THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Wednesday, May 11, 2022
The Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs met with videoconference this day at 12:07 p.m. [ET] to examine and report on issues relating to Veterans Affairs, including services and benefits provided, commemorative activities, and the continuing implementation of the Veterans Well-being Act.
Senator David Richards (Chair) in the chair.
[English]
The Chair: Honourable senators, welcome to this meeting of the Standing Senate Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs. I’m David Richards, a senator from New Brunswick and chair of the subcommittee. I’m joined today by my fellow subcommittee members: Senator Boisvenu, deputy chair from Quebec; Senator Anderson from the Northwest Territories; Senator Deacon from Ontario; and Senator Yussuff from Ontario. Welcome to you.
Those participating virtually are asked to have their microphones muted at all times unless recognized by name by the chair and will be responsible for turning their microphones on and off during the meeting. Before speaking, please wait until you are recognized by name. Should any technical challenges arise, particularly in relation to interpretation, please signal this to the chair or to the clerk and we will work to resolve the issue.
Finally, I would like to remind all participants that Zoom screens should not be copied, recorded or photographed. You may use and share official proceedings posted on the SenVu website for this purpose.
Today we continue our ongoing study on issues related to Veterans Affairs, including services and benefits provided, commemorative activities and the continuing implementation of the Veterans Well-being Act.
We welcome the Veterans Ombudsperson, Colonel Nishika Jardine. She is having technical problems. She is accompanied by Duane Schippers, Deputy Veterans Ombudsman. Thank you for joining us today by video conference. We will begin by inviting you to provide your opening remarks.
Mr. Schippers, if you could go ahead with your statement, please, and then we will have questions from senators. Thank you very much.
Duane Schippers, Deputy Veterans Ombudsman, Office of the Veterans Ombudsman: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize; I will be delivering these remarks in Colonel Jardine’s voice. I will read her remarks to you.
[Translation]
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, dear members of the committee. Thank you for inviting us to say a few words about our work and our office’s priorities.
[English]
In particular, I would like to share my concerns about the wait times by veterans for decisions on their disability claims. I would also like to share our most recent report on the adjudication of sexual dysfunction claims.
The most important task of any ombudsman is to respond to individual complaints, and the primary role of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman is to receive and attempt to resolve complaints from the clients of Veterans Affairs Canada, or VAC, when they are having difficulty with the department. The number one complaint we receive is from veterans about their frustration with lengthy wait times for disability benefit decisions.
In 2016, 16% of all the complaints we received were about the time it was taking to get a decision on a disability claim. In 2021-22, that number rose to 20%. We are all well aware that this is a difficult situation that needs to be resolved in order for Canada to better meet its commitments to our veterans.
[Translation]
You have probably heard many statistics about this, and I think we can get lost discussing number of weeks and number of people who wait longer than others.
Today, I would like to turn your attention away from the numbers and focus on the people, the veterans. I’d like to talk to you about the effect of these delays.
[English]
VAC reports its backlog and wait times as an average of all claims that are being considered: First, applications, reassessments and expedited claims by “Red Zone veterans” who are over the age of 80 or who have a life-threatening health concern. These Red Zone claims are, in effect, being triaged upon receipt, and that’s a good thing. What I am recommending is that there be a triage of the first applications as well.
The needs of all applicants are not the same. Still-serving applicants do not need help with accessing health care because their health care needs are fully met by the Canadian Armed Forces. So veterans, that is, those who are no longer serving and, in particular, those who left the Canadian Armed Forces before they were eligible to receive an immediate pension and who therefore do not have access to the public health care plan are the ones whom I am most concerned about.
[Translation]
Some veterans need a favourable decision to access health care benefits for their service-related conditions, such as medication, dental care, support for home adaptations or for prostheses.
[English]
While some veterans may be eligible to receive treatment under the rehabilitation program while they wait, VAC does not clearly communicate this. Not all veterans will be eligible because the claim condition must be causing a barrier to re-establishment, which is not always the case. Without proactive triage and clearer communications, lengthy wait times can prevent access to necessary treatments for service-related conditions.
VAC is well aware of the impact of wait times on veterans who have submitted first applications. We have seen changes that mitigate this impact since we first published our report on this subject back in 2018. Now, treatment/benefit reimbursement is provided going back to the date of application. This is a positive step, but veterans can still experience financial hardship by having to pay up front for their health care treatment and services while waiting for a decision and then for reimbursement, or, worse, they may forgo treatment altogether.
