Veterans speak up at Assembly 

Article by Lital Khaikin

Veterans’ issues were on the margins of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) annual general assembly at the Palais de Congrès in Montreal last week. But opposition to a project in Saskatchewan by the First Nations Veterans Council has revealed how Harper-era policy encouraging privatization of veterans’ services is threatening progress with Veterans Affairs Canada.

As Indigenous veterans continue to be underserved, a non-profit organization is setting a precedent in Saskatchewan for the privatization of mental health support and suicide-prevention services for veterans living with trauma.

Delegates from the AFN Veterans’ Council were mostly united in their opposition of a partnership between the Saskatchewan First Nations Veterans Association and Burns Way, a mental health chat application developed by TryCycle Data Systems in Ontario and incorporated as a non-profit organization.

TryCycle Data Systems, which intends to launch the Burns Way project this year, did not return a request for comment by deadline.

Lauded for filling service gaps in rural and isolated areas, the Burns Way project doesn’t necessarily replace existing veterans’ services, but veterans are concerned about undermining progress that has been made directly with Veterans Affairs Canada and the expansion of the role of public-private entities in Indigenous veterans’ affairs.

Wendy Jocko of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation was the only Council member who supported the project, but she is also a board director for Burns Way.

Veterans denounced the project for concerns regarding the Crown’s fiduciary duty toward First Nations, potential impact on progress with Veterans Affairs, and the questionable methodology proposed for Burns Way. According to Council members, the non-profit’s executives have not addressed these concerns over the past three years.

Alan Knockwood of Sipekne’katik, and a veteran of the Vietnam War, described Burns Way and TriCycle executives as “glib” and “evasive” when pressed for details on training, professional qualifications, and service availability during two meetings last year in Toronto and Calgary.

Members of the Veterans’ Council referred to concerns with privacy when dealing with civilian staff at the non-profit.

Whereas Veterans Affairs has protocols to follow when engaging with current and former military personnel, Canadian non-profit organizations aren’t bound by the same laws and levels of accountability as government agencies – from security clearance and confidentiality to funding disclosure obligations and whistleblowing.

“We don’t want to be separate from our comrades with whom we served,” grand chief Percy Joe of Shackan First Nation told THE EASTERN DOOR.

Joe, who was stationed in Europe in the 1960s, has been advocating on veterans’ issues for 25 years and has witnessed the systemic inequities and insulting treatment Indigenous veterans have experienced on and off reserves.

“We don’t want to be treated differently. It’s the responsibility of the government to ensure that we are treated equally,” he said. “It’s their responsibility to also heal us. We don’t want to be dealing with a third party when they’re not responsible for what they created.”

Tim O’Loan of the Dene Nation described a failure in an Indigenous-first approach by Veterans Affairs. “The Crown has a fiduciary obligation to First Nations peoples. It needs to do better,” he said.

In April 2023, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the First Nations Veterans’ Council and Veterans Affairs Canada, establishing their formal relationship and committing to increasing equity, representation and documentation of Indigenous veterans’ contributions in Canada.

O’Loan did not provide details on a second MOU that is currently being developed by the Veterans’ Council with Veterans Affairs.

A resolution in support of the Burns Way partnership didn’t go to the floor at the Assembly, leaving the future of the project undetermined until an Executive Committee vote, which will likely be before December 2024.

Recently-retired Mohawk Council of Kahnawake chief and veteran Lindsay LeBorgne highlighted the complexity of providing mental health support and other services for veterans in communities like Kahnawake through state programs.

As with other Indigenous veterans across Canada, veterans in Mohawk Territory may have served in the US military alongside comrades in the Canadian Armed Forces over the past 30 years. Under colonial state criteria, this means they may not be eligible for full benefits and supports through Veterans Affairs Canada.

Veterans in Kahnawake who served in the US access trauma and mental health support when a US Veterans Affairs agent comes into the community.

“When you’re in, they want you, they need you. When you’re out, not so much,” LeBorgne told THE EASTERN DOOR, remarking on how veterans both in Canada and the US are notoriously underserved by state programs. “After their ‘usefulness’ is done, they shouldn’t be discarded.

“We should be doing everything we can for veterans,” he added, cautiously responding to the Veterans Council criticism of a private entity in providing mental health services where Veterans Affairs Canada is not serving Indigenous communities. “Any help is good, whether it’s from (Veterans Affairs) or a private entity. If somebody is suicidal, do you really care who’s helping them?”

Sharing his own experience, O’Loan stressed the importance of accessing mental health services from military professionals when veterans reach out for support for combat PTSD.

“For a veteran, and any individual who is really struggling with mental health, they’re in the valley of darkness. Sometimes it’s so dark people just want to end their pain,” he said.

“We need to understand the sacredness of that relationship between First Nations and the Crown. To allow a private entity that’s in the same business as Veterans’ Affairs can diminish that relationship.”

While the Burns Way website claims that the application will “remove barriers to care,” O’Loan cautioned against a revival of Harper-era policy that saw widespread privatization of public services through the expansion of public-private partnerships.

Similar rhetoric around accessibility and removing barriers to access was wielded by Conservatives in 2014, as the Harper administration shuttered a swathe of Veterans’ Affairs offices across the country, and the Conservatives defended shifting services online.

Canadian veterans at the time were continuing to fight through a class-action lawsuit for the New Veterans Charter that introduced lump sum payments rather than pensions, as veterans sought compensation for injuries sustained in Afghanistan.

“A Conservative government would love to have a private entity in (First Nations) communities. They would love close some more Veterans Affairs offices and to diminish their responsibility on reserve,” O’Loan said.

“The crown is the only institution that should be coming into First Nations communities,” said O’Loan. “Not Burns Way, not any other private entity.”

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