Veterans Affairs committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. Thank you for inviting the Royal Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund to address you today. My name is Chief Petty Officer, retired, Bob Cléroux. I retired from the Canadian Armed Forces

Veterans Affairs committee  We would absolutely agree that they should not be released until they are prepared to re-enter the civilian world. Some of it is as simple as not understanding that when they get a VAC settlement or SISIP settlement of a couple of hundred thousand dollars and they buy themselves

Veterans Affairs committee  We don't. A lot of them actually feel ashamed—

Veterans Affairs committee  A lot of them feel ashamed to come to us in the first place, or they weren't sure that we were even there to be able to help them. Also, they don't necessarily want to share their stories either, so it's difficult to do that. I don't know if you want to add anything, Tom?

Veterans Affairs committee  For us, absolutely. We depend on VAC. They help us identify clients, because we're a very small group and we only have one employee. VAC contacts us and says, “We've found a sailor that's in need.” They often will create the case for us, and then we'll adjudicate the case and see

Veterans Affairs committee  We do not. No. Prior to unification, we used to receive money from the canteen funds of ships, but since unification we haven't received any money. We were intelligent enough to invest our money. We live off the interest of the money we have invested.

Veterans Affairs committee  People are aware. I'm not sure that they've taken advantage of it yet. I think a full rollout of pension for life is coming up in April. It's not going to address all the people who are releasing. It's for the most severely injured. It's not for people who were not injured in com

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll let Tom speak to that.

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct.

Veterans Affairs committee  A lot of the referrals we get from VAC is emergency funding, and it's emergency funding that doesn't fall within their ability to support it. For example, VAC does not cover first and last months' rent. We would prefer that the person who is homeless or near-homeless be able to g

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Veterans Affairs committee  As far as I know, yes, it is. As I said, we have a great partnership with VAC. When they refer clients to us, it's because they cannot help them due to the way their fund is set up, but they will help first. It's the same thing with the Legion. We often get into a partnership w

Veterans Affairs committee  It's a very difficult question for me to answer. Using the associations—there are so many associations out there that care about veterans—I think is a good way to communicate. Tom, do you have any ideas?

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm sure life aboard ship is different from life in the bush for a soldier, but there's not a lot of difference between the veterans.