Evidence of meeting #9 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 laurion.
A recording is available from Parliament.
7:30 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, VETS Canada
I think we're definitely talking about mental health issues more, so that helps with the stigma and veterans being willing to come forward and talk about their mental health issues. They definitely impact the veteran's ability to be successful in their day-to-day life.
As one of the witnesses stated earlier about veterans, they stay in the dark—they don't go out, they socially isolate—and that affects the whole family.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you, Mrs. Wagantall.
Now let's go to MP Churence Rogers, for five minutes, please.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
Churence Rogers Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's a pleasure to welcome our guests this evening. Again, like my colleagues, I thank you for the service you provide and the care you provide to veterans across this country.
The questions I have could apply to many of you, but I'd like to direct some questions to the retirees federation group. For any one of you who wants to respond, that's fine.
Mr. President, on your website, it states that one of the top five priorities for the outcomes of veterans is to “Rebuild trust with veterans by improving outcome and communications, particularly by working with national service providers, not-profit and community-based organizations.”
What are the challenges you see when it comes to communication, and have you seen any differences between genders, including the LGBTQ2+ veterans community?
Mr. Soulière.
7:35 p.m.
President, National Association of Federal Retirees
I'll give a very general idea of where we took all that information to put on our website.
About four or five years ago, we did a number of town hall meetings with veterans and got a whole lot of information about the situations and the difficulties they were facing. A lot was mentioned, and we learned things very similar to what Mr. Laurion was saying. We produced a very good report on these town hall meetings, which is available. The information we put on our website is derived from that.
Also about four years ago, we organized a meeting of veterans groups. There are so many of them that it is impossible to see who is doing what. They all have their specific objectives, specific missions. Many of them don't talk to one another. There is lack of coordination.
We got some 10 or 15 veterans organizations together for a full day, and we produced a report on that, which should be made available, if it is not already available to your committee. That dealt with all of the issues that are being raised here.
I'll let Sayward provide a little bit more detailed information, but generally speaking, the information on our website is derived from these activities and the events we hold.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
Churence Rogers Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL
I'll ask you a follow-up question.
What are you hearing from your membership about the backlog at Veterans Affairs? Do you hear specifically about backlogs related to francophone veterans versus anglophones or female veterans versus males?
Can you comment on the recent investment of $140 million to extend the staff working on the backlog? What effect do you think this will have, in your view, and what more needs to be done to decrease wait times for our veterans?
7:35 p.m.
President, National Association of Federal Retirees
I think we mentioned this somewhat in the brief that was presented to your committee, but I'll let Sayward get into some of the details.
7:35 p.m.
Director, Advocacy, National Association of Federal Retirees
Thank you, Jean-Guy.
If I may, I will quickly touch on the previous question. Ms. Lowther mentioned “brown envelope syndrome”. This is definitely something that we've heard about from the veterans we represent. When they get that envelope in the mail, it signifies something very heavy for many of them. That is an indicator, frankly—in terms of how we take it, anyway—of broken trust and some difficulties that veterans have there.
Also, in terms of what the veteran community looks like, women talk to women. When women have problems or concerns in connecting with VAC, there's very much an interconnectedness among the women veterans community in how those experiences get shared.
Finally, there can be difficulty in connecting with the institution—the Government of Canada—that may have been involved in some of the service-related injuries someone might have experienced. Making the leap and breaching the gap to rely on that institution—to become vulnerable again and trust that institution to deliver on the services and support you need as a result of your injury—can be very difficult when you're in a vulnerable situation. That's what we are discussing when we talk about some of the challenges of trust, but that's a very in-depth topic to get into.
On the investment of $140 million, it is—
7:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Ms. Montague, I'm sorry, but I have to interrupt you, because the five minutes is over.
We will continue with two brief two-and‑a‑half minute rounds.
Mr. Desilets will be the first speaker.
Mr. Desilets, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
7:40 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will be brief, and I hope the answer will be as well.
My question is for Ms. Lowther.
We all know that services offered to francophones are insufficient and inadequate; it's well documented. You referred to bilingualism, which should be in place for this type of position.
Do you often hear comments about this?
7:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, VETS Canada
Yes, we do often hear comments to that effect. Veterans who are francophone and who are forced to deal with case managers in English may be able to speak English, but it's not the language of their choice.
Because there is a lack of bilingual case managers, veterans are forced to receive that service in English. Sometimes it can be very confusing; things get lost in translation.
When veterans are in a stressful situation, not being able to receive support in the language of their choice just adds to the stress.
7:40 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
In your opinion, when a member of this staff is described as bilingual, can we assume that they have a sufficient grasp of French and English?
7:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, VETS Canada
Yes, that's definitely our understanding: that they speak both languages fluently and they can communicate effectively in both languages.
7:40 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
In your opinion, they can communicate in French without any problems.
You said that all staff should be bilingual. Taking our system into account, is that realistic?
7:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, VETS Canada
I think it is feasible. There are many bilingual people in this country. If it's not possible to have everybody in the department being bilingual, I think it's very important to at least have a sufficient number who are, particularly those on the front lines providing service delivery and those adjudicating the claims.
7:40 p.m.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Can you explain why it is so difficult to recruit francophones?
7:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, VETS Canada
You know what? I'm not 100% sure why that is so difficult. I don't have a clear answer on that one.
7:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much.
I will now give the floor to Ms. Rachel Blaney.
Ms. Blaney, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
7:40 p.m.
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Laurion, I would like to ask you a question. I'm going to paraphrase something you said at the beginning of your presentation. You said that we don't know we have problems; other people notice that we have problems. I thought that was a really important and impactful statement.
We heard some testimony from the Veterans Transition Network, who talked about the distinction between service-related injuries, what happens when you're serving, and then injuries caused by the institution, by VAC.
Could you speak to that difference in injuries and the impacts on veterans and the folks you work so hard to support?
7:45 p.m.
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Basically my question is about the impacts of VAC's actions that injure people, such as responding slowly or not providing the services that veterans receive. What have the impacts of accessing Veterans Affairs been on people like you and those whom you support?
7:45 p.m.
Veteran, As an Individual
The older generation, including myself, was trained in the military. When we needed to go to the doctor because we were injured, we didn't go. We would shut up and keep working, or we would get sent home.
When people did training, they were taught the culture of silence. They were told that these things weren't talked about. During their career, people could suffer from certain problems, but they wouldn't talk about them, because they had been trained that way.
However, in the last years of the war in Afghanistan, when someone came back with a serious injury or when there were casualties, we took the time to talk to the whole group, to debrief them and discuss what had happened in order to ease the stress.
However, the old guard doesn't talk about these things, because they act like there isn't a problem. When the culture of silence is ingrained, it's very difficult to open up to someone and talk afterwards. It's not easy, and that's why some people have lost their bearings and aren't aware of the problems they have.
When you start talking to veterans, trust is established gradually and they open up more and more. This is how I can determine whether they are suffering from post-traumatic symptoms and try to help them. Some will not want to help themselves, and in some cases, it can take years before I can help them.
While I was still in the armed forces, a good friend of mine was retired and living in my basement. He was suffering from severe post-traumatic symptoms and didn't want to talk about it. He was afraid his parents would find out.
7:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you, Mr. Laurion. I am sorry to interrupt you. Unfortunately, I have to monitor the time allocated to everyone.
It is now Mr. Fraser Tolmie's turn to ask questions for five minutes.