(Ottawa) A multimillion-dollar contract between Ottawa and a private company to provide mental and physical health services to veterans sparks a new tug of war between the federal government and Canada’s veterans .
The contract had already been heavily criticized by the union representing Veterans Affairs Canada employees, including hundreds of case managers who help veterans hardest hit by their service-related injuries.
Now other voices, including those of veterans and frontline medical professionals, are rising to question this agreement.
Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay has repeatedly defended the $570 million contract with Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services. He says he will ultimately provide better services to ex-servicemen.
However, the deployment of the services is taking longer than expected, to the point where the second phase is now delayed.
The government is therefore under pressure to outright tear up the contract it entered into with Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services in June 2021.
Reorganization
Under the new contract, which went into effect last November, the company must refer veterans to physical, mental and vocational rehabilitation clinics and providers in their local communities.
The Department of Veterans Affairs says the agreement replaces two old contracts, which will save overworked veterans and case managers time and effort.
In fact, the ministry says the contract will ease the administrative burden on its 450 case managers, most of whom continue to have heavy workloads, despite repeated government promises.
However, these arguments have not been able to appease the criticisms of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, while new stakeholders are also beginning to denounce this agreement.
Retired Sergeant Chris Banks, who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan before being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, has had particular setbacks with the new program.
“I was told that I would receive a call [de l’entreprise] early January. We are now in February, ”said Mr Banks.
“I don’t think they’re up to the challenge they’ve embarked on. And I don’t believe they care about the welfare of veterans. They think first of all for their benefit”, according to him.
Red flags
According to psychotherapist Alisha Henson, who works with veterans and their families in the Ottawa Valley, the new agreement took mental health providers in her area by surprise.
“People who have been there much longer than me don’t understand anything and didn’t even know it was going to happen,” lamented the professional.
Mme Henson and about 20 other mental health providers in his area recently published an open letter in which they raised many “red flags” about the agreement.
Signatories worry about additional administrative requirements, uncertainty about what will happen if those currently working with veterans don’t want to join the new program, and reductions in current pay rates, among other things.
For its part, the Union of Veterans’ Employees alleges that key responsibilities are being taken away from case managers, which harms their relationship with veterans, in addition to adding bureaucracy.
Delay
Veterans began transferring to the new program in November, but the department confirmed that the second phase of the deployment, which was due to begin Feb. 3, has been delayed.
“We have decided to modify the deployment schedule to ensure that participants in phase A are fully transferred before continuing with phase B,” said Department of Veterans Affairs spokesperson Marc Lescoutre.
Union national president Virginia Vaillancourt, who has called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fire Minister MacAulay and cancel the contract, says a simple postponement won’t be enough and the government should stop contracting out care to veterans.
She hopes that now that more criticism is coming in, including from veterans themselves, the government will listen.
“We wanted to have that strong voice with veterans and service providers because we hear them too,” she said. And we know what their concerns are. »