HomeAdvocates, union reps have high hopes for new veterans minister amid calls for ‘fundamental sea-change’ within department
Page 1 of 1
Advocates, union reps have high hopes for new veterans minister amid calls for ‘fundamental sea-change’ within department
by Charlie Wed 02 Aug 2023, 5:21 pm
Advocates, union reps have high hopes for new veterans minister amid calls for ‘fundamental sea-change’ within department
‘It’s time somebody listens,’ says Union of Veterans Affairs Employees president Virginia Vaillancourt of Petitpas Taylor's appointment.
BY STUART BENSON | August 2, 2023
Despite Ginette Petitpas Taylor’s lack of firsthand military experience, veterans associations and union representatives say they’re hopeful the new veterans affairs minister will bring a fresh and compassionate outsider perspective to address low morale and the longstanding backlog of disability benefit applications, and won’t just be another spin in a revolving door of unwanted ministers.
But retired Royal Canadian Air Force officer and accountability advocate Sean Bruyea says there will need to be a “fundamental sea change” within the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the “ponderous and marginalizing bureaucracy” that currently prioritizes the needs of the Treasury Board over disabled veterans and their families.
On July 26, Petitpas Taylor (Moncton–Riverview–Dieppe, N.B.) was shuffled from the official languages portfolio to become Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, replacing Cardigan, P.E.I.’s Lawrence MacAulay, who is now once again Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. MacAulay had been veterans minister since March 2019.
Petitpas Taylor is now the sixth minister of veterans affairs since the Trudeau Liberals first formed government in 2015, and the 11th since 2006 (including now-Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan’s acting turn in the post).
In a statement to The Hill Times, the National Council of Veterans Associations in Canada (NCVA) said it welcomes Petitpas Taylor’s appointment, and looks forward to working with her to “expedite the adoption of many of our recommendations as she takes over the leadership of the department.”
“NCVA continues to have significant concerns with respect to veterans’ legislation, regulation, and policy, necessitating immediate action by the government and Veterans Affairs Canada to rectify the ongoing inequity and injustice impacting Canada’s veteran community,” wrote Brian Forbes, the council’s chairman. “Although [former minister MacAulay] and the department continually delivered statements of good intention, it has been readily apparent that the machinery of government does indeed move extremely slowly in actually implementing needed overall legislative reform.”
Virginia Vaillancourt, national president of the Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees, similarly told The Hill Times her group welcomes the change, and is hopeful for a “positive and collaborative relationship” with the new minister.
“I look forward to being able to have our first meeting—hopefully soon—to find out what her priorities are for the department,” said Vaillancourt, noting that, for more than a year, she’d been unsuccessful in trying to meet with MacAulay to discuss pressing issues facing the department, chief amongst them ongoing concerns with the contracting out of veterans rehabilitation services.
“I believe there should be another pause in any further transfers of the veterans over to the new contractor until they can sort out and resolve all of the issues they’re having,” Vaillancourt explained, pointing to the $57-million contract the government awarded to Lifemark Health Group and WCG International Consultants in July 2021 to provide rehabilitation and vocational assistance services.
The transition of files began in October 2022. This past June, the union called the contract’s implementation a failure, saying that instead of streamlining services, it has led to increased paperwork for caseworkers and frustrated clients.
Vaillancourt said she also hopes to get reassurances that Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) will move forward with a number of other recommendations the union has made, including establishing a 25:1 caseload ratio for managers.
“That’s been promised since 2015, and we’ve been raising the issue for years that there aren’t enough case managers to meet the needs of veterans,” Vaillancourt explained. “So I’m hopeful that [Minister Petitpas Taylor] is open to a renewed commitment to meet with me, but also to consult and work with the union on a regular basis for the betterment of not only the staff who work there, but veterans and their families they serve.”
Vaillancourt said she looks “forward to building a positive relationship” with Petitpas Taylor to work “together to fix things for veterans.”
“That’s what we’ve been calling for for years, and it’s time somebody listens,” she said.
Bruce Julian, dominion president of the Royal Canadian Legion, told The Hill Times he enjoyed a very close relationship with MacAulay during his more than a four-year run as veterans minister, which Julian noted was a “fairly long” tenure for the portfolio.
“But it’s never a bad thing to have a new, vibrant, and energetic minister,” Julian said, adding that Petitpas Taylor has already reached out to him to schedule a meeting later this week.
“That’s probably the quickest ever that we’ve had a face-to-face meeting scheduled after a new minister being appointed, so that’s a good sign,” he said, noting that, unlike Vaillancourt’s experience, he had met with MacAulay more than half a dozen times in the past two years.
But while the minister may have changed, the Legion’s priorities haven’t, said Julian.
“The ministry knows what those priorities are; we’ve been talking with her deputy minister and associate deputy minister for a long time on some of these, so they’re not new,” Julian explained, similarly pointing to the disability benefit backlog and wait time issues as top priorities.
“We know the backlog is coming down and getting better, but it still hasn’t gotten to where we think it needs to be with the standards of 16 weeks for processing. So there still needs to be work done on that,” Julian explained.
While he said he isn’t against the use of contract services to lighten the caseload, he said the Legion hopes to see the department “come up with a more permanent staffing solution.”
“Contract help has a habit of moving on if they get a better offer somewhere, and then VAC will have to start the whole process over again,” said Julian.
He also highlighted hopes to see Petitpas Taylor move quickly to create a national strategy to address the issue of veterans facing homelessness, and to provide more equitable access to programs and services for all veterans, regardless of where or when they served.