If you are one of the thousands still waiting, you may also be waiting for treatment and this is not acceptable.
I was so pleased to see the most recent change to the Veterans Health Care Regulations on April 1, which now afford some veterans with an important bridge for up to two years of VAC-funded mental health treatment, while they are waiting for the decision on their mental health disability claims. I would ask the government to go further: Provide the same bridge benefit for all disability claims and, in so doing, close this immense gap in veteran health care that is triggered by a release from the Canadian Armed Forces.
Until then, I will continue to focus on the impact of wait times for decisions on first disability claim applications. The gateway to Disability Benefits program is through an approved disability claim.
[Translation]
This is undoubtedly a complex issue. My intention today is simply to draw your attention to the veterans hidden behind the numbers.
[English]
No veteran should have to wait for these decisions that can have such an important impact on their health and well-being.
Speaking of equitable access to decisions by VAC, I would draw your attention to our most recent report, published on April 21, on the subject of the adjudication of sexual dysfunction claims consequential to a psychiatric condition. Our investigation found sex-based bias in the department’s adjudication processes for female veterans who have submitted a disability claim for sexual dysfunction as a consequence of a service-related psychiatric condition. Veterans Affairs streamlines male-specific erectile-dysfunction claims related to a psychiatric condition, but no similar process exists for female claims. This is unfair.
[Translation]
During our investigation, we found that the available data on specific clients of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VAC, was significantly limited, making it impossible to assess the impact of the systemic gender biases we identified.
[English]
To mitigate this inequitable access to VAC programs and benefits, I have made five specific recommendations to the Minister of Veterans Affairs. I am pleased to report that the minister has accepted all five of my recommendations.
[Translation]
I would also like to acknowledge the work done by VAC to make policy changes in line with our recommendations.
[English]
Earlier this year, VAC released new guidance for adjudicating sexual dysfunction claims. I understand that veterans can expect updates to the medical questionnaire and the table of disabilities that will assist their adjudicators in making decisions on sexual dysfunction disability claims.
In our annual Report Card process, we will, of course, monitor VAC’s progress and assess the effectiveness of their initiatives in addressing our recommendations. Again, however, I would like to reiterate that female veterans with a service-related sexual dysfunction should not have to wait longer or experience an unfair outcome simply because of their sex.
[Translation]
In summary, I urge you to look beyond the numbers and focus instead on what wait times truly mean to our veterans.
[English]
I would urge you to ask VAC how many veterans are waiting for a decision on their initial application now that you know that these are the numbers that have the most impact on our veterans’ health and well-being. Likewise, I hope that our reports and recommendations continue to guide change in VAC processes to ensure fairness for all veterans.
[Translation]
As the Veterans Ombud, your interest in pursuing all of these issues is vital both to me and my office.
Again, thank you for inviting me to share my views.
[English]
And those are the words of Colonel Jardine.
The Chair: Thank you very much, sir. Colonel Jardine has just logged on. I will give her the benefit of a minute or so to speak. Then I will go to questions because our time is short.
Colonel, if you wish to have a moment or two before we go to questions, please feel free.
Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine, Veterans Ombud, Office of the Veterans’ Ombudsman: Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much for the invitation. I apologize for the difficulties we had in trying to connect to the meeting. That was really quite strange.
I appreciate very much that my deputy, Mr. Schippers, was able to read my remarks to you. I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
The Chair: Thank you very much, colonel. We will now go to questions.
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: Welcome to both of our witnesses. Colonel, your deputy sent us a report that reflects the reality for applications and medical services, but he didn’t address large swaths of the issue. I would like to hear from you on this matter, particularly on homelessness, because according to the data collected, between 3,000 and 5,000 veterans in Canada are struggling with homelessness, meaning they are without housing.
I asked the Minister of Veterans Affairs this question last week and I was surprised. First of all, a few years ago, the government promised $45 million over two years for homelessness. When I asked him when his department would address this issue, I understood that the department was still working on the structure of the program that could help the homeless. Have you seen a fairly conspicuous lack of action from the department in dealing with this issue?
Col. Jardine: Thank you very much for the question.
[English]
I know that the department and many veterans’ groups are deeply concerned about this issue of homelessness. We did our study several years ago and we continue to be concerned. As we all know, one homeless veteran is too many.
