- Reaction score
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- Points
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By Tobi Cohen, The Canadian Press
MONTREAL - Ottawa wants to know how many homeless Canadian Forces veterans are living on the streets and it's kicking in $100,000 to start the search in Montreal.
Unlike the United States which has long struggled with homelessness among those who fought in Vietnam, Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson said Tuesday that there are probably only a few dozen homeless vets in Canada.
By that count there may have been nearly as many dignitaries - including federal civil servants, union officials, and community leaders - invited to witness the minister's press conference Tuesday as there are homeless veterans across the country.
Thompson announced a pilot project to find former soldiers and offer them the many health, rehabilitation, employment and financial benefits they're entitled to.
While veterans and their families have "suffered in silence" in the past, Thompson said Canada is now a world leader in terms of the physical and mental health services it provide its members.
"There will always be some who fall through the cracks and those are the ones that we want to be there to help and pick up and make sure that they do get the support that they need," he said.
Veterans Affairs Ombudsman Pat Strogan has long campaigned for services for marginalized veterans.
He first drew attention to the issue of homeless veterans in June 2008 when he launched a campaign called, "Leave Nobody Behind."
He renewed calls in February for better support for homeless veterans, noting many lack the documentation to support their claim.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 131,000 homeless veterans on any given night with nearly double that number experiencing homelessness at least once within the year.
The U.S. has established a centre dedicated to assisting poor and homeless veterans and President Barack Obama has called the situation a priority.
Studies in Britain suggest there are about 3,600 homeless ex-service personnel living in London.
Until now, there have been no efforts in Canada to gauge the number of service members who may be homeless or at risk of homelessness.
While the government doesn't expect its shelter search will turn up many veterans, Liberal critic Rob Oliphant predicts they could be in for a surprise.
He's spoken with one Calgary drop-in centre that estimates it serves as many as 40 homeless Canadian Forces veterans at any given time.
"My concern is that the minister is underestimating this problem," he said.
He believes tracking these people down will be tough as ex-military personnel may be reluctant to admit they need help. Others may be struggling with mental health issues, Oliphant said, adding that finding them is really just the first step.
"I know that $100,000 and a little bit from a couple of other organizations is a very small program to tackle a very big problem. It needs to come with very specialized care and training," he said.
"I do need to applaud what they're doing but I need to be critical of the government because it's baby steps and they need to address this problem with a very full and co-ordinated response."
Peter Stoffer, the NDP's critic for veterans' affairs, welcomed the announcement.
"I give the minister and the government credit on this," he said in an interview.
"If Mr. Thompson wishes to allocate an amount of funds to work with municipalities to locate these individuals and get them into centres where they can be helped, personally I think that's a good idea."
In Montreal, community partners like the Old Brewery Mission will help carry out the task of tracking down homeless service members.
Director Matthew Pearce said his shelter has already found one in the weeks since it began collaborating with Veterans Affairs Canada in anticipation of Tuesday's announcement.
Pearce said the man started using the shelter's services about two months ago, but has so far refused to talk about his past military service.
He's now involved in the shelter's transition program aimed at getting people back on track. Pearce said the man hasn't tried to take advantage of government benefits and, before the partnership, Brewery Mission staff would never have thought to talk to him about it.
"We're trying to gain his confidence so he's more forthcoming with his counsellors and we will over time, I'm sure, have the story unfold that will help us to be able to direct him towards the solutions he needs," Pearce said.
"Our close collaboration with Veterans Affairs will now allow us to direct him towards resources and supports he didn't know existed and frankly we didn't know existed until a couple weeks ago."
The Canadian Auto Workers union donated a vehicle so outreach teams could visit shelters as part of the initiative, while the non-profit group Wounded Warriors kicked in $5,000 for any emergency assistance a homeless veteran might need.
A similar project will be announced in Vancouver in the coming weeks.
Copyright © 2009 Canadian Press
Copyright 2009 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
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MONTREAL - Ottawa wants to know how many homeless Canadian Forces veterans are living on the streets and it's kicking in $100,000 to start the search in Montreal.
Unlike the United States which has long struggled with homelessness among those who fought in Vietnam, Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson said Tuesday that there are probably only a few dozen homeless vets in Canada.
By that count there may have been nearly as many dignitaries - including federal civil servants, union officials, and community leaders - invited to witness the minister's press conference Tuesday as there are homeless veterans across the country.
Thompson announced a pilot project to find former soldiers and offer them the many health, rehabilitation, employment and financial benefits they're entitled to.
While veterans and their families have "suffered in silence" in the past, Thompson said Canada is now a world leader in terms of the physical and mental health services it provide its members.
"There will always be some who fall through the cracks and those are the ones that we want to be there to help and pick up and make sure that they do get the support that they need," he said.
Veterans Affairs Ombudsman Pat Strogan has long campaigned for services for marginalized veterans.
He first drew attention to the issue of homeless veterans in June 2008 when he launched a campaign called, "Leave Nobody Behind."
He renewed calls in February for better support for homeless veterans, noting many lack the documentation to support their claim.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 131,000 homeless veterans on any given night with nearly double that number experiencing homelessness at least once within the year.
The U.S. has established a centre dedicated to assisting poor and homeless veterans and President Barack Obama has called the situation a priority.
Studies in Britain suggest there are about 3,600 homeless ex-service personnel living in London.
Until now, there have been no efforts in Canada to gauge the number of service members who may be homeless or at risk of homelessness.
While the government doesn't expect its shelter search will turn up many veterans, Liberal critic Rob Oliphant predicts they could be in for a surprise.
He's spoken with one Calgary drop-in centre that estimates it serves as many as 40 homeless Canadian Forces veterans at any given time.
"My concern is that the minister is underestimating this problem," he said.
He believes tracking these people down will be tough as ex-military personnel may be reluctant to admit they need help. Others may be struggling with mental health issues, Oliphant said, adding that finding them is really just the first step.
"I know that $100,000 and a little bit from a couple of other organizations is a very small program to tackle a very big problem. It needs to come with very specialized care and training," he said.
"I do need to applaud what they're doing but I need to be critical of the government because it's baby steps and they need to address this problem with a very full and co-ordinated response."
Peter Stoffer, the NDP's critic for veterans' affairs, welcomed the announcement.
"I give the minister and the government credit on this," he said in an interview.
"If Mr. Thompson wishes to allocate an amount of funds to work with municipalities to locate these individuals and get them into centres where they can be helped, personally I think that's a good idea."
In Montreal, community partners like the Old Brewery Mission will help carry out the task of tracking down homeless service members.
Director Matthew Pearce said his shelter has already found one in the weeks since it began collaborating with Veterans Affairs Canada in anticipation of Tuesday's announcement.
Pearce said the man started using the shelter's services about two months ago, but has so far refused to talk about his past military service.
He's now involved in the shelter's transition program aimed at getting people back on track. Pearce said the man hasn't tried to take advantage of government benefits and, before the partnership, Brewery Mission staff would never have thought to talk to him about it.
"We're trying to gain his confidence so he's more forthcoming with his counsellors and we will over time, I'm sure, have the story unfold that will help us to be able to direct him towards the solutions he needs," Pearce said.
"Our close collaboration with Veterans Affairs will now allow us to direct him towards resources and supports he didn't know existed and frankly we didn't know existed until a couple weeks ago."
The Canadian Auto Workers union donated a vehicle so outreach teams could visit shelters as part of the initiative, while the non-profit group Wounded Warriors kicked in $5,000 for any emergency assistance a homeless veteran might need.
A similar project will be announced in Vancouver in the coming weeks.
Copyright © 2009 Canadian Press
Copyright 2009 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
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