Veterans see need for deep, flexible spending in new homeless strategy

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“It’s great to have a strategy, but if the strategy is not brought to life, it’s not worth anything,” said Walter Semianiw, a former chief of military personnel.

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“The only way to bring it to life is money.”

Semianiw, a retired lieutenant-general who now works with VETS Canada, a homeless veterans organization, said there is also a need to be flexible with future funding so that a new, $1-million-a-year emergency fund will be more nimble than the existing one.

The present fund is made up of donations from outside groups and grants to veterans flow through organizations like VETS Canada, which has a contract with the federal government for outreach services, and the Royal Canadian Legion.

“Currently, the emergency funding is not that easy to get to. It’s not quick to get money from the department when it comes to the current organization or construct of emergency services,” said Semianiw, who was also assistant deputy minister at Veterans Affairs.

The federal government plans to release this fall a long-awaited strategy to tackle veterans’ homelessness, which, in its one of its most recent versions, has placed a heavy focus on providing veterans in crisis with help in paying the rent or mortgage, including the idea of a housing fund that could provide rent vouchers for veterans to stop them from becoming homeless.

Absent from an October draft of the document is any mention of costs, but officials drafting the plan have publicly said the goal was to have enough money available to help homeless veterans and veterans in crisis.

Semianiw said the amount of money, the rules around how it can be spent and when spending will roll out will help determine the success of the strategy.

The issue was on the government’s radar as far back as 2008, when federal officials became aware of homeless veterans in the West. Work on the strategy began in more earnest just over a year ago.

The reasons that a veteran can become homeless include loss of job, as well as mental and physical health issues. The October draft of the federal strategy adds a reference to family breakdown or violence and addiction issues that weren’t in an earlier discussion draft.

There is also an emphasis on peer-to-peer support mechanisms and outreach activities so veterans are used to help their comrades in crisis.

Jordan Press, The Canadian Press