Madam Speaker, I am very proud to be here tonight on behalf of my constituents and to be able to speak freely on behalf of the people of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan. I would like to share my time with my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. I am just going ask for a certain amount of latitude before speaking to the important subject of homelessness.
I want to recognize the passing of my mother Caroline Tolmie on October 8 and the passing of my father Robert Walls Tolmie three weeks later on October 30. Both of my parents were born in Glasgow, Scotland. I have shared on numerous occasions that having both parents who are Scottish, one half of me likes to drink scotch, the other half of me hates paying for it, but both halves of me like to fight.
My grandfather was a sniper on the offensive in World War II and during the campaign to liberate northern Europe, he and his fellow soldiers were drinking in a café. Canadian soldiers came running in, sounding the retreat as the enemy was on a counter-offensive with more firepower. The British soldiers scrambled to get their gear together and the Canadian soldiers, while waiting, started shooting at the bottles of liquor that were left on the shelf. In horror, my grandfather yelled, “Cease fire, cease fire.” He asked the Canadian soldier, and I am not going to use the exact language he used, what they were doing. The Canadian replied, “If we are not drinking it, they are not drinking it.”
My grandfather befriended the Canadian soldiers, and he wanted to move to Canada. He was never able to, but his dream was realized when my mother and father immigrated to Canada in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They moved to Canada when Diefenbaker was the Prime Minister of Canada, and I am proud to share the boundary riding lines with the former prime minister as I serve in this capacity.
My family came here with the hopes and dreams of owning property, and wanting to bring home powerful paycheques to provide for their family. They believed that Canada was a place where they could raise a family, and that their children and grandchildren could prosper. I believe in that dream, but people these days have lost hope and do not. My grandfather and my parents would be horrified knowing that many people experiencing homelessness are the brave sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen who were willing to put their lives on the line for the freedoms we enjoy today.
This tragic state of affairs, where homelessness is on the rise and food banks are having to shut because of the inflationary increase on food and other essentials such as clothing, is directly impacting veterans who are finding it hard to survive under the NDP-Liberal regime. When someone struggles with the everyday essentials, with homelessness, they lose hope. When they lose hope, it can directly impact their mental health.
I recently witnessed, in our veterans affairs committee, my colleague from Banff—Airdrie interviewing a witness and he revealed horrific testimony that has impacted me. My colleague stated, “This is a question I have for you, Marie. Mr. Blackwolf mentioned the triple-D policy that we often hear about from veterans. He mentioned it as delay, deny, discouragement. I kind of like that, because usually we hear it as delay, deny, die.”
My colleague went on to ask the witness, “Marie, you told me a story when I visited with you recently that really illustrates the delay, deny, die, triple-D policy. Would you mind sharing that with this committee for the benefit of everyone?”
Ms. Marie Blackburn, in her testimony, stated the following:
Yes, I can.
It was a hot summer day last year, and the air conditioning went out in the building, and I thought, you know what? I'm going to scoot out of here early and go home and have some gin and tonics on my deck and just cool down.
I'd seen this car in the parking lot all day long. He'd come and he'd go. He'd come, he'd go, and then he was just sitting there. When I was leaving, he came and tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “Are you able to help me?” I said, “What is it you need?” You could tell he was very stressed out and nervous, and he said that just needed some help with some family bills. We went back into that sweltering hot building, and we did the intake on him. He needed to pay his mortgage. He had no food for his family. He was behind on all of his bills. I said, “It's not a problem. We can pay all of that for you”. Off he went, and off I went.
Then he called me about two months later, and he thanked me, because his family unit was back together. His wife and he had sorted out things. The kids were back in their soccer games, whatever the case may be. He said to me, “I just want you to know that would have been my last day on earth had you not helped me, because I had a gun under my seat, and if you had said no, I would have blown out my brains in your parking lot.”
This is just another example of how long people are waiting to get these benefits that they're eligible for. It's ridiculous, really. It is. This is why we say that our mandate is to ultimately prevent veteran suicide. We are sort of between Veterans Affairs and the client to make sure that we can pay their bills, we can help with their kids or we can put food on their table. I don't know how you fix waiting for these benefits for as long as they have to sometimes, but something like this might give you a better understanding to figure out what we go through as boots on the ground.
Not everyone is so lucky to have someone as dedicated as Marie to help them out.
According to “The State of Homelessness in Canada 2016”:
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the plight of Armed Forces veterans who experience homelessness. Research has shown that approximately 2,950 veterans are experiencing homelessness, representing 2.2% of the homeless population in Canada. Alcohol and drug addiction are key drivers of veteran homelessness, followed by mental health challenges (including post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), and difficulty transitioning to civilian life.
The veterans affairs committee just submitted a report to the House on the transition to civilian life. Conservatives submitted our own report and comments, and I will quote from that. It is entitled “Common–Sense Conservatives Supporting Veterans in their Transition to Civilian Life”, and it states:
Once again, the Liberal Government and the latest report from the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs fails Veterans by completely missing the mark and ignoring the real concerns brought forward by the men and women who selflessly served Canada. The Liberals' excuse for ignoring Veterans concerns is that this is an issue which could be examined in perpetuity as the evolving nature of the modern world and workforce will undoubtedly continue to present new challenges to Veterans in transition. Therefore, the Liberal Government and their NDP and Bloc partners have attempted to absolve themselves of any responsibility to Veterans, but Conservatives wholeheartedly reject that Liberal premise and table this dissenting report to be a voice....
In closing, we must recognize the damage that the NDP-Liberal government has done to every single person who is struggling with homelessness. My family came here with a dream to own property, and struggled under a previous Liberal government in the 1970s when another prime minister with the same last name was in charge. Things have not gotten better. We need to do better for the people of this country and for veterans.
