Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the MP for Moncton–Riverview–Dieppe, speaking to reporters after a federal funding news conference at Moncton city hall on Nov. 16, 2023.
More than three years have passed since Veterans Affairs Canada agreed to ease up restrictions on access to mental health services for the families of troubled soldiers, sailors and aircrew — and the country's veterans ombudsperson says very little has changed in that time.Veterans Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor. The veterans' ombudsperson says the federal government still hasn't moved to ease access to mental health services for family members of veterans.
In 2021, the veterans watchdog released a report which called on the federal government to "ensure that family members, including former spouses, survivors and dependent children, have access to federal government funded mental health treatment in their own right," and to ensure their access does not depend on whether the veteran was in treatment.
The issue of family members' access to mental health supports is a long-standing source of concern — one that Jardine said keeps resurfacing as she travels across the country. While Veterans Affairs Canada never formally amended the family care policy, it began using a much stricter interpretation of it.
When contacted for an update on Wednesday, two of the families CBC spoke to in 2020 declined comment about their circumstances but acknowledged they'd heard anecdotally about other military members whose relatives continue to struggle for support.Jardine said one of the most common plights facing veterans' families is the loss of access to counselling after a veteran passes away.
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