23 November 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, Canadian Military Intelligence Association
- Second Lieutenant (Retired) Walter Callaghan, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto
- Sergeant (Retired) Andrea Newton
- Major (Retired) Jorma Hamalainen, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada
- Captain (Retired) Rod Holowaty, Zone Commander Legion District 3 Zone 1
Regrets
- Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (Retired) Debbie Eisan, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
- Marie-Andrée Malette, Canadian Caregivers Brigade
- Reverend Ken MacLaren
Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
- The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada and Associate Minister of National Defence
- Jonathan Wiseman, Special Assistant, Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Affairs Canada officials
- Jane Hicks, A/Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management (Veterans Affairs Canada Co-Chair)
- Pamela Harrison, Senior Director, Engagement and Events, Veterans Affairs Canada
- Gladys Bradley, A/Strategic Advisor, Service Delivery and Program Management, Veterans Affairs Canada
- Elizabeth Hughes, Project Officer, Engagements and Events, Veterans Affairs Canada
- Megan MacKinnon, A/Program Operations Assistant, Engagement and Events, Veterans Affairs Canada
Observer
- Kirsten Johnson, Director, Veterans Intervention Unit, Office of the Veterans Ombud
Presenters
- Brigadier-General (Retired) Alan Mulawyshyn, Executive Director, Veterans’ House Canada
Discussion
Land Acknowledgement, Welcome and Opening Remarks
The VAC Co-Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, including The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada and Associate Minister of National Defence. Member, Walter Callaghan, offered a land acknowledgement indicating that he is located on the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Each member of the group briefly introduced themselves.
Discussion with the Minister of Veterans Affairs
The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence joined the group and shared a brief background of her experience as a social worker with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. She expressed gratitude for everyone’s participation and advised there will be further guidance on priorities for the Ministerial Advisory Groups. Specifically, she will be asking for recommendations from the Care and Support Advisory Group on Continuity of Care and Homelessness.
Presentation – Veterans House Canada
Executive Director Brigadier-General (Retired) Alan Mulawyshyn gave a presentation on Veterans’ House Canada. Veterans’ House Canada provides affordable housing to Veterans and is a 2022-2023 Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund recipient. The presentation highlighted the available support and services, the client demographics, current challenges, and the future vision of the organization. The group discussed various concerns surrounding current waitlists and lengths of stay, trauma-informed care, community partnerships, funding and land challenges, nimbyism, and volunteer/support opportunities.
Roundtable
The group had a productive discussion on the issue of Homelessness. They acknowledged that the issue is complex and multi-jurisdictional. However, they agreed that there are tangible recommendations they can make within their scope to help address the issue. The member Co-Chair asked for the circulation of VAC's initial work on Homelessness to increase awareness among the group members.
One member suggested that VAC could collaborate with medical clinics to emphasize the importance of Veteran benefits. This could assist when a homeless Veteran visits a clinic and requires a medical form to be signed. Additionally, there is a national issue of access to medical doctors. A member raised a question whether VAC would accept the signature of a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant instead of a medical doctor. In response, the VAC Co-Chair indicated that it would depend on their scope of practice, scopes of practices vary by professional and also across the provinces and territories. For example, not all provinces have regulated physician assistants. As VAC becomes aware of changes to scopes of practices, the benefit grids can be updated.
Group member Walter Callaghan shared the chapter abstract, Beyond Combat: Gender and the Construction of Injury in Military Contexts, from the book Preventing and Treating the Invisible Wounds of War: Combat Trauma, Moral Injury, and Psychological Health.
Review of previous Record of Discussion
The September 21 record of discussion was tabled and approved by the members.
Next Steps and Closing remarks
At the January 18 virtual meeting, the group will focus on Homelessness. In preparation for the meeting:
- The group members will contact local organizations to gauge their interest in presenting to the group or providing information regarding their current challenges with Veteran Homelessness.
- The VAC Co-Chair will contact VAC’s Homelessness lead for more information.
- There will be consideration into what work needs to be done offline to meet this timeline.
The subsequent meeting will be held during the winter and will focus on Continuity of Care and Veterans Independence Program (VIP). Finally, the VAC Co-Chair expressed her appreciation for the group’s participation and wished everyone happy holidays.