“It seems right now that we have different policies for different cadres of the veterans, whether they’re from the Second World War, the Korean War, or those under the New Veterans Charter and the enhanced Veterans Charter, which makes it hard to maneuver through that system,” Julian explained. “Where and when you serve shouldn’t matter … a veteran is a veteran, and they should all be treated equally and fairly through those programs.”
In a statement to The Hill Times, Petitpas Taylor said she was “deeply touched” to be appointed as the new minister of veterans affairs, and that being entrusted with “the important mission of serving Canada’s Veteran community is both an honour and a privilege.”
Petitpas Taylor said her first priority is getting the backlog of disability benefits “under control,” noting it’s already been reduced by more than 75 per cent since its peak in 2020. She said she’ll also be “especially focused” on continuing to develop the Veterans Employment Strategy and on improving services and reducing gaps for equity deserving groups, like women, francophones, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ veterans, as well as former members of the RCMP.
As to what guides her work in the role, Petitpas Taylor said the most important thing will be to approach from “a place of understanding and respect.”
Growing up in Dieppe, N.B., which was renamed in 1946 in honour of those who died in combat in and around the French town during the Second World War, Petitpas Taylor said she’d always been familiar with the story of Dieppe, and got the chance to travel there with the Canadian Delegation to mark the 75th and 80th anniversaries of the Dieppe Raid in 2017 and 2022.
“It is profoundly meaningful for me to now be working on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have worn the uniform for Canada in times of war, military conflict, and peace,” Petitpas Taylor wrote, adding while “direct shared experience” can be beneficial in any portfolio, her lack of direct military experience isn’t a hinderance to appreciating the sacrifices of veterans.
“That is exactly what I’m focused on in this portfolio—properly recognizing the sacrifices of everyone who has worn the uniform, and ensuring they have access to the benefits and services they need and deserve,” she wrote.
Bruyea stresses need for departmental change
Speaking with The Hill Times, Bruyea said that with every new minister shuffled into the veterans file, he questions whether they will simply be a “placeholder,” or whether they can actually bring meaningful change to the department.
While it’s still far too early to answer that question about Petitpas Taylor, Bruyea said, “on paper,” she seems like one of the best Trudeau has appointed in terms of bringing a “fresh, compassionate perspective” to the file, so long as she is given enough leeway and a sufficient mandate.
Bruyea said Petitpas Taylor’s past experience as chairwoman of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women and co-ordinator of the Victim Services Program of the local detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provides a much-needed “equity perspective” to address not only the unique issues facing female veterans, but those faced by Veterans Affairs’ largest demographic, disabled veterans, whom Bruyea said are being discriminated against in their experiences trying to access services and resources.
“I think she will hopefully get onto some systemic cures to address those serious issues,” Bruyea said. “And hopefully, this minister will be the first of any I’ve ever seen in 23 years that truly understands that this department needs to validate the sacrifices made in the name of Canada.”
Although Petitpas Taylor lacks any first-hand experience in the military, Bruyea said those concerns are a “red herring” in determining whether someone will be effective in the role.
“I think, more importantly, they have to have compassion for military experience,” said Bruyea, adding that over the last 15 years, Veterans Affairs has been “a dumping ground for unwanted ministers” who are tasked with merely running interference between veterans and the media.
“The priority has not been to be caring and compassionate toward veterans,” he said. “It’s been to administer programs in accordance with Treasury Board, while getting veterans to shut up about the reality of what it’s like to go through Veterans Affairs’ ponderous and marginalizing bureaucracy.”
Bruyea said, in his view, MacAulay treated the file as a ceremonial position, and had implemented far too little of the proactive measures veterans had been calling for while greenlighting the contracting out of rehabilitation to private service providers.
“His lack of pushing back against the bureaucracy is something that has to be reversed,” said Bruyea.
Bruyea, who has spoken out about his own negative experiences with the department, told The Hill Times he’s spoken to numerous other veterans and seen “their souls just being crushed dealing with this bureaucracy” on a regular basis to access basic benefits and services.
“Veterans are not usually very vocal by and large, but the few of us that are speaking out represent a large proportion of veterans that are unhappy,” Bruyea explained. “I’m one of the more prominent advocates that are able to speak up, but the few of us that are speaking out—even if not very loud—should indicate that there are bigger problems here.”
To address such problems, Bruyea said Petitpas Taylor will need to usher in a “fundamental sea change” to how VAC treats veterans.
“Veterans Affairs has become an insurance-minded department, but without the accountability and oversight required of private insurance companies,” Bruyea said.
Reducing the backlog of disability benefit applications should be a priority, said Bruyea, in order to address the deeper issue that he believes contributed to the delays in the first place. To do that, he said Petitpas Taylor will need to prioritize veterans over the government’s bottom line.
“If a program serves the Treasury Board before it serves veterans, it has to be scrapped,” Bruyea explained. “Until that philosophy changes and the bureaucracy stops questioning and second-guessing veterans, and treating them as basically criminals intent on defrauding the system, they will always feel that their sacrifice is not being recognized.”
sbenson@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
Charlie- Registered User
- Posts : 297
Join date : 2018-02-13
Similar topics» Union calls for Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay's replacement
» Advocates, union release eight recommendations to fix Veterans Affairs Canada
» Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new minister amid ongoing backlogs
» Veteran’s wife calls Veterans Affairs minister insenitive
» Defence Minister promises to find out why Rwanda veterans’ service not recognized by department’s website
» Advocates, union release eight recommendations to fix Veterans Affairs Canada
» Veterans, advocates want to see changes at Veterans Affairs under new minister amid ongoing backlogs
» Veteran’s wife calls Veterans Affairs minister insenitive
» Defence Minister promises to find out why Rwanda veterans’ service not recognized by department’s website
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum|
|
|