Letter to Wing Commander: Virtual Visit with 22 Wing North Bay

11 April 2022

Colonel M. R. Lachapelle
22 Wing Commander
Department of National Defence and
The Canadian Armed Forces
22 Wing North Bay
General Delivery Stn Main, Bldg 127
Hornell Heights, ON POH 1PO

 

Dear Colonel Lachapelle:

I wanted to convey my personal appreciation to you, Chief Warrant Officer D. Martens, and Lieutenant (N) Tristan Roberts for the warm welcome and kind coordination of our virtual visit 14 through 18 February 2022. Members of my staff and I were grateful for the opportunity to share information about my office, our services, and for the opportunity to hear directly from some of your members, civilian employees and their families.

Further to our discussion on 18 February 2022, I sincerely appreciated the comments from a cross-section of your community and a glimpse into the challenges of living, serving, and working in North Bay. The purpose of this letter is to highlight some of the concerns and positive feedback that we heard during our visit. I recognize that you and your staff may be aware of these issues, but I thought it would be helpful to outline them nonetheless and to offer you our assistance should you wish to follow-up on any of these matters. I am a firm believer that collaboration can lead to long-lasting, positive change for the Defence community. 

Health Care

We heard positive comments about the family medical clinic at 22 Wing. More specifically, we were told that when members are posted to 22 Wing, their families have immediate access to a doctor and that this model should be sustained and adopted by every base/wing across Canada. While virtual walk-in clinics exist for online consultation and prescriptions, accessing specialist care is more difficult for those who live and work in North Bay. COVID-19 aggravated these problems through delays in obtaining appointments and cancellations; some expressed having to travel considerable distances for health support. They also face limited options for services in French.

Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC)

Some of the challenges brought forward by the MFRC related to a lack of process for advising the MFRC about incoming members who are medically releasing. Messages of releasing members at 22 Wing are received, and the MFRC would like to communicate earlier with those who are medically releasing to advise them about the support available to them and their families. 

It was noted that there is an active and successful program for teenagers at this MFRC that allows them to meet with their peers and participate in a range of activities.

Childcare access remains a major stressor. We heard that there are 87 licensed child care spots but due to staffing shortages they aren’t able to fill all of those spaces. Infant care and up to 18 months spots are in high demand but they are not able to accommodate due to a lack of space. It was said that efforts had been underway for an expansion in infrastructure, however from what we were told, the funding was not approved due to the status of being an MFRC. It was also mentioned that due to the new funding parameters set by MFS, the MFRC will face a reduction in funding as of 1 April 2022. They explained that this money was used to pay for benefits for staff in their childcare program. They noted that they will no longer be able to cover this benefit and as a result this will make it difficult to attract qualified child care workers and compete with other childcares centers in the city.

Overall, it was emphasized that the communication between the MFRC and the command team was excellent and the hope is that this positive level of communication can be extended to the units where many of the issues are dealt with at lower levels and the MFRC can support.

Spousal or partner employment

It was noted that there are difficulties in finding spousal or partner employment in North Bay as there are fewer employment opportunities. Although there is an initiative to assist with this through the Military Spouse Employment Initiative (MSEI) not everyone was aware of this program. It was suggested that perhaps this could be marketed better to ensure that smaller communities are aware of this program.

Relocation

The ever-growing cost of living combined with tight housing markets complicates relocation for most CAF members and their families. Although we did not hear many concerns about this during our meetings, we were advised that for the first time, the Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA) now maintains a waitlist for residential housing units in this community. While it may be, for the moment, one of the shortest waiting lists for military housing in Canada, the fact that it exists indicates how difficult the situation has become for CAF members and their families.

In addition to the items we discussed, there were a number of questions and comments about the status and progress being made by the Seamless Canada initiative. Namely the need to address the challenges related to the transfer of professional qualifications between provinces and the waitlists for children with special needs children. Our office is attentive to these concerns. This is a key topic within the Seamless Canada initiative, in which we have a seat and are raising these important issues.

I appreciate that many of the challenges of life in North Bay are an inevitable consequence of military service. I am also mindful that national policies may not always scale well to smaller, remote, or rural bases. I am interested in examining potential inequities facing those communities and will undertake how my office might best contribute to the welfare of this particular segment of the defence community. In kind, my Office is at your and your command team’s service if we can be of any assistance to you in promoting the welfare of your community.

Again, thank you for facilitating our virtual visit.

Sincerely,

 

Gregory A. Lick

Ombudsman

 

c.c:

CEO CFMWS

CFHA