I can’t comment on what the department is doing exactly. I would have to refer or defer to the department on the details of their programs. What I can tell you is that my concern is with unmet health needs. We know that when there are needs that go unmet, these are things that lead to and contribute to homelessness. For me, my focus at the moment is on the process by which veterans obtain benefits and programs from the department that can go towards averting homelessness.
As I had mentioned in my remarks that Mr. Schippers shared with you, this focus is on looking at the first application. When a veteran realizes that they need help and they reach out to the department through their disability claim, if it is a first application and if that veteran is not in receipt of an annuity and cannot have access to the Public Service Health Care Plan, they may have unmet health needs that they are looking for help with. This is where my focus is.
I’m sorry that I cannot give you a better answer with respect to what the department is doing. Certainly, I would defer to them for details on that.
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: Thank you, colonel. We need the shortest possible answers; otherwise, we won’t have time for further questions.
You are showing us a vicious cycle regarding homelessness. People don’t receive health services because of too many delays. When they do receive services, they have to pay for them, then ask to be reimbursed. They have no shelter to live a balanced life. We’re in a dead end with this issue.
The question I’m asking is fundamental. The military ombudsman has asked to report to the House of Commons rather than to the Department of Defence, because he does not have the autonomy and independence to criticize his department based on the complaints he receives. Are you thinking of asking for the same independence from the Department of Veterans Affairs so that you have the freedom to criticize both the minister and the department? The way to do it should be to report to the House of Commons rather than to the department. What do you think?
[English]
Col. Jardine: Every ombudsman looks to have as much independence as possible and I would certainly echo that sentiment.
The key thing for me is that I need to understand — we all need to understand — what is it we expect ombuds to do at the federal level. I’ll limit my concerns at this level because there are ombudsmen and ombuds offices throughout our society.
At the federal level, what is it that we want our ombuds to do? If we want our ombuds to be able to pursue systemic investigations and come up with recommendations to assist federal departments in delivering on their mandate, then ombuds must be structured in a way that they are able to pursue or conduct those investigations without hindrance, I should say.
That is not to say there are no limits. I would say that in order to be able to do this work to the full extent, then we need to understand what that independence means and what it looks like and how our offices should be structured.
The Chair: Thank you very much, colonel.
Senator M. Deacon: Thank you for joining us today. I appreciate that. In addition to my colleague’s question, I heard you say this may not be your area of specific response but he did talk about the money dedicated to homelessness. I cannot help but wonder about the proposed veterans homelessness program that has been announced in the budget at $62.2 million for three years. How long it is going to take to activate that kind of money? How should it be best spent? Do you think it is enough for our homeless vets? Are you able to response to that?
Col. Jardine: I regret that I am not able to respond directly to your question, senator.
Senator M. Deacon: Thank you very much. I will leave that then for the moment.
It was mentioned earlier, and I think it was your statement so either one of you can respond with respect to disability claims. Thank you for that information. The 2021 report shows that wait times were quite a bit longer for francophones and women.
In our minds, I wonder if it is right to assume that in the case of the former there are simply not enough francophone speakers looking after these cases. As for wait times for women, is there any indication why this is?
Col. Jardine: It is my understanding from information we received just recently that the department has, in fact, closed the gap for women and men for their claims, in terms of the wait times. Francophones are still waiting longer. We can only assume that the reason is with respect to resources and having the right people with the right linguistic capabilities and knowledge. It is not just being able to speak French. It is to have the knowledge that is required in order to adjudicate a claim properly.
Senator M. Deacon: Thank you for that.
Finally, around COVID-19, I am thinking of the frame of the last few years with a pandemic and how that has impacted our veterans community.
In your work, did you notice any increase in the mental health crisis or in employment issues? Did it parallel or follow general statistics of the general population? Were there any specific hurdles that the pandemic presented for our veterans?
Col. Jardine: The only way that I have to appreciate what is going on with the veteran community is with respect to the number of complaints that we get and the types of complaints that we get.
We have had fewer complaints this year than last year. I believe last year was fewer than the year before.
Our assumption is that veterans may not have been able to access medical or physicians, so they were unable to get in to see physicians in order to confirm diagnoses or get questionnaires filled out, which would make it difficult for them to complete their applications for disability benefits or reassessments. That is about the extent of the assumptions I can make because I can only look at the evidence that we have, which is reflected in the numbers of complaints that we get in our office.
