Veterans Affairs Committee on May 8th, 2024

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

Yes, definitely. I will make that undertaking for the documents for which my department is responsible. As I said, I want to be sure that you have access to those documents. My deputy minister is also here.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

So you just confirmed that within 21 days we will be provided with all correspondence between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office.

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

I can confirm that for the correspondence between my department and the Prime Minister's Office, definitely. I cannot however provide communications from the Prime Minister's Office.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Let us get back to the project.

In recent months, committee members from opposition parties have tried eight times to make progress on this, but the Liberals have obstructed every time. Can we finally get a clear answer to understand what really happened with this decision? Will the government live up to its responsibilities and confirm that it was a purely political decision?

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

Mr. Paul-Hus, this is the second time I have appeared before the committee for two hours, and I have answered questions about the National Monument to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan each time. I gave very clear answers. So it is a bit disappointing to be here once again today—

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Yes, I know, Madam Minister, but on December 15, we made a very clear request to the chair. Your Liberal colleagues blocked it and prevented us from putting forward those requests to get to the bottom of the purely political decision that was made and, in particular, even though this pertains less to you, the fact that the process at Canadian Heritage was disregarded. After a process that was conducted professionally, the winning team that was chosen by a jury of experts was set aside and the second team was chosen. This purely political decision was criticized by all the experts who have testified here, who said they had never seen that kind of thing before. It stands as a major political move in the history of Government of Canada processes.

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

As to the final decision that was made on the national monument, Mr. Paul‑Hus, I dare say that our veterans are also experts. They told us what they wanted. A number of veterans commended me on choosing that monument. They said they were pleased with the decision and encouraged me to continue on that path.

Once again, we chose to listen to veterans. That is what—

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Minister, does that mean that if a commemorative monument has to be chosen for any reason, a bogus survey can be conducted and the decision will be based on the results of that survey? It will no longer be necessary to create a panel of experts and to work for months if not years to make the best choice possible.

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

Look, I completely understand what you are getting at. I do think it is important though to recognize that 40,000 Canadian soldiers took part in the mission in Afghanistan and that 158 of them lost their lives. It is absolutely essential to us to listen to those who have served our country, along with their family members. We are comfortable with the decision that was made.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Paul‑Hus and Madam Minister.

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

Go ahead, please.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the minister for being here today.

Welcome to all the guests who are joining our committee.

Since 2015 our government has been working quite hard to restore all the services and supports cut by the Conservative government and to improve services that support our veterans and their families. We put in place the veteran and family well-being fund, the veterans emergency fund and the veterans education and training benefit. We expanded access to the military resource centres for veterans' families. We've also made investments in mental health services and care for veterans and provide lifelong financial support for our ill and injured veterans. We also help veterans transition from military service to civilian life and offer support for caregivers. We put in place a national housing fund to prioritize support for vulnerable citizens, including veterans, and made investments to reduce backlogs, offer faster service and retain case managers.

Through the chair, Minister, the Conservatives have fought against all of these measures.

We can always do better. What comes next? What are your top priorities right now?

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

Thank you so much for that important question.

Again, it's really been the honour of my life to be appointed as the Minister of Veterans Affairs, having worked at the RCMP for a number of years and also having several family members who have served.

My top priority continues to be making sure that service delivery continues to be top of mind. I want to make sure, and our department wants to make sure, that when veterans apply for benefits, they will be receiving a decision in a very timely fashion. That is why we made additional investments just last November to make sure we could do better in meeting our service standards.

I'm proud to say that we are certainly almost there. We continue to see an increase in the level of applications that are coming in, which is good news. Since 2016 we have seen a 61% increase of new applications to Veterans Affairs Canada. That is a huge number of new applicants. As a result, we have been able to provide an additional $11.5 billion—I say billion—in additional help and support to our veterans and their family members.

Again, when it comes to service delivery, service delivery is top of mind, as is making sure that veterans have access to the services and benefits they need.

The other thing is that we've also made a change recently. I was formerly a social worker, and when it comes to mental health and substance use and addictions, we certainly want to make sure that when people ask for mental health treatments, they receive them in a timely fashion as well. I'm very proud that in 2022, the decision was made by the department, before I was there, that when veterans are applying or asking for mental health services, they don't have to go through the entire adjudication process. We know that it can take several weeks and sometimes several months. When it comes to mental health benefits, when folks are applying for those benefits, they can have access to those services immediately.

Since 2022—I actually asked for this number recently—we have seen that 20,000 veterans were eligible to have access to those mental health supports immediately, but out of that 20,000, 40% of them accessed those services immediately. Again, we want to make sure that we meet veterans where they're at, and that when they're asking for mental health supports, we're able to put those in place immediately. Again, we've seen that people have really appreciated those types of changes that we've done.

That continues to be a top-of-mind priority of mine—making sure we develop the programs and services and having access to the services in a timely fashion.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you for that.

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

If I may add one more thing—sorry—the other priority I'm working with right now as well, with my friend and colleague, the Minister of Housing.... If you remember well, last year, when Minister MacAulay was the minister, we received an $80-million investment when it comes to homelessness and housing. As a result of that, we are in the process of and will be making some funding announcements in the very near future to different groups across the country who have applied for the funding and will be benefiting from that fund.

Finally, with respect to the types of supports, they are going to be rent subsidies that we'll be able to provide to veterans who are in need. Again, many different not-for-profit organizations will be managing that, and other groups as well will be providing wraparound services to the veterans who are in need. We certainly recognize that many individuals need that additional help and support. We want to set our veterans up for success. Making sure they have access to those services I think could be a game-changer for them. I'm looking forward to making those announcements over the next coming months.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you, Minister, for that very—

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. Miao, I'm afraid your time is up.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

All right.

Thank you. You answered my questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

It was five minutes.

Mr. Desilets, you have the floor, but just for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Madam Minister, the purpose of the design competition was to commission a work of art. Are you saying that the Prime Minister's Office had the necessary expertise in the arts to choose the second concept?

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

It was not the Prime Minister's Office that chose the Stimson team concept.

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

Did your office choose it?

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

The final decision on the concept was made by Veterans Affairs Canada.

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

So you have expertise in the arts.

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

Mr. Desilets, veterans told us which concept they thought best represented the sacrifice—

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

That is how your department will proceed from now on regarding works of art. That is what you are saying.

Can you tell us what percentage of the budget that was tabled will go to veterans rather than the bureaucracy?