Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 2nd, 2025

[Braedon Clark, Liberal, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, NS]

Thank you very much.

I have one other question around communications. With any government program, obviously letting people know that it exists and that they have access to it is really important. In these cases, it is obviously critically important when we're dealing with life and death issues at times.

I'm not sure, but perhaps this is a question for you, Mr. Harris.

Could you give a sense of how you assess the ability of veterans to know about these programs? It's not necessarily an access point. That's the second step. The first step is communicating, “Hey, this is available for you. This could really help you.”

How do you communicate that to the veteran community across the country, to make sure they know what they have access to?

[Steven Harris]

The answer is we do it as often and in as many places as possible. Obviously we do it through channels that we would have, whether that's through social media, our website or things of that nature. We also go out and meet with veterans quite regularly, whether that's at a Legion, at military events or at ministerial advisory group committees and others that are there.

We're constantly trying to get information out not only to the veterans, but also to other military members and other military organizations to be able to share with them. In that opportunity, we try to get everybody informed as to where they can go for help. If the veteran doesn't know, maybe somebody else does, family members or others. We make sure we try to get the information out there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Mr. Harris.

I would like to invite Ms. Gaudreau to speak for five minutes.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am very aware of the reduction in response times for interventions, and I am grateful for that. I know that you are making every possible effort. However, would you agree with me that delays in receiving a response in such an urgent situation are unacceptable? Do you think there is room for improvement in terms of the speed of interventions?

[Steven Harris]

This is not our only program. Just to be clear, the disability benefits program is only one of the programs available to veterans. It is certainly one of the most important, and the response times are totally unacceptable. We are working very hard to reduce them in all areas, not only for disability benefits, but for all other programs as well.

I would like to mention the addition of human resources staff to improve the process, the reduction in the number of documents and other items, the training of our employees, and the improvement of the system to be able to process claims more quickly. Last year, we made more decisions than ever before in this program.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That's good to hear, Madam Chair.

That being said, with the 5% increase in national defence spending, I think that before taking such significant steps, we need to consolidate our foundations. I hope that what has happened over the past year will contribute to this and also give you everything you need to do your work.

I have one last question about women. Earlier, it was said that the suicide rate was the same, but according to the report, there has been a significant increase in suicide mortality among women in the Canadian Armed Forces. How is this possible?

[Cyd Courchesne]

I will let my colleague, the Canadian Armed Forces Surgeon General, comment on this subject.

[MGen Scott Malcolm]

When it comes to the mortality rate among women, particularly in the case of suicide, it's a little difficult to explain.

Even though one suicide is one too many, we are talking about suicide among women last year. According to the data, there were very few, but it still increased the rate. My colleagues at Veterans Affairs Canada and I continue to monitor the situation and try to find the reason behind this. However, as we have already discussed, the problem is multifactorial. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces or veterans have committed suicide, but that does not mean that all of their problems at that time began in the forces. We know very well that half of our members experienced trauma before enlisting in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Suicide is truly a societal problem that must be addressed at its source. The country must address this issue to prevent suicide rates not only in the forces, but also among the Canadian population.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Wagantall, you have the floor.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you all for being here.

I want to bring forward something that we discussed at our last meeting when the veterans ombud was here. She had a recommendation from 2021 regarding mental health treatment benefits for family members in their own right, for conditions related to military service independent of the veteran's treatment plan and regardless of whether the veteran is engaging in treatment. This is something that has been discussed a lot at this committee as well. That recommendation was affirmed by the government—it had a “yes” beside it—but in the last four years it has not been implemented at all.

We all know that in the most challenging circumstances, when the veteran struggles with mental health, the family struggles, and then the veteran struggles more. It becomes a very caustic and dangerous cycle for the veteran and the family members they have alienated. She affirmed VAC and the work that you do—meeting family needs whenever you can when the veteran is being treated and affirms that family members getting that assistance is required—so kudos to that. That's great, but in the end, that's all you can do because that's all you have legal authority to do, from my understanding. That's the lane you have to work in.

That means if a veteran isn't being treated, the family can't access mental health treatment. If a veteran is estranged, separated or divorced from their significant other, that individual and probably the children can't access mental health. If a veteran is being treated but doesn't support family members receiving that treatment, they don't get it. Also, right now—and this was very troubling to me—if a veteran dies, the family is immediately cut off from mental health services. If that veteran died by suicide, I would think at that point in time that family needs mental health care more than ever.

There are barriers here that need to be taken down, according to the government, this committee and, I think, you. Have you tried reaching out to the government about where you have to go to get that extended authority to provide those services? Have you reached out to the government and had any interaction with them about providing this specific care to family members? We say that when the member serves, the family serves. Have you reached out and had any conversations or interaction in this regard with the government?

[Steven Harris]

There are a couple of things. One, the member and the ombudsperson are quite correct: Legislative authority does not exist for us to provide those services in their own right to family members. There are a number of other services that are available for families, such as the VAC assistance service, which can be used by any family member who's facing a mental health issue or crisis. That can give them 20 sessions with a mental health provider and can be used at any time. There's the veteran family program through military family resource centres. All of those are correct.

I can't speak to proposals that have gone forward as recommendations to the government. I can tell you that there are a lot of ways we continue to help support families, in addition to what you said. There are considerations in all circumstances when a family may be impacted by something like suicide, where we continue to help support that family as best as we can with access to resources.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Harris. I appreciate that.

I think it's something specific here that would be very helpful to members who are serving as well. Knowing that it usually takes years before they really get hit hard, sometimes the younger ones who are serving in the military get hit when they realize the commitment they made to Canada. I think it's something that the armed forces and Veterans Affairs could work on together to get that extended care more specific to the family members.

The statistics that you've worked with, what were the years?

[Cyd Courchesne]

It was from 1975 to 2016. My colleague from research, Dr. Hall, might confirm that.

[Amy Hall, Senior Epidemiologist, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Yes, that's correct.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Okay. What we have worked with are suicide numbers from long past the First and Second World Wars and prior to our biggest commitment through Afghanistan. I'm assuming that, at this point in time, you must have some information about those numbers if you are coming up with the report shortly. We'll be looking for that. Do you have lists?

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

You can ask about the lists, but that's it. I'm sorry.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Okay. I'm wondering if you have lists of specific veterans who have died by suicide. I know that veterans have lists, if you were to reach out to them. That's my comment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

This is something that you can either provide to the committee or, through other questions, pursue.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

I don't expect—

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

I apologize. As I say, I am—

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

No, you're doing great, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Well, I don't know about that.

Madam Hirtle, you have the floor.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning, and thank you all for being here today. Thank you for your service.

I'd like to circle back. There was a reference made earlier to peer group support. I'd like to come back to that as an important element for veterans and CAF members to feel more connected and less alone. The transition to civilian life can be challenging, and members may experience disruptions, of course, to social connections during this period of transition.

What is the strategy of the CAF regarding the mental health of members transitioning to civilian life? Perhaps Brigadier-General Ménard could best answer that.

[Brigadier-General Serge Ménard, Commander, Canadian Armed Forces Transition Group, Canadian Armed Forces, Department of National Defence]

The way we support our veterans is through transition centres. We build the services provided behind the seven domains of well-being. We have a group of technical experts who analyze the seven domains of well-being to come up with a portrait of the person who is about to be released. Based on the situation of the releasing members, we also have different networks of support to propose to provide services to our releasing members.