Proceedings of the Subcommittee on
Veterans Affairs
Issue No. 6 - Evidence - February 1, 2017
OTTAWA, Wednesday, February 1, 2017
The Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence met this day at 12:27 p.m. for the election of the chair.
[English]
Adam Thompson, Clerk of the Subcommittee: Honourable senators, I see a quorum. As clerk of the committee, it is my duty to preside over the election of a chair. I am now prepared to receive nominations to that effect.
Senator Lang: I nominate Senator Jaffer to be chair.
Mr. Thompson: Are there any other nominations?
Seeing none, it is moved by the Honourable Senator Lang that the Honourable Senator Jaffer do take the chair of this subcommittee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Mr. Thompson: Carried.
I invite Senator Jaffer to take the chair.
Senator Mobina S. B. Jaffer (Chair) in the chair.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Senator Lang. If I understood earlier, Senator Dagenais will be the deputy chair, and the independents will give us a third name; so three of us will be the steering committee to make decisions.
I want to throw some ideas at you quickly. I know everyone has to rush to different things. I spoke to the two analysts, and I would like to have them stand and introduce themselves. These are the people we will be working with.
Havi Echenberg, Analyst, Library of Parliament: Hello. I am Havi Echenberg, and I will be the lead analyst on the subcommittee.
Jean-Rodrigue Paré, Analyst, Library of Parliament: My name is Jean-Rodrigue Paré. I have been the analyst on the House of Commons Veterans Affairs Committee for the last seven years, and I will support Havi.
The Chair: I am also new on this committee, so I have asked them to please go through all the reports that this committee has ever done, do a summary of each report, and also give a link so people can see the whole report if they want. We will then have an idea of all the reports that were done.
They have also prepared a PowerPoint for us so we can be oriented as to what the committee was doing and we will all be on a level playing field before we start.
My second request of you is that if there is any study that you would like this committee to do, please let steering have your ideas and we will bring them back to this committee for a final decision.
For those who have just joined the Senate, please don't feel that you have to worry about the set-up and how it happens. The analysts are great in helping you frame the study, so you can reach out to us and to them. Even if you have a vague question and you want them to look at it, don't wonder how to go about this. Please reach out and we can all work on this.
With the environment around us, we may want to do a very strong study. I will leave that in your good hands. I haven't asked all the members of steering, so I am doing this on my own today. I thought I would give them a week to get the package together and give us a week to study it. We will not have a meeting next Wednesday but the following Wednesday, which gives all of us good time to prepare.
Then we will have the PowerPoint. The analysts had a good suggestion, subject to all of you, that at that time we could even have the department come and give us a briefing as to Veterans Affairs so then we would ready to start our work. Is that acceptable?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Mr. Thompson: If I could, you were mentioning background material. At the beginning of each session, the Committees Directorate prepares an introduction document for each committee, which I distributed just before Christmas. I have a few copies here if you would like one. Its goes into the past sessions for the National Security and Defence Committee as well as the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs.
Senator Wallin: I am not a member but I will be a permanent observer, if allowed.
We have done several of these studies looking at streamlining services in response to veterans. There have been some changes recommended by the ombudsman's office. They have joined forces between DND and veterans, and I would like to suggest we hone in on that because I think there needs to be a push behind that.
The Chair: Can you draft exactly what you are thinking so we can look at it?
Senator Wallin: Absolutely.
Senator Meredith: I don't know whether you are taking ideas now or you want us to submit those to you.
The Chair: Not to me but to the clerk.
Senator Meredith: I agree with Senator Wallin with respect to some of the issues.
In the last five years, I have been dealing with veterans in Toronto. Some of the studies I would like to see are around homelessness and abuse, as well as disability payments to veterans with respect to how they are given lump sums and how there should be an amortization of these payments so they are not abused. Veterans are further disenfranchised by a lack of resources. Those are the types of topics I will be submitting to the committee.
The Chair: I will summarize the process. With what the clerk has given to us, the analysts will provide us with the PowerPoint and a detailed document. You will think about studies that you would like to do. Send them to the clerk. We will look at them and distribute all the study topics we get so people have an idea beforehand. At the next meeting, we will have the analysts go through the PowerPoint, and we will invite the department and then look at the studies.
This is a lot to get through. I have had many people come to me and say that this will not be a good time to do all the work we want to do. We are making no decisions today that I can think of, but the Defence Committee has a meeting on Monday. We could take an hour's break and reconvene for Veterans. Otherwise, it is rushing in and out. I will leave it in your good hands to talk about later.
Senator White: In the fulsome concept of openness, just so there is no surprise to you or the deputy chair, I have flagged with the opposition leader and the government leader that I believe we need a full-time Veterans Affairs Committee, not a subcommittee.
The Chair: At this point, with the present environment, I have gone to our leadership and said we need a full-time committee and more time. Let us talk about that. I ask that we all go to our leadership and see if there is agreement and look at a time when everyone is available.
Senator Wallin: When you are talking about the Monday time, are you talking about in addition to or instead of?
The Chair: Instead of. We will not have a meeting Wednesday. We have not decided anything. For example, Senators Lankin and McPhedran have a conflict, as do others.
(The subcommittee adjourned.)