How Conservatives could treat veterans better

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The Conservatives have riled veterans by closing offices and restructuring services. What should they have done instead?

Of course, they should have done better than Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, who failed to show up and refused to listen when a group of veterans came for a meeting, then apologized and compounded the insult by asserting protesting veterans are dupes of public-service unions.

But it's the restructuring of services that will have a longer-term impact on veterans' lives. They deserve gold-plated service, but even so, governments can make a case for restructuring services to make them more cost-effective, or more importantly, better.

In some ways, the government's case for closing eight Veterans Affairs offices is like the one banks made two decades ago, when they pushed clients to use ABMs and Internet- and phone-based banking. Services can be offered in different ways. Many bank customers were happy with new services by Internet or the phone; maybe some veterans won't miss the specialized offices, just as some bank customers don't miss going to a teller.

It even came with similar reassurances: the Veterans Affairs' "clients" most in need of services will still havecase managers who will visit them at home – just as banks reassured bigger clients they'd keep personal service.

One problem is that veterans aren't bank customers. They've served their country, and some have physical or psychological scars. Some don't want to discuss their lives in Service Canada offices where people apply for EI or passports. Bruce Moncur, a Windsor veteran who went Afghanistan in 2006 and was injured by friendly fire from a U.S. aircraft, said many veterans, in military tradition, don't easily ask for help. Mr. Moncur, who suffered a severe head injury, said he suffers fatigue, which can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder. He's also struggled with Veterans Affairs bureaucracy, and has taken a vocal role in protesting these closings. "We shouldn't have to fight like this," he said.

But if you accept the government's argument that some offices can be closed, then the government did it the wrong way. They didn't do the things the banks did right. When banks shut branches and cut tellers, they directed clients to useful phone and Internet services. The government is driving its "clients" – veterans – to the tellers. And the tellers can't do the whole job.

The government is telling veterans they will still have more than 600 "points of service" across the country. Most are Service Canada offices, staffed by people who provide information about a variety of government services. They got a week's training in things like filling out on common forms. But a Service Canada clerk can't open a veteran's file. That's like a bank teller who can't access your account.

For veterans who need the most complex services, like those who incurred injuries or suffer from mental illness like post-traumatic stress disorder, there are case managers, who will do home visits. The government insists that even with cuts, case managers will have the same maximum caseload – 40 clients per case manager.

But most veterans don't have a case manager. They go to a client-service agent. They answer veterans calls, and meet them if they drop in to an Veterans Affairs office, explaining what services veterans are eligible for, or arranging home medical equipment, or steering a veteran showing signs of distress to medical services. But their numbers have been slashed.

The government is leaving one client-service agent in each of the eight towns where it is closing offices, posted at Service Canada offices. Presumably they'd handle drop-in visits. But a quarter of the client-service agents across the country, about 75 out 280, have been cut, so they don't answer calls quickly.

Michelle Bradley, the vice-president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, is a client-service agent in the Saint John office, which lost two of 15 agents, but took on the clients from the close Charlottetown office. She now has 1,100 clients instead of 800, she said, which means it can take several weeks to return a call, instead of the five days set by the department's standards. That means veterans are being discouraged from getting services by phone, not encouraged.

What about the Internet? The Veterans Affairs site is a complicated and frustrating mess, according to last fall's report by the Auditor-General.

"I tried to go online and it took me half an afternoon to figure the site out," Mr. Moncur said. "I implore you to ask a 90-year-old man if he's going to be able to navigate through the system."

The result is that the government has made it harder for veterans to get services by phone or Internet, sending more to Service Canada offices where the typical worker can't provide most services. That will keep veterans demanding to see fewer client-service agents. The government should have fixed the website first, and kept the agents who answer calls, at least until demands shift.

Instead, they've left veterans like Mr. Moncur fighting for services. Those who need attention, and don't already have a case manager, Mr. Moncur warned, "are going to fall through the cracks."

Campbell Clark is The Globe's chief political writer.