Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine, the federal Veterans Ombud, was in Yellowknife last week where she hosted a town hall meeting for local veterans and active service members including the RCMP and Rangers.
This meeting and others across Canada are part of an ongoing outreach tour to raise awareness of the work of the Office of the Veterans Ombud. It’s their goal to help veterans, transitioning members, and their families and to identify and bridge the gaps in services and programs offered by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Jardine was appointed to her role at the height of the pandemic, initially making it difficult for her and her staff to do the outreach required for their work. However, they are making up for lost time spending most of 2023 touring Canada to meet with veterans and leadership from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Jardine is proud of her office’s accomplishments and explained how their work with veterans has a two-fold effect. Not only do they advocate for members with their individual cases, but they also analyze complaints and issues to look for trends and identify gaps. The Ombud has the authority to launch reviews or investigations into systemic issues and problems and to make findings or recommendations to the Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada such as the one Jardine made in 2021 to allow veterans’ families to access mental health services independent of the veteran’s own treatment.
When asked about how she was spending her time in Yellowknife, the retired Colonel with almost 37 years of active service spoke about meeting with Lieutenant-Colonel Kristian Udesen, Commander of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group. The two discussed the numerous obstacles to accessing supports in the north including the lack of internet connectivity which makes using services online difficult as well as language barriers when services are only offered in English and French and not in the local Indigenous language.
Another topic she heard about was the lack of healthcare and service providers in the north, including mental health support. Jardine acknowledged that it’s not a support Veterans Affairs Canada provides directly rather they pay for third party providers of which there is a shortage Canada wide. Another gap to raise to the attention of the Minister of Veterans Affairs when she reports back to Ottawa on her visit.
For more information on the Office of the Veterans Ombud, visit www.ombudsman-veterans.gc.ca
