Evidence of meeting #91 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 life.
A recording is available from Parliament.
As an Individual
I can't answer the question as the OC of the TC in Vancouver. I can only answer questions on my role in the play Contact! Unload and the research we did.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
That's not a problem. Let's talk about the play Contact! Unload.
As a postgraduate student of UBC during your time as a researcher, I believe you were also involved in the publication on the “Road to Civilian Life”. Can you share with the committee what kind of research was involved during the production of that review?
As an Individual
Absolutely.
The play didn't necessarily directly seek to answer questions so much as solicit information and stories from its participants and anyone who witnessed it. What we focused on was the idea of how a veteran must drop or change an identity when leaving their role as a CAF member and transitioning to being a civilian. Sometimes we like to call it, more casually, “dropping the baggage”.
There's a particular program that all of the participants in the play went through. It's called the veterans transition program, or VTP, funded through the VTN, the Veterans Transition Network. It uses a modality called therapeutic enactment, where we recreate and work through, in a group setting, traumatic scenes from a veteran's past, whether they're directly related to military service or something that occurred at home. That enables the veteran to drop their baggage and transition fully to civilian life. That is the focus of transition, and it's how we addressed the question and what we looked at through the play.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
In the studies, we heard many witnesses sharing with us the difficulties of veterans transitioning back to their civilian life. Can you share some of the feedback you've gotten from your audience? How is the play helping with their transition after release?
As an Individual
I think there are two parts to your question.
The participants absolutely said they benefited from participating in the play. It was another way to be witnessed by the Canadian public. When you feel witnessed, heard and understood, the research on mental health, PTSD and trauma would suggest you're better able to process things. Just having a stage and a platform to be seen and heard was beneficial to the participants.
What it did for audience members, both family and veteran, is let them know that what they were going through was normal—that those families were not the only ones with their son, daughter or loved one living in their basement suite, or not leaving their basement suite for several months. That allowed them to feel more comfortable with talking about their story and seeking help, sometimes just by approaching one of us involved in the play immediately following the play, or following up with one of the resources we shared online after the play, like a link to the Veterans Transition Network or the veterans transition program.
That's what we saw and how we helped, if that answers your question.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
Thank you.
You talked about family members, who are quite important in this process as well. Are there any recommendations you have in that regard to better the current process to help with veteran transition?
As an Individual
From the research and from what we noticed as part of feedback from participants, audience members and other collaborators, we felt that what might be most helpful is treating families with the same benefits and resources the veterans receive.
In a lot of the stories that emerge, the family often bears their own form of trauma, which they live through with their service family member. Sometimes processing that trauma requires either the same resources or something different. We found that the families benefiting the most had access to the same resources their veteran was receiving, and the families struggling the most didn't have access to those resources.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
Are these family members getting resources through the transition centre in Vancouver right now?
As an Individual
I can't comment about my work at the transition centre, but we heard stories throughout the performances and throughout engaging with audience members that they were receiving benefits through centres like the Military Family Resource Centre. Sometimes there would be outside organizations, like the veterans transition program, putting on separate programs for family members only.
In feedback, we heard some stories about accessing resources, but there didn't seem to be a central point for families.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
As to recommendations for this study we're doing, what are some of your suggestions for how we can do better for our veterans and help them with civilian life?
As an Individual
Something that emerged from our work and in similar comments from witnesses was having someone like a paraprofessional walk you through the steps of transition, someone consistent who will guide you through that transition, whether it's to access resources through VAC or any other organization.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much, Mr. Miao.
Mr. Desilets, you have the floor for six minutes.
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning to all my colleagues.
I thank our guests for their presence and service.
Mr. Lopresti, I find the literary process you've embarked on extremely interesting, but I want to try to understand certain elements.
Did you do your master's degree after your military service?
As an Individual
I actually did it at the same time. I was engaged in my master's and military service simultaneously.
As an Individual
It focused on PTSD and trauma and how they impact transition from military to civilian life.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I see.
You tried to combine this and that's where the “Contact! Unload” essay came from.
As an Individual
I can't take credit for developing the script. That was done by Dr. Marvin Westwood and Dr. George Belliveau, who were my supervisors through the program. They collaborated. Counselling psychology and research theatre collaborated to come up with the script. Another key writer was Dr. Graham Lea.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I assume you put your psychology training to good use in this.
Bloc
As an Individual
It's not currently going on. It started in 2015 and ended in 2018, with various different versions being created. It has been performed almost 20 times and is approaching 2,000 physical audience members.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I see.
I find this very interesting, especially because I went to see the Monarques project a second time. I don't know if my colleagues have heard of it. It's a piece that gives a voice to veterans. So we can draw a parallel between this one and the one you took part in. It's still being performed in Canada, in both French and English. I found it totally extraordinary.
As a matter of fact, the halls were packed, which surprised me enormously, because in Quebec, veterans are not the primary concern of the average person. There were a lot of non-veterans and civilians.
Was this also the case for the play you took part in?
As an Individual
That's correct. In the audience, there were both veteran and non-veteran witnesses who came and enjoyed the theatre piece. We performed for a lot of educators in the U.K. and Australia and even here in Ottawa.
One unique thing about the play—and I'm not sure about the play you're mentioning—is that the performers themselves were also veterans. It's difficult to spill your guts and share the most traumatic moments in your life 20 times, plus rehearsals. It wasn't necessarily something that could go on forever with the same participants.
If it were to continue, my guess is that you would need different participants. Also, there should be a time cap on how long they're participating in it, because it can be retraumatizing. There is a point where it becomes too much.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
My question might sound silly, but what was the original purpose of the play?