Evidence of meeting #22 for Veterans Affairs in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Psychologist, Institut Alpha, As an Individual
Are you talking about the services I provide?
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
I'm talking about your relationship with the consortium. Did it ask you any questions? Are veterans satisfied with the service?
Psychologist, Institut Alpha, As an Individual
No, I've never been asked that question, but I have made sure to indicate in my forms when the program was harmful to veterans. In fact, I did that this morning. I've never been asked whether the program, in its current form, was beneficial. I'm thinking of one veteran in particular whose situation worsened under the program. I wrote letters to VAC and PCVRS asking that he no longer be subjected to the assessments, but they never agreed. He had to follow the program from start to finish, despite the documented deterioration of his symptoms.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
So it would be worthwhile to look into whether an assessment is being done. You may have missed it, or it may not be systematic.
How can we correct the situation if there's no assessment? At the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, we have to do the assessment that the department should have done in order to rectify the situation. So how can we show that the bureaucracy is too cumbersome, correct the situation for the practitioners, who need specific expertise in this area, and ensure continuity of services?
Thank you very much for your testimony, which is very helpful to us. If you have any statistics, we would be grateful if you could send them to the committee. Personally, I know I will need them.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marie-France Lalonde
Thank you very much, Ms. Gaudreau.
On behalf of the committee,
Dr. Bernard, Mr. Carter and Mr. Laidler, thank you very much for participating. I know there was short notice for changing your schedule.
Thank you for taking the time to join us as we begin this study.
Colleagues, our next meeting will be on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. We will be resuming our study on the obstacles to entrepreneurship among veterans.
That concludes this meeting. As you know, over the next hour, the members of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure will be meeting in camera.
The meeting is adjourned.