Senator Anderson: My question is for the colonel. Quyanainni. Thank you very much for your testimony.
In a December 5, 2021, article you spoke to the unfair treatment of veteran family members who are unable to access mental health services unless it is part and parcel of the veteran’s own treatment plan. You were quoted as saying:
When a veteran serves or a military member serves, or even an RCMP member serves, their families also served and there’s an impact on their mental health.
Can you speak more to that, please?
Col. Jardine: Yes, absolutely and thank you for the question. What we found in our report was that unless the family member’s treatment is considered a part of the veterans treatment — and I will include RCMP members in that — then they cannot have access to mental health treatment funded by VAC in their own right.
Military families are incredibly resilient, but military service has an impact in ways that are very subtle, which maybe they don’t really understand or they don’t know, and they may manifest further down the road. Military families go through the same societal issues as every other Canadian.
For example, say that the family comes apart, the spouse is now on their own, perhaps with the children, and they’re even further away from being able to access mental health treatment benefits from the department because now they’re no longer even linked to their veteran.
The problem is acute for those families where it happens. The stories that we heard — and I relayed during my remarks some of the stories we heard — are truly heartbreaking. We would urge the government to close that gap.
Senator Anderson: Do any of these recommendations address that issue to the government?
Col. Jardine: Yes, our recommendations in that report were directly related to approaches the government could take in order to close that gap. How they do that, of course, is up to the department and up to government.
Senator Anderson: Quyanainni. Thank you very much.
The Chair: I was wondering, colonel, if you know the percentage of francophones in the service and the percentage of English-speaking soldiers in the service. Do you know the breakdown of the percentage of that? You were speaking about language difficulties in getting treatment and getting things done.
Col. Jardine: I’m afraid I do not have those figures at hand. I will ask my colleague Mr. Schippers if he has them and, if not, we will certainly get them to you.
The Chair: Thank you. I have a quick question about sexual dysfunction. Is this done with psychiatric treatment? With men, it can be done in a variety of ways, but I’m thinking specifically of women. Is there any psychiatric treatment or evaluation done with women who come forward with this complaint?
Col. Jardine: I can’t answer your question with respect to the treatment they receive. Our focus was on the manner in which the department adjudicates the disability claim. Males and females will submit a disability claim for sexual dysfunction that is consequential to receiving psychiatric treatment for, as an example, post-traumatic stress disorder. The treatment or the very fact of having PTSD or even the medications can lead to sexual dysfunction. It’s a consequence of those things.
Our concern was with the fact that the department had put in place a streamlined approach for adjudicating male claims for erectile dysfunction consequential to a psychiatric condition, whereas there was no such streamlined tool in place to deal with similar disability claim applications being put in by females. That resulted in an unfairness, from our perspective, and our report goes into detail, and we’ve made recommendations as to how the department can overcome those.
The Chair: Do you think the recommendations will be followed?
Col. Jardine: I’m pleased to share that the minister accepted all five of the recommendations, and it is our understanding that the department is indeed making progress on them.
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: Thank you very much to our guests for being here. The department’s problem seems to me to be more structural than budgetary. The proof is that in 2020, we left 634 million dollars on the table, unspent. Given the major issues facing the department, we can see a fundamental problem.
Also, I doubt the minister’s answer, that the situation may be due to the pandemic. The majority of federal public servants worked from home. This did not prevent the department from considering short-term solutions to two major problems, namely delays in benefits and homelessness.
According to the information available to your office, what are the timelines for the department to bring the benefits backlog under control and to set up a program to help people who are homeless? According to your information, will we start to find solutions to these endemic problems in 2022, 2023 or 2025?
[English]
Col. Jardine: We are encouraged by the fact that the department has addressed the backlog to some great extent. I understand they have brought it down to 11,000 claims or thereabouts at the moment, which is very reassuring to us.
With respect to the homelessness and the programs on that, I’m afraid we have not looked at homelessness recently. Our report was several years ago, and we’ve been focusing on health care, treatment benefits and the gaps and barriers that we perceive. That’s where our focus has been over the past couple of years.
I don’t have anything more current to offer, and we have not yet looked into the programs that the department is working on with respect to homelessness at the moment.
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: How can we explain the fact that veterans, who have sacrificed their health for their country, have to pay for medical expenses, then claim a reimbursement? No other citizen in Canada, unless they are travelling outside the country, has to pay for medical services in the public health sector, then claim a reimbursement. Yet this is imposed on veterans. Can you explain the logic here?
[English]
Col. Jardine: That is an excellent question. I thank you so much for your concern. That’s exactly the concern I have. That’s exactly the problem. These disability claims are not just numbers. Within that 11,000 people who are waiting for their claims to be adjudicated, we don’t even know how many are because the department can’t answer the question. How many of these veterans have submitted a first claim and are waiting to get an answer so that they can have their conditions treated, the conditions that they are suffering as a result of their service to Canada?
This is exactly my point, and it’s my biggest concern.
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: If you lack this information, is it because your powers limit your access or because the department doesn’t give it to you?
[English]
Col. Jardine: We are asking the questions now, and we are waiting to receive answers. That’s the best I can tell you.
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: Thank you very much, colonel. And thank you for your work with veterans.
[English]
Senator Yussuff: My question is more direct. Given the substantial amount of money, the $140 million, can you tell us if this is going to help with the challenges and the issues you’ve been identifying for them to address? It may have been asked. I apologize if you’ve already answered this question, but if you get additional resources, do you think this will help solve some of the bigger problems in backlogs and other challenges?
Col. Jardine: Thank you, senator. I believe that every resource the department can get in order to address this problem of the backlog is certainly very welcome.
With respect to how that will unfold and how well they will be able to use that additional money to continue to reduce the backlog, I would defer to the department to answer that question directly.
Senator Anderson: In your annual report from 2021, in the clients by region, I note that in Northern Canada you have three clients in the Yukon, one in the Northwest Territories and zero in Nunavut. Can you tell me if the three territories are aware of the Veterans Ombud? My concern would be the lack of awareness and access to the service, and how someone in the North would access your service.
Col. Jardine: That’s a great question, senator. My biggest concern as well is that many veterans have no idea of the existence of a Veterans Ombud. I have approached the deputy minister with specific requests to try to correct that issue so we can make our presence more well known.
Now that the COVID pandemic seems to be in decline, it is my sincere wish and hope that I’ll be able to travel again and to meet with people where they are and to let them know what it is we do and what we can offer, so I’m hoping to correct that.
Senator Anderson: Do you have any plans specifically to deal with the three territories?
Col. Jardine: I haven’t made an outreach plan for anywhere at the moment. It’s still something we are working on. We are hoping to find better ways to connect with veterans all across the country and of all the diverse groups, particularly in the Indigenous communities. It seems that we are constantly looking to find a way to better connect.
Mr. Schippers: If I may, one of the things we are doing, senator, is engaging with Indigenous veterans’ organizations to obtain feedback on how best to reach the Indigenous communities, particularly in the North, and also looking at challenges they may be having with respect to receiving treatment benefits, for example, traditional medicines and whether those types of treatments are recognized.
It has been a little over 25 years since the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1996 published a whole chapter on Indigenous veterans and the challenges they faced. What’s shocking today is that Veterans Affairs Canada still does not track its clientele broken down into Indigenous veterans so we can tell whether or not they’re receiving the services and what kinds of services they need. That’s a concern to our office.
The Chair: I’m going to just slip in with a question to Mr. Schippers. I think this follows Senator Boisvenu’s concern too. I don’t want to be too cynical, but do you think that the government is incompetent when it comes to dealing with our veterans and their state of mind and the condition some of them are in?
Mr. Schippers: That’s an interesting question, senator. I wouldn’t say the government is incompetent. I think it is challenging to serve veterans with the number and vast differences in service experience, injuries. Some veterans are injured as a result of their service. Some veterans have injuries that aren’t service related, so don’t have the same benefits and access to benefits, and it’s challenging to walk that street.
One of the challenges is that when veterans release, they are like every other Canadian. They have trouble getting family doctors. The access generally to medical services in Canada for many Canadians is difficult, and veterans are there. Their families, if you move from province to province following your veteran, that means you’re at the back of the list every time you move trying to get family health care, a family doctor.
So there are challenges, but I don’t think it’s because of any particular incompetence. There are a number of challenges, and it’s a question of priorities and what the priorities are at any one point in time. As a civil servant, that’s up to Canadians and parliamentarians to establish those priorities and hold the government to account. We will shine a light on the issues that we see as problematic. It’s up to parliamentarians and the government to act.
The Chair: Thank you. Maybe “incompetent” was too harsh a word, but things do seem to be bogged down at times in bureaucracy no matter where we are or what we’re trying to do in Canada.
This is a quick question with a quick answer and then we’ll continue on. You said shine a light, sir. How much influence does the ombudsman have in shining this light when it comes to government and interplay with the ombudsman and the government?
Mr. Schippers: I think it very much depends on each individual ombuds office. I think our office has been quite successful in shining a light on issues, working with parliamentarians, appearing before parliamentary committees, working with veterans’ stakeholder organizations.
We identify the issue. We then ask that the stakeholders and the parliamentarians hold the government’s feet to the fire, so to speak, and that is what generates the public pressure and action on the government’s part.
Senator Yussuff: In terms of the report and the recommendations you make, what issues will you be focusing on going forward that are relevant to the challenges veterans are faced with?
Col. Jardine: We have three strategic priorities as our focus going forward. The first is building trust, which speaks to the question Senator Anderson asked earlier about if we are reaching veterans, if we are reaching all veterans and if we are able to connect with all the communities.
The second is with respect to fair and timely access to the treatment benefits and services that the department offers, and then also focusing on veteran well-being and their health.
So the things that I spoke about today with respect to triage of first applications and how that is a gateway into benefit programs is a huge priority for me. We’re continuing to look at things like caregiver recognition, the review and appeal process within the department, how veterans can question decisions that have been made. These are the things that are guiding the work we’re going to do going forward.
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: Mr. Schippers, you said something that troubled me somewhat. You said that when veterans leave the military, they fall to the same level as all Canadian citizens. I’m shocked to hear that, because veterans, unlike the average citizen, have not given their health for their country. They should be at the top of the list when they leave the military.
My question is simple. Have you negotiated any agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs? Although part of the budget is federal, we know that health services are under provincial jurisdiction. Have you asked the department to negotiate agreements with each province? Then when a veteran leaves the military and suffers from mental health or physical problems, they’re placed on the top of the list and can receive services quickly, without having to wait two or three years?
[English]
Mr. Schippers: Thank you for the question, senator.
The short answer is we haven’t pressed back on that issue, partly because it’s not a service that VAC is delivering. So I question our mandate a little bit on that, not that it prevents us from raising it.
It’s challenging, because most of the services that VAC is paying for end up being private services in the sense that veterans don’t have to go —
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: I fully appreciate that. However, I want you to understand that if this isn’t done, if the federal government, be it Veterans Affairs or the Armed Forces, doesn’t ask the provinces, who provide health services... It’s the federal government. You are part of the federal government, and it holds the purse. It has the money and pays the provinces to provide services. The federal government imposes service standards on the provinces. Why shouldn’t one more standard in health services prioritize veterans?
[English]
Mr. Schippers: In theory, senator, there is no reason why the government can’t negotiate with the provinces and establish priorities. It’s a question of what Canadians expect their veterans to receive, and are they prepared to stand in line as well?
[Translation]
Senator Boisvenu: Thank you very much. I truly appreciate the work you do. You are indispensable to veterans, but please press the minister a little harder.
[English]
The Chair: Thank you, Mr. Schippers.
I’m going to have one last question, please, and it deals again with sexual dysfunction, because it’s so much a part of the quality of life. I’m wondering if the ordinary medical profession that sometimes deals with this issue can deal with it coming from veterans who have served overseas, and perhaps their complaints come from their very service. For lack of a better word, can the “ordinary” medical care deal with this successfully?
Could the ombudsman answer that quickly, and then we’ll adjourn the meeting.
Col. Jardine: Absolutely, senator.
One of our recommendations is that the medical questionnaire that is given to the physician to evaluate and to discuss the veteran’s conditions include specific questions around sexual dysfunction. They do so for males. There are specific questions on that questionnaire, but there are none for females. One of our recommendations is that the questionnaire be updated to ask similar, overt questions of females with respect to their sexual function or dysfunction.
Our understanding is that as the minister has accepted this recommendation, we expect to see it implemented at some point.
The Chair: I thank the witnesses very much for their informative talk and answers.
(The committee adjourned.)