Veterans Affairs committee  I had more support from a Veterans Affairs case manager at the IPSC in Shilo. She went well beyond her mandate as a case manager to assist me.

Veterans Affairs committee  Without active, targeted funding from Veterans Affairs to deal with housing, it's going to get worse. Some people always say to talk to the local Legion. You're well aware that we live in a rural area like yours, Mr. Shipley. I have three Legions in three very small communities.

Veterans Affairs committee  It needs to be targeted toward local living expenses. The cost of living where I live on Vancouver Island is far more expensive than it is in Calgary. I live in very rural Vancouver Island. I can find rental accommodation in Calgary for half the price that I'm paying in the Comox

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize to the Bloc member. I'm going to be reading extremely fast, so the translators are probably going to have a hard time keeping up.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not a service dog trainer or a board member of a service dog organization, nor am I affiliated with any service dog companies' operations. I am an end-user. Upon my release from the CAF in 2016, I relocated to British Columbia. This is where my difficulties began with other

Veterans Affairs committee  In B.C. anyone can have a service dog, because the B.C. certification is only an obedience test, and a note from your family doctor or nurse practitioner is the only thing that's required. Few people are aware that the psychiatric service dog program was first initiated in the l

Veterans Affairs committee  In closing, I ask that the committee take all of the information from service dog providers with a grain of salt. Do not rely on the infighting within this multi-million-dollar unregulated industry. Yes, veterans get dogs for free, but somebody has to be paid to rear, feed, kenne

Veterans Affairs committee  Veterans Affairs Canada needs to stay out of the service dog world, period. It's not the job of Veterans Affairs to get involved with the service dog world. It will work itself out, I believe, through this independent process and a national standards process. Accreditation is a w

Veterans Affairs committee  Once a national standard comes out, an accreditation process can begin. I would leave it up to the individuals to do their research and then make an informed decision. There's so much information right now, and so much misinformation on the web right now, that it's impossible to

Veterans Affairs committee  I was one of probably the few veterans who believed what people told you about service dogs. I actually did my research. I phoned almost a dozen providers, and only one provider asked me these questions: Am I safe, and do I have a medical team I'm working with? That was the team

Veterans Affairs committee  I can give you a specific instance that happened in the last week. Exactly one week ago, two service dog team members who were in Whistler Blackcomb were attempting to gain services and were being denied service. The RCMP had to be called to get involved with the directors at Whi

Veterans Affairs committee  Denial of public access is the biggest one across the board, whether it be government, civic or provincial buildings. I appreciate the separation between federal and provincial jurisdictions, but we have federal members of Parliament sitting on organizations that are pushing th

Veterans Affairs committee  I definitely need VAC to stay out of the development of the standards process. Veterans Affairs should support it wholeheartedly but take an independent, outside approach, because service dog organizations have made huge inroads to push their agenda within the department itself.

Veterans Affairs committee  The process has already started with the HRSO, which the Canadian Association for Animal-Assisted Support Services is involved in. There's an independent body. I want to say that Joanne Moss's organization, which is completely independent, gets attacked by industry all the time