forces' members just got published in the last year.
If you're a non-commissioned member—so, if you work as a vehicle tech, for example, you're in and out of your vehicle quite a bit—you're at a greater risk of sustaining or experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction, regardless of parity status—whether you've had a baby or not. Then, if you have had a baby, your likelihood of experiencing at least urinary incontinence is pretty high.
If you're relying on data and research to make these case claims, we haven't had any. If you look at other nations, the argument could be made that, well, it's another country and its occupational demands are different. Either there is no research done and that's the excuse that has been given, or it's that it hasn't been done on Canadians but it has been done by others, so it might be the same but not.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much, Ms. Blaney.
We have one hour with the witnesses, but the last round I'm going to have to cut a little bit. It's going to be four minutes, four minutes and then two minutes for both of you.
I'm going to start with Mr. Blake Richards for four minutes, please.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
We've heard a lot of very shocking things today. I really appreciate Ms. Edwards' testimony in particular.
You have brought us a lot of really valuable information, including this idea that women are actually going and altering their bodies rather than CAF altering the equipment they need. Some of these things are incredibly shocking. I don't know that I have any additional questions, because I think you've been able to address very well all of the questions I had, but I really want to thank you for those immense and incredibly valuable contributions.
There was something else we heard today that I want to follow up on, and that was from you, Ms. Lowther.
You talked about how, due to the rising price of everything, current members of our armed forces are coming to you for your assistance. Just to make sure that I'm absolutely clear on this, because I find this incredibly shocking, you're telling me that inflation is so bad in Canada that active current members of our Canadian Armed Forces cannot afford the cost of living and are having to come to you for help.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
That is correct. I can also tell you that we have active and currently serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces living in cars.
The housing crisis is such that over the past year we have seen three veterans who have been posted to areas where they cannot afford housing and are living in their cars—getting ready for work in the morning, putting on their uniforms and going to work in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Yes, that is in fact very real.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
Things are incredibly bad.
Our housing crisis and our inflation crisis are horrible in this country if it comes to the point where we have serving members of our armed forces in those kinds of predicaments, not to mention the thousands of other Canadians. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Can you maybe tell us a bit about some of the services you're providing to our current members as a result?
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
Yes.
For currently serving members, the ones we have found living in their cars, we've helped them with temporary accommodations—put them in hotels—and then helped with finding affordable housing. We assign a volunteer to help them diligently look for housing. The housing is out there if you have the time to look for it. It's difficult but....
We would help with things like that. We help with food and with gas cards for transportation and those sorts of things. That would be for the serving members living in their cars.
Other than that, for other veterans, we would help with rent to prevent evictions, groceries, clothing, utilities and those sorts of things—anything we can do to prevent somebody from losing their housing.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
It's horrible that it's at the point where those services are needed, but thank you for being there for them.
I'm going to turn the bit of remaining time I have over to Mr. Dowdall.
Conservative
Terry Dowdall Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In my quick one minute, thank you, witnesses, for being here today.
I have just a quick shout-out to you, Ms. Edwards. I hear that you won the Sir Frederick Banting award. His birthplace is in my riding. I was there for his 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize a couple of weeks ago. Congratulations on that.
My question for you, quickly, is that we're hearing a lot about these overuse injuries for a lot of the females who have been in the CAF. Do you think it would be beneficial to perhaps adopt a presumptive injury list—I know that insurance companies are a pain and I'm dealing with one myself right now—whereby women veterans can automatically be approved for certain disability claims? What are your thoughts and comments on that? What do you think?
Researcher, As an Individual
I think it's a great idea.
I also think that it would be great to know what injuries are actually impacting our members. We don't have an injury surveillance system.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much, Mr. Dowdall.
Now I'd like to invite Carolyn Bennett to take her four minutes, please.
October 31st, 2023 / 4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
Thank you very much.
Thanks to all of you.
I think we heard from you, Ms. Lowther, that it would be advantageous for the minister to have an advisory committee for women veterans. I think we're all a bit shocked about what we've heard today. I guess a lot of what Ms. Lowther said is also that the prevention is the important part. I think we all agree that somehow, for the treatment that's happening in CAF, it's not really understood, when they get to be a veteran, what has been missed.
I like the idea from Mr. Dowdall around a presumptive diagnosis, because you said that sexism was built into our medical care and also that no one was trained in women's health, which means that nobody knows how to take out an IUD—oh my word. If the questions aren't asked when someone is a CAF member, then it isn't documented. If it's not documented, they then get turned down by VAC. Is that what you're saying?
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
Moving to presumptive diagnosis, in particular, I was interested in what the difference is between female-specific and female-inclusive. If the rucksack should be here on a woman and they're getting neck injuries because it was there.... There are certain things the research is saying should now be automatic.
Researcher, As an Individual
I would say that we've started.
For an injury surveillance system, you need to identify what problems exist. Then you need to identify who is actually experiencing those problems—who's the most vulnerable. Then you can start to break it down to look at what's actually causing these injuries. However, we haven't done that, so....
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
On the issue of mental health, certainly in my practice we found that sometimes it's during labour and delivery that you find out somebody was previously sexually abused or that there is PTSD.
In our interest in having a perinatal mental health strategy, can you tell me a little bit about what your research is showing on the link between sexual trauma, pregnancy and perinatal mental health?
Researcher, As an Individual
I'm a physiologist, so I study the physical body. I'm not a psychologist.
Some of my research has looked at the relationship between postpartum depression and injury risk. There is a relationship between postpartum depression and increased susceptibility to overuse injury. We see miscarriage as well and an increased susceptibility to MSKI.
I do think it's a great idea, actually, to have mental health support and physical health support simultaneously through pregnancy and the postpartum period, so that we can actually identify MST, which is also important there, and postpartum depression. If we don't have practitioners who are specialized in women's health, they're not going to ask or they think it's normal. Postpartum depression, while common, is not normal. There's a lot of support and a lot of evidence-based practice that can support women through that.
Again, if you don't ask....
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
As part of a mental health strategy or perinatal mental health strategy for Canada, you would want to make sure that the experiences of CAF members and veterans are part of that perinatal mental health strategy.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
Yes, but it sounds like they're invisible from what you've been saying today.