Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.
I'm testifying today as vice‑president and service officer for the Royal Canadian Legion, but the examples I will give are those I've experienced personally.
There are probably a lot of veterans like me. So what I'm going to say today is typical of an injured veteran.
My name is Luc Fortier, and I'm an injured veteran in retirement. I am vice‑president of the Quebec command of the Royal Canadian Legion. I look after the service officers.
As you know, there are many programs available to veterans, including the Veterans Affairs Canada assistance service, the peer support program, which offers the operational stress injury social support, or OSISS, program and operational stress injury clinics, or OSIs, to name a few.
All these fine programs are of little use if veterans aren't able to tick box 1, meaning have access to a doctor. To access a program, you have to have a doctor. It's that simple.
During my testimony, I'll use myself as an example to describe the typical veteran. My own efforts will help other veterans go further.
Right now, I'm experiencing a lot of anxiety, just because I'm here among you, but it still feels good to be here. We can also say that veterans are all like that.
I have 32 years of service as an infantryman for the Royal 22nd Regiment. I've been on eight deployments. During my career, I suffered a lot of physical and non‑physical injuries that required a lot of medical visits.
In 2012, I was diagnosed with severe PTSD, along with numerous mental health issues. One of the symptoms that really bothers me is agoraphobia.
It was therefore extremely difficult for me to leave my home today. Getting out of the house on a daily basis is almost impossible for me. To be here—thank you for inviting me—I took on a big challenge.
Going to see a doctor was easy when I was still serving. All I had to do was go to the sick parade, go to triage, and away I went. An hour later, I was back at my unit or at home, depending on my condition.
The day we're told that we're being released from the armed forces for medical reasons, we're also told not to forget to apply for our health card.
I've never had a health card. When I joined the armed forces, I was told that it was prohibited.
It took me much longer than three months to receive my health card, because we were in the middle of a pandemic. So I have a card without a photo.
In my case, I was told that it was time for me to look for a doctor, which I did in 2018. Now, in 2024, I still don't have a doctor.
When I got out of the military, I got a ton of prescriptions, and they were useless. Unless we have a doctor or an organization to help us, we can't get them renewed.
We're also told that there is an app for our phones called Maple. You can use it for free for a year. If you ever have a medical problem, all you have to do is use it and see what the results are. I did because I had a major medical problem, and I was told to go see my family doctor. It's a bit annoying.
At least what's reassuring when you leave the armed forces is that you get a 24‑month prescription for all your medications. In my case, because I don't have a family doctor, it's almost impossible to renew my prescriptions.
At the moment, the pharmacy has been renewing my prescriptions to meet my needs since last November. I need my medication to live, or I wouldn't be here today. What am I going to do at the end of the month? The pharmacy will continue to help me and won't let me down.
When a member leaves the armed forces for medical reasons, a number of requests are made for various conditions. The good thing is that, if the member is still serving, he can go see his doctor on the base and get a report that will be consistent with his injuries.
When a request is made to Veterans Affairs Canada, the requests are accepted most of the time, but the response doesn't necessarily reflect the actual extent of the injury. So the decision will be appealed.
Again, the appeal process requires you to have a doctor. So you can check off the appeal process, so to speak, and you wait.
It's the same thing with Manulife. When you leave the system, you're told that you're covered by Manulife for two years, but Manulife doesn't answer the telephone. The company sends you an email 18 months later to say that you have to go back to work, unless you have a doctor who says otherwise.
I don't have a family doctor, so I lost my coverage.
Making appointments with a doctor is another mess. You're told to call a certain number, which is the rapid access office.
Once we get an answer, and I emphasize “once we get an answer”, we're asked all kinds of questions about the reason for our request. Once the information is gathered, we're told that a doctor will call us the next day, that we must wait for the call and, above all, that we must not miss it.
If no doctor calls us the next day, especially if the person is like me and is experiencing anxiety, it's hell. You walk around in circles, pace back and forth, look at the phone. You don't even want to move for fear of missing the phone call. If the doctor doesn't call the next day and you have to start over the next day, you give up. I did it twice, and then I gave up. Try to imagine what it's like not being able to go and see a doctor because the process is unbearable.
Earlier this year, there were two new doctors in the town next door, 10 minutes from my house, not far. They wanted to build their clientele. So I asked if I could give my name to be part of that clientele. Surprise, surprise: the medical system is sectoral. That means that if I stay in Chicoutimi and the doctor is in La Baie, only 10 minutes from my home, I can't go there. I will never have a doctor in Chicoutimi. It's not easy.
What I'm looking for as an injured veteran, and what most veterans are looking for, is a solution so that our injured veterans can take care of themselves instead of gritting their teeth and using alternative medicines, which aren't necessarily legal. All of this is necessary to prevent us from continuing to grit our teeth and making the problem worse.
In conclusion, I would like to add that we, the people at the Quebec command of the Royal Canadian Legion—I'm not speaking for all of Canada, but only for Quebec—we recommend that representations be made to the Quebec Minister of Health to authorize military members who are medically released to go to the neighbouring city for care. We ask for this only when we are medically released from the Canadian Armed Forces. The transition groups could manage it.
With a doctor, it's possible to benefit from our programs. So it creates less complexity. In addition, this solution doesn't cost anything until a better solution is found. This is really important for me, because a number of veterans and I are starting to feel discouraged in life. I could go on and on.
I'm now ready to answer your questions.