Evidence of meeting #28 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 i've.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Marie-France Lalonde
Thank you very much.
For six minutes, we now have Mr. d'Entremont.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thanks to all of you for being here today. Thank you for your testimony and for your service to our country.
I'll go in sequence, in the way that Ms. Wagantall went through the presentations. I'll go to Mr. Stroesser first.
You brought up a couple of points along the way about your business. Where did you get the idea of clothing? Is it something you might have been doing before you retired, or is it something that popped up as an opportunity after your service ended?
Founder, Corporal4Life Apparel
A friend of mine I'd served with was visiting Windsor, where I'm from, and we were talking about our pride in service. I'm a T-shirt guy. I like to wear T-shirts. There was nothing out there specifically that I felt I could wear or wanted to wear. That's where it started. It's something that I felt comfortable wearing and that other veterans or serving members would like to wear as well.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
My brother lives in Chatham and worked out in Windsor for a little while. He does have a few of your things. I've seen him with them at a couple of events.
Liberal
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
Have you used the ESDC website or the job bank? There is a section there for veterans. You still have to self-identify as a veteran on that platform. Did you have an opportunity to use the ESDC service?
Founder, Corporal4Life Apparel
No, I have not, to be honest with you. As I said, the hiring I did was pretty much based on social media and word of mouth.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
In your testimony, you were talking about collaboration with others and working with other individuals who are interested in setting up businesses. Have you had the opportunity to reach out to other organizations to support you? I know the time will run out in my question period, but what kinds of supports would you have required in view of how much money it would be to set up a business like you've set up?
Founder, Corporal4Life Apparel
I was very fortunate. I met a gentleman from a company called CannaConnect. He's been a huge mentor for me since about five years ago. I was lucky to run into him. He has really helped me with any questions I've had. He helped me get a store running out in Oromocto. Just having people available to help out with questions and mentorship is my biggest thing.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
Then there's a second part of that question. If you're going into this sort of business, there is a transition. Normally when a person retires from the armed forces, we help to support them in retraining or what have you. Some of the testimony we had here in the last few meetings is that maybe you can transition that into some kind of support for entrepreneurship. Ms. Vanderveer talked about that in her presentation.
Would it be a large amount of money? Would it be a grant of $50,000? What would be the best support for a business like yours?
Founder, Corporal4Life Apparel
Honestly, I wouldn't have wanted to get a big amount of money at the beginning, because I wouldn't have known what to do with it.
These past 10 years have really helped sort out where my focus goes. That's how the business has survived, but even $10,000 a couple of years ago would have been a huge boon to the business. I may have been able to keep a store open. I may not have been able to keep all three open, but Windsor would have had a shot to survive. With the COVID restrictions and such, it got to a point where I was using my own money for my own job. That's when it had to stop.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
I'll move on to a couple of more questions with our other guests.
Mr. McSporran, you talked about the U.S. and the program they have. We heard about that in a couple of presentations. You also talked about the U.K. having a program. What kind of entrepreneurial program could Canada consider to support veterans?
Managing Director, Vimy Forge
They could have a really well-funded program, to be perfectly honest. I think we have all the components necessary for it. It just needs to be centrally managed, governed and coordinated among all the different groups that are already there to support businesses. Some companies need investment. Some companies and their leaders need training. It's just about making sure that that's matched properly and meets the needs and requirements for them.
I think we have everything here. We just need that top-cover umbrella.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
Finally, I'll go to Ms. Vanderveer of Recoil.
After hearing about your program and reading up a bit about it, I'm wondering whether some of the people who come to your organization have service-related trauma. What kind of veteran is coming to your program and accessing the services you provide?
Owner, Alberta Recoil Inc.
The veterans we have coming to our program obviously have service-related injuries. We work especially with survivors of military sexual trauma, both male and female. We offer them one-on-one peer support. We work with the RCMP and other uniform services as well.
Liberal
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Esteemed witnesses, it's a pleasure to have you here today. It's very encouraging to hear from you, as we must acknowledge the successes, and you're part of them. I have a few questions, and the first one is for Ms. Vanderveer.
On the subject of penalization, you say that women face a higher credibility threshold when seeking support. What does that look like, specifically?
Owner, Alberta Recoil Inc.
What that looks like is that, for example, when my business partner and I first started the business, people recognized him as the face of the business. They always thought I was the administrative person. They didn't see me as a co-founder. They always wanted to speak to him. They always wanted to include him in the meetings. At times, there was a pause when he would say, “No, Heather is my partner, and so is my wife. Two females are co-founders of this business as well.”
We've seen it numerous times with different organizations we've dealt with. They only want to speak to my business partner.
I hope that answers your question.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
So you wouldn't be recognized when you received support, whether it was coaching or mentoring, is that right?
Owner, Alberta Recoil Inc.
Yes, that is correct. What we have also seen is that because this is dealing with military sexual trauma, many places we've gone to for funding like the concept of what we do, but nobody wants to fund it, or we're told that the SMSRC is already doing peer support or another organization is doing peer support. Unfortunately, the SMSRC's peer support is sorely lacking. Eight meetings do not constitute peer support.
It's the same with our workshops. We're the only one offering these workshops, and again, there's a lot of interest in what we do, but nobody wants to fund us.