When efforts failed, the veteran United Nations Peacekeeper — one of a dedicated group of people — wasn’t prepared to just give up.
So, Tuesday morning, he was ecstatic to see the Corner Brook office reopen.
Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr was at the J.R. Smallwood Building to officially reopen the office, one of nine across the country that will resume service between now and May 2017.
“It will make a lot of people very, very happy now that they know that they can come in and have someone talk to them and hopefully get things fixed up before you’ve got to go up-along to get things done,” said Davis.
He’s talked to a lot of veterans in the region who were clients of the office before it closed.
“You get familiar with the people that are here and that’s very important. (You can) talk better and let them know exactly how you feel, but when it’s a stranger and telephones, nobody likes that.
“ … It’s not the same thing.”
Navigating the system left behind when the office closed — often including phone service with caseworkers outside the province — was so difficult that Denis Parizeau said many just gave up.
“The face-to-face is so important, to the older generation especially,” said Parizeau, president of Branch 13 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Corner Brook.
Completing online forms and applications became a big part of dealing with the department.
“Just imagine a senior citizen with limited knowledge of the Internet trying to get help. It’s impossible,” said Parizeau. “They do give up and walk away and they just don’t bother no more.”
Not only was it hard to navigate the system, Parizeau said the time it took to get help also increased.
“The system has slowed down tremendously compared to the service we got before.”
He spoke of one case where an answer should have come in 16 weeks, but 32 weeks later the veteran is still waiting.
“It’s a nice breath of fresh air to see that we have a new office again and we have counsellors in place and we can make appointments, so those waiting periods should be shortened somewhat.”
Parizeau said an issue among today’s veterans — those from Afghanistan, Bosnia and the Persian Gulf — is fitting back into society.
“We need to spread our wings,” he said of the things that need to be done to help those veterans.
Davis agrees, as the biggest problem among these veterans involves mental health issues and the lack of supports for them with a limited number of psychiatrists.
“We need easier access to these people,” said Davis. “The people with PTSD can’t take a waiting time.”
Pensions and DVA wards for veterans requiring long-term care are other issues that still need work and Davis said he’d be there to continue the fight.
Number of veterans served by the Corner Brook office — 950
Number of new employees to be hired nationwide — 400
Offices that will be reopened:
Corner Brook
Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Sydney, N.S.;
Windsor, Ont.
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Saskatoon, Sask.
Brandon, Man.
Prince George, B.C.
Kelowna, B.C.
A 10th office will open in Surrey, B.C., and outreach will be expanded to veterans in the territories.
When efforts failed, the veteran United Nations Peacekeeper — one of a dedicated group of people — wasn’t prepared to just give up.
So, Tuesday morning, he was ecstatic to see the Corner Brook office reopen.
Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr was at the J.R. Smallwood Building to officially reopen the office, one of nine across the country that will resume service between now and May 2017.
“It will make a lot of people very, very happy now that they know that they can come in and have someone talk to them and hopefully get things fixed up before you’ve got to go up-along to get things done,” said Davis.
He’s talked to a lot of veterans in the region who were clients of the office before it closed.
“You get familiar with the people that are here and that’s very important. (You can) talk better and let them know exactly how you feel, but when it’s a stranger and telephones, nobody likes that.
“ … It’s not the same thing.”
Navigating the system left behind when the office closed — often including phone service with caseworkers outside the province — was so difficult that Denis Parizeau said many just gave up.
“The face-to-face is so important, to the older generation especially,” said Parizeau, president of Branch 13 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Corner Brook.
Completing online forms and applications became a big part of dealing with the department.
“Just imagine a senior citizen with limited knowledge of the Internet trying to get help. It’s impossible,” said Parizeau. “They do give up and walk away and they just don’t bother no more.”
Not only was it hard to navigate the system, Parizeau said the time it took to get help also increased.
“The system has slowed down tremendously compared to the service we got before.”
He spoke of one case where an answer should have come in 16 weeks, but 32 weeks later the veteran is still waiting.
“It’s a nice breath of fresh air to see that we have a new office again and we have counsellors in place and we can make appointments, so those waiting periods should be shortened somewhat.”
Parizeau said an issue among today’s veterans — those from Afghanistan, Bosnia and the Persian Gulf — is fitting back into society.
“We need to spread our wings,” he said of the things that need to be done to help those veterans.
Davis agrees, as the biggest problem among these veterans involves mental health issues and the lack of supports for them with a limited number of psychiatrists.
“We need easier access to these people,” said Davis. “The people with PTSD can’t take a waiting time.”
Pensions and DVA wards for veterans requiring long-term care are other issues that still need work and Davis said he’d be there to continue the fight.
Number of veterans served by the Corner Brook office — 950
Number of new employees to be hired nationwide — 400
Offices that will be reopened:
Corner Brook
Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Sydney, N.S.;
Windsor, Ont.
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Saskatoon, Sask.
Brandon, Man.
Prince George, B.C.
Kelowna, B.C.
A 10th office will open in Surrey, B.C., and outreach will be expanded to veterans in the territories.