Robyn Young is probably not who you envision when you hear the word “veteran.”
But the 24-year-old Victoria resident will soon be discharged from the Canadian Forces on medical leave because of a tumour in her brain. Young was serving at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, working in the recruiting centre at HMCS Malahat, when the tumour was discovered in June 2014.
Young experienced first-hand the challenges veterans face after she moved to Windsor, Ont., to be with her mother as she recovered from her surgery, which removed 95 per cent of the cancerous tumour.
Windsor’s Veterans Affairs office was shut down in January 2014, one of nine closed across the country after the Conservative government announced $226 million in budget cuts to Veterans Affairs in 2011. Young and her mother had to drive two to three hours to London, Ont., to attend the office there.
“We’re really happy with the services Veterans Affairs does provide for our injured soldiers,” said Young’s mother, Pearl Osmond, who served in the army from 1986 to 2012. “However, it’s a challenge because of the cutbacks and the closure of the offices.
“We didn’t have the support in place in the town we were living in.”
Young, who joined the military when she was 16, moved back to Vancouver Island in March to be closer to her doctors and is happy to be near Victoria’s Veteran’s Affairs office.
The offices in London and Victoria were tremendous resources, she said, because they helped her fight for disability benefits after they were initially denied by the Canadian Forces.
“My case was a priority and that bumped me in front of other people who are probably suffering and are still waiting to get the help,” Young said. “If it’s taking me a year [to get benefits], I can just imagine how long it’s taking for other people.”
Veterans Affairs offices provide financial support and mental-health services and help veterans apply for disability benefits. The offices can be contacted by phone and via email, and services can also be accessed through Service Canada offices.
Young and Osmond joined Carl Gannon, president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees, this week to call for the reopening of the closed offices.
Gannon said the office closings and 900 lost jobs are creating massive holes that veterans are falling into.
“So accessing the services that they so rightly deserve is nearly impossible,” he said.
Gannon said those who are not close to a Veterans Affairs office are forced to deal with their problem over the phone, which is impersonal and time-consuming.
“A lot of people are turning away, they’re just suffering by themselves in silence and that’s just unacceptable,” he said. “They’re fighting for our freedoms, they’re coming home with injuries and they not being taken care of.”
Gannon said Young’s story proves that veterans are not just grandfather figures but people who represent a diverse segment of the community.
“The more people like Robyn speak out, the more others will speak out,” he said.
Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole did not respond to requests for comment.
In March, O’Toole, a retired air force officer, announced a series of promises, which were applauded by former soldiers, including new financial assistance for moderately and seriously disabled veterans over 65, a promise that veteran amputees will no longer have to verify lost limbs and a promise that veteran reservists would get access to the same benefits as full-time military members.
O’Toole was appointed in January to repair relations with veterans, many of whom called for the resignation of former veterans affairs minister Julian Fantino.
The Liberals, NDP and Green Party have pledged to reopen Veterans Affairs offices if elected in the Oct. 19 federal election.
