Mr. Speaker, in the fall of 2016, as a brand new member of Parliament, the very first event I attended in Ottawa was the Party Under the Stars event at Ottawa City Hall, where veterans and their service dogs were championed.
Moving ahead to April 19, I asked this question in the House:
Mr. Speaker, leading scientific research shows that quality service dogs significantly benefit the lives of our veterans who are struggling with PTSD. However, yesterday the government announced that it would not be providing a nationwide standard for the training of these dogs.
We already know the Prime Minister has money for everyone but our veterans. Is he now saying that a national standard for the training of their service dogs is, well, also something more than he can give?
The recent Laval University study that the government has been waiting on reports that there are significant decreases in PTSD symptoms with our veterans when they have these service dogs. It improves their sleep quality, depression symptoms, feelings of safety, and self-esteem, and they have more energy and a better quality of life, which is huge.
Yesterday, in his answer to this very question put by the member for Courtenay—Alberni, the Prime Minister said that the Liberal government does not agree with or is not willing to recognize the obvious health benefits of service dogs. However, when I originally asked the Minister of Veterans Affairs about the national standards for service dogs, in his answer he did not dispute their effectiveness as the Prime Minister did yesterday. He said, “We will establish a standard for them.”
Global News has reported sources that say the government is stalling, delaying its efforts to implement the Laval University report findings until it has received additional information. The sources say the government now wants to wait for another American study showing that service dogs improve the quality of life for veterans suffering from PTSD before it makes a decision. This is despite the fact that Veterans Affairs discounted a previous American study in favour of waiting for the Laval University study.
Americans do a study, and we do not like the results, so we say we will wait for a Canadian study. The Canadian study comes out with similar conclusions to the first American study and, apparently unhappy with those results, we are now waiting on another American study.
According to a recent Global News report, there is now a two-year backlog in service dog requests. The minister said, “We will establish a standard for them.” Where is he in this process? Does he stand by what he said? Has he included the cutting-edge research from the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina, as he indicated he would when I brought it up in committee? Who has been invited to be involved in this process, and who is developing the standards for service dogs for our veterans across Canada?