Veterans Affairs Committee on March 22nd, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

[Michelle Douglas]

We need to have that training in both English and French so there's good awareness for all veterans who apply.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Ms. Douglas.

We'll now go to MP Anna Roberts, for five minutes, please.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just want to say that it's an honour and a privilege to be in the presence of such strong women and advocates for women. It gives me such warm feelings that I can't even describe it.

I have a couple of questions, and the first one is for Sergeant Usherwood.

I had the opportunity to watch your YouTube video, and I must say it brought tears to my eyes. You made a statement in it that really touched my heart. I want to read it back to you:

The way a society or a country or an organization is now, is affected by how they acted, what they did in the past.... If you don't understand the past, you can't see why they are the way they are.

That statement to me was very impactful. What suggestions can you make, going through your experiences, that would help us learn how we could better provide services more efficiently and more effectively? You mentioned consistent caseworkers. Is it a lack of caseworkers? Is it a lack of training?

What suggestions can you make to this committee that we can take back in order to provide better service for everyone?

[Sgt Nina Charlene Usherwood]

Well, thank you for the question.

I would say it's about not being assigned a caseworker and needing to explain yourself each time. If I weren't so angry at the lack of acknowledgement of my service, I probably would have given up. I did give up initially, when I first applied. It's just easier not to put yourself through that.

Not having one person you can talk to makes everything so much more difficult. If they assign caseworkers, maybe some of the caseworkers won't be involved with very much, and as time goes by, once they actually get their application in, it can be given to another caseworker or shared in some different way. Maybe they need to look at how other adjudication works or that kind of system. My wife is actually involved with the B.C. government and does health adjudication for medical devices.

Maybe they need to look at some of the other ways that this kind of service is being delivered. Health care—which is ultimately what Veterans Affairs is. That would be my suggestion. Maybe they need to look at other places.

Thank you for the question.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Would you suggest that maybe when a caseworker has to leave or retire or whatever, the next caseworker has a transitional period with the individuals she has been servicing? Would that be a good idea? I'm just throwing out ideas.

[Sgt Nina Charlene Usherwood]

Yes. That would be a great idea. There could be someone who says to them, “You're going to be getting this case. This is the brief on it.” Then, when they do reach out, if there's no direct contact with a transfer, at least they could have the brief that tells them what's going on. Every time I phone, they go, “Okay, I'm going to read through the notes and see what's there.” That gets frustrating.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

I can see that. Thank you very much.

My next question is for Sandra Perron.

You mentioned service dogs. I will tell you that I'm a huge, huge fan of service dogs. I know the effect they have. I volunteer for an accessibility committee. One of the individuals on our committee has a service dog, and she has taught me a lot. I'm also a fan of rescuing dogs.

How many service dogs that you know of have helped the LGBTQ community?

[Sandra Perron]

Specifically for the LGBTQ2+ community, there are probably just two. Overall, there are seven or eight service dogs for women coming through. They have been a great help.

One of the comments I have heard is that it takes a long time for them to get their dog. I myself have applied for a dog and have waited forever. I finally just bought a doodle and just cuddled the heck out of him to hopefully convince him to be my service dog. It takes a long time.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Chair

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Ms. Perron.

Mr. Miao, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank all the guests here today for this important study. It's an honour to be together and to hear from you guys about what we can do better.

I'd like to address the following question to Ms. Perron. What sort of programs could be added to Le Pepper Pod's program to increase its outreach?

[Sandra Perron]

First of all, I'm going to correct you. We're not guys. We are women.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

I apologize.

[Sandra Perron]

That's okay.

The programs that could be added with, perhaps, additional funding and, definitely, more resources would include follow-ups from the lifeshops. What we're doing right now is an initial lifeshop and a small follow-up. I would like to do retreats number two, three and four, which focus on different things for our veterans. Those are some of the programs. Perhaps we could add a summer camp for some of the children of veterans who have PTSD.

One of the things that I'm hearing from women quite a bit is that when they are abused by their husband in civilian life, they're told to leave their husband. However, women who are spouses of military members who have PTSD are being told that their spouse served his country, they're there to support him, stay the course, stick with them. That's very hard on the women.

Those are some of the programs. Does that answer your question?

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Yes. Thank you very much for your answer.

Do you see any barriers to seeking out these services that could be removed or improved?

[Sandra Perron]

I would say that, in 2022, it's time to use the right terms to define ourselves. In French, we are vétéranes, anciennes combattantes. The time has come to prioritize inclusion, and it's time for inclusion to trump the masculine.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you.

You mentioned in your opening remarks that you have other recommendations. Would you share those with us as well?

[Sandra Perron]

I mentioned one with regard to using the correct names for us as veterans. I often hear that we are “female veterans”, but men are just “veterans”, so let's correct that. We are all veterans. If we're going to identify them by gender, we can do both.

The other recommendations are to reduce the delays for disability claims and to provide access to some of our veterans who are in distress. I can tell you that I have had a couple of workshops where women have said they can't find any resources when they are in the middle of a panic attack, in general distress or suicidal. Those are services that could be improved.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

To follow up with the questions, would removing gender from medical documents and adding a preferred name cut down on responses and wait times, and lower the anxiety in this process?

[Sandra Perron]

I don't know if this question is addressed to me. Perhaps Sergeant Usherwood would be better positioned, or maybe Madam Douglas or Madame Laverdure, to respond to it.

[Sgt Nina Charlene Usherwood]

Gender is part of why I have a claim that has gone to Veterans Affairs. Removing it.... Maybe it doesn't need to be on what we in the forces call the “boilerplate”—the thing at the top—but my gender is very important to me and erasing it is.... My gender, who I am, is why I have a claim.

I'm not sure that's the best answer. You should definitely be able to put preferred names. That's for sure. Maybe a place to indicate pronouns would also help.

Thank you.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you very much, Sergeant Usherwood. That really helps us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Let's go to MP Fraser Tolmie for five minutes, please.

Go ahead.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that.

Thank you, witnesses, for your presentations and for your service. This has been very enlightening, and I do appreciate it.

When I was serving in the military, one of the things that we went through was what I believe was called “SHARP” training. It was to raise awareness.

Sergeant Usherwood, you're smiling, so this question is going to you.