Government of Canada's Response to the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs (SCONDVA) on Quality of Life in the Canadian Forces

Background

In the late 1990s, a number of DND studies identified gaps in the care and treatment of Canadian Forces (CF) personnel by DND specifically and, by extension, VAC. These included:

• the McLellan Report in April 1998 on Care of Injured Personnel and their Families Review;
• the Stow Report in April 1998 - a Study on the Treatment of Members Released on Medical Grounds; and,
• the Goss Gilroy Report in June 1998 - a Health Study of Canadian Forces Personnel Involved in the 1991 Conflict in the Persian Gulf.

The CF members interviewed for the McLellan Report expressed "generalized feelings of disillusionment and despair, outright anger and mistrust." The most commonly expressed feeling, however, was that of abandonment.

In October 1997, the Minister of National Defence asked the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs (SCONDVA) to study the social and economic challenges facing CF members and their families.

In October 1998, SCONDVA issued its report, "Moving Forward: A Strategic Plan for Quality of Life Improvements in the Canadian Forces". The Report contained 89 recommendations dealing with issues of Pay, Family Support, Transitions (from military to civilian life) and Work Expectations, Housing and the Care of the Injured.

The Government accepted the SCONDVA recommendations and acknowledged that the CF in Special Duty Areas (SDA) and those injured in the service of Canada needed suitable recognition, care and compensation. In an effort to remedy some of the problems articulated by CF members, the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada developed a number of proposals aimed at improving the Quality of Life in the Canadian Forces.

Highlights

Insofar as Veterans Affairs Canada is concerned, 16 of the SCONDVA recommendations directly impact the Department. Broadly encompassed under the Care of the Injured umbrella, their underlying themes include: equitable access to services and benefits provided to still-serving and former CF members whether they were injured in Canada or in an SDA; information sharing; and recognition of Canadian Forces members as veterans.

To date, Veterans Affairs Canada has made steady progress in addressing the concerns identified in the SCONDVA recommendations.

Included among the changes that have already been implemented are:

• in April 1999, the DND-VAC Centre for the Support of Injured and Retired Members and Their Families opened in Ottawa. Jointly operated by DND and VAC, The Centre provides information, referral and assistance support to former and current CF members and their families.

• legislative/regulatory reform: in October 2000, Parliament passed legislation to amend the Pension Act. Bill C-41 authorized the Department to pay disability pensions to still-serving CF members with disabilities related to service-related injuries incurred in Canada; in August 2001, changes to the Veterans Health Care Regulations gave still-serving CF members access to services provided by the Veterans Independence Program for their pensioned conditions and based on an assessed health need. These legislative/regulatory changes make access to services and benefits more equitable to all CF members, regardless of whether the injury occurred in Canada or on a foreign deployment.

• in March 2001, the Government of Canada formally recognized as veterans those former members of the CF who had fulfilled military occupational classification requirements and had been honourably discharged. Effectively, this recognizes the potential risk to which all CF members are exposed when they swear the Oath of Allegiance and don a Canadian uniform.

• in April 2001, the Department launched its Assistance Service, accessed initially via a toll-free telephone line, for former members of the CF and their families who require professional counselling. This is a voluntary and confidential bilingual service available 24 hours a day/seven days a week. It is delivered through a nation-wide team of counsellors under contract to Health Canada. Assistance Line: 1-800-268-7708 Assistance Line for Hearing Impaired: 1-800-567-5803.

VAC, by itself, and in partnership with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces, is working towards addressing each of the main concerns raised by SCONDVA. In cooperation with DND, progress is documented on an annual basis in the Government of Canada's Annual Report to SCONDVA on Quality of Life in the Canadian Forces.