Thursday, 21 September 2023
Virtual Meeting via Microsoft Teams
Care and Support Advisory Group Members
- Mary Boutette, The Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre (Member Co-Chair)
- Alexa Pasha, Royal Canadian Legion
- Lieutenant Navy (Retired) Sylvain Bouliane, VeteransCanada.ca
- Major (Retired) Bruce Henwood, National Council of Veteran Associations
- Major (Retired) Linda Lander
- Reverend Ken MacLaren
- Second Lieutenant (Retired) Walter Callaghan, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto
- Sergeant (Retired) Andrea Newton
- Major (Retired) Jorma Hamalainen, NATO Vets
Regrets
- Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (Retired) Debbie Eisan, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
- Marie-Andrée Malette, Canadian Caregivers Brigade
- Captain (Retired) Rod Holowaty, Zone Commander Legion District 3 Zone 1
Veterans Affairs Canada officials
- Jane Hicks, A/Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management (Veterans Affairs Canada Co-Chair)
- Amy MacDougald, Senior Advisor, Engagements and Events, Veterans Affairs Canada
- Elizabeth Hughes, Project Officer, Engagements and Events, Veterans Affairs Canada
- Lisa Matte, Project Monitoring Officer, Engagements and Events, Veterans Affairs Canada
Minister’s office
- Jon Wiseman, Special Assistant (Ontario), Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
Observer
- Kandace Bogaert, Office of the Veterans Ombud
Welcome and Opening Remarks
The VAC Co-Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, including representatives from the Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Office of the Veterans Ombud.
Land Acknowledgement
Member, Andrea Newton, offered a land acknowledgement recognizing that we are all on sacred land, subject to numerous treaties.
Review of Record of Discussion
The June 14-15 record of discussion was shared and approved by the members.
Update from Advisory Group Co-Chairs Meeting
On September 12, the Co-Chairs of the six ministerial advisory groups met. Key topics of conversation included how groups operate and their priorities. As each group provided a summary of the current priorities, it became apparent that there are opportunities for collaboration. Standardizing meeting frequency was also discussed.
Themes from June Meeting
In follow-up to the June meeting, the Member Co-Chair compiled a summary of key themes and shared it with the members of the advisory group for their input and discussion. The key themes were:
- Eligibility – can be complex for benefits and services, access to Long Term Care is conditional on type of service and need.
- Access – to services can be challenging especially for Veterans living in remote areas.
- Communication – many Veterans are unknown to VAC and are not aware of the benefits available to them. Communications to Veterans need to be clear to ensure they are understood.
- Continuity – there can be challenges for Veterans accessing the Veterans Independence Program (VIP) and some experience a gap between VIP and VAC supported long-term care when their needs increase.
- Vulnerable Veterans – Veterans in the greatest need are more likely to be the most isolated. More efforts could be made to identify Veterans at risk of decline early in order to avoid the situation from getting worse.
- Partnerships – there are many agencies and third party organizations who provide support to Veterans creating opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other.
- Research and innovation – additional knowledge is needed about the various equity deserving groups in the Veteran population. The Community Needs Health Assessment will be a helpful to identify where there are gaps, particularly since focus groups are being used in addition to health and well-being data.
Next Steps
The VAC and Member Co-Chair will follow-up with the engagement team to look at what themes mentioned above fall under another advisory groups to ensure CASAG focuses on the areas where they are uniquely positioned. The next meeting will be focused on honing down the priorities and developing a deeper understanding of what and where the problems lie. Advisory group members indicated that the access and communication themes be at the top of the list when determining which priorities should be addressed first.
Closing remarks
The VAC Co-Chair will send a reminder to the advisory group confirming the next meeting in November. The VAC and Member Co-Chair thanked everyone for